Is Brooklyn really that much cheaper than Manhattan?

For a few years now there's been comparable places cheaper on the upper east side, but who would want to live there?

Prices are equalizing more, but the same money still gets you a much bigger space in Brooklyn.

Cool The Kid wrote: [quote=pitu]For a few years now there's been comparable places cheaper on the upper east side, but who would want to live there?

Other than having to take the 6 train, what's so bad about it? Everything under 96th st seems pretty peaceful.

And there are quite a few flex 1 BRs in Battery Park/Wall St area with square footage comparable to my (relatively huge IMO) brownstone 1BR in Crown Heights, for only about $300-500 more. I guess that is kind of a big diff, but a new building w/no mice, city views, and walking distance to like 12 trains, seems worth it.

I mean I'm used to CH now, but I was just looking and was surprised by what a little more $$$ could get across the river.

This is exactly why I would move if my apartment weren't rent stabilized.

neo-social wrote: Also, do you want to have a faster commute to work. Or would you like to save funds to buy a home someday.

If a person works downtown (say...below or up to the 14th Street / Union Square area), it's worth noting that living in Brooklyn may be *both* faster commute to work *and* less expensive / more space if one is comparing living in Brooklyn against Upper East Side, Upper West Side, Harlem etc.

Subject: I made the move

After 2 happy years in Boerum Hill, I moved into Manhattan's Financial District earlier this year. I pay significantly more ($100s/mo), but I have a VASTLY better apartment in a much better class of building in a convenient neighborhood -- and I have more space and a better floorplan, and I'm closer to a better grocery and services and right on top of a subway station. (I am not in "new construction," I'm in a well-renovated older building.) I even have a washer-dryer in my unit, which I had given up hope of ever having again when I moved to New York.

For the same money I was paying in Brooklyn, I could easily have found an apartment here in the Financial District, probably with somewhat less space, but otherwise with many of the improvements and amenities I now have.

I liked my Brooklyn neighborhood fine and I wasn't planning to move. The neighborhood amenities were okay, and it was very convenient to work near Union Square (2 stops on the express from Atlantic Avenue). The main reason I started looking is that when I asked my Brooklyn landlord for a slight rent reduction at my renewal date (commensurate with what I could clearly see going on in the market all around me), he wouldn't return my calls, and it irked me.

When I did start looking, it became obvious that not only were rents competitive with Brooklyn in certain Manhattan neighborhoods, but the Manhattan landlords were much more willing to deal. I used a broker (although I found this apartment myself, by diligent use of Craigslist and brokerage Web sites over a period of weeks), and the broker's fee was paid by my new landlord. I also got a month's free rent (which shows up as a 13-month rent reduction) and a lease end date chosen for my convenience.

For what it's worth, my Brooklyn place was re-rented within a month, I believe for around the same rent I was paying (which was no longer a bargain by the time I moved out). This leads me to think that the market is indeed a bit softer in Manhattan at the moment.

So: if you're considering it, especially if you have a bit of flexibility in how much you pay, I'd say definitely expand your search to Manhattan. I was very happy in Brooklyn and there are many things I miss about it, but in a different way I'm also happy in my new place and it's clear it was a good move for me. There's nothing special about me, I have no "connections," just common sense and intelligence, and I found a new place I'm very happy with, at a price I am comfortable paying.

One final note: I socialize more in the evenings now, and am much more likely to go home after work and then go out again, even though the actual trip time from home to work is about the same as before. I didn't realize how much of a psychological barrier the river crossing was until I no longer had it to contend with.

Cool The Kid wrote: Get over yourself. You're no better than anyone else for wanting to stay in BK. And I have been in NYC since 84.

That's not what I meant at all. I just mean I don't want to live with people who don't want to live with me. If they'll be happier in Manhattan, I hope they make it there.