State of the Union

[bubosquared]

So. Facts re: emigration to NYC:

• I'm young, I'm fairly presentable, I'm adaptable, I'm bilingual, I have a European high school diploma. I have a good chance of finding a decent job.
• It is quite possibly cheaper to have my stuff shipped over there, so I don't have to worry about buying furniture. (Will, however, need new tv and video. But that's okay.)
• While living inside the city is expensive, the suburbs are supposedly not that expensive. It's not like I've not been commuting all my life anyway.
• If worst comes to worst, there are a number of people in/near NYC I could crash with.
• I will need to contact the US embassy this week to find out how soon I would be able to get a visa.
• I will need to cut down on all expenses and save money. Lots.
• I am quite possibly insane. AUGUST?

Comments

Re: actually, as for living in boroughs goes....

[bubosquared.livejournal.com]

Heh. I know all about living in supposedly dangerous neighbourhoods. Where I live now is supposed to be the worst area of central Antwerp, but I've not noticed that at all. (Of course, I live on the outskirts of it, but still.) (And hey! I used to walk past the male whores nearly every day, after dark, so I'm difficult to phase.)

Re: surface transport, how safe is it to bike in NYC? "Safe" both in the will-I-be-hit-by-a-car sense and in the will-my-bike-be-stolen sense.

biking

[icanreadyourmnd.livejournal.com]

you're more likely to be hit by a bike messenger...

people do bike in NYC and in the borroughs too. if you're a bike messenger you need to have a license on your bike; I'm not sure how it is with regular bikists - but I do remember soemthing about a license for bikes on the LIRR and there are certain times bikes are allowed and some that they aren't. same with the subway. rush hour is NOT a good time to take your bike in the subway.

what you see a lot of is ten speeds with the back wheel taken off and locked to a street sign together with the front wheel and rest of the bike. a lot of major companies and buildings have bike racks out front; still it's best to take the back wheel off and attach it with the front part so the back wheel isn't stolen.

I believe (but am not certain) that there are bike paths along the two rivers that flank the city (one on the far east side next to the river and one on the far west side next to the river - am currently blanking on the river names).

I know the city has bus lanes on all the major avenues but I'm not terribly sure yet whether they've put bike lanes in. I know most of the European countries have bike lanes but I can't remember about NY.

Re: biking

[bubosquared.livejournal.com]

Heh. Hem. Hum. You don't know my biking habits. Put it this way: there's a reason I don't use my bike unless I have to be somewhere far, fast, or with a heavy load. I'm a danger to the public.

I'm sure I'll fit in fine. ^_^

Ahahahaha! Bike lanes? In Antwerp? Surely thou jesteth. No, I'm afraid most actual cities here don't believe in bike lanes, either.

Re: biking

[icanreadyourmnd.livejournal.com]

I know there are bike lanes in some cities in Holland and I know there are bike lanes in some cities in Germany. I only assumed there would be in Belgium too but I guess I'm wrong. I always think of Europe as so much more logical in some ways than the US.

I think you and your bike will fit in fine in NYC too.

Re: biking

[bubosquared.livejournal.com]

Well, Holland is notoriously well-adapted to bikes. Unfortunately, Belgium is not. ^_^