staceyobu Posted July 17, 2012 Share Posted July 17, 2012 Seriously... I loved it, loved it, loved it. But, it's not possible for a family with four kids to live in Manhattan, right? Why oh why did I not go to college there?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lorilou Posted July 17, 2012 Share Posted July 17, 2012 I agree with you Stacey -- love love love NYC! If you move to NJ, it's just a short train ride away! So fun to go for the day! I miss that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted July 17, 2012 Share Posted July 17, 2012 Millions of people live with their dc in Manhattan and the other burroughs. We knew a family in Brooklyn where a mother and her son lived in the same apartment she had grown up in. Her ds didn't believe my brother when he said he had lived in a house with a tree in the yard. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catwoman Posted July 17, 2012 Share Posted July 17, 2012 Seriously... I loved it, loved it, loved it. But, it's not possible for a family with four kids to live in Manhattan, right? Why oh why did I not go to college there?? Sure it is! Lots of families live there. It's expensive, but if you can afford it, there's no reason why a family with four kids couldn't have a great life there. BUT... be sure to spend a lot of time there before you even consider that kind of move, because many people love NYC short term, but are overwhelmed by the level of activity on a daily basis. You might love living there, but you might also discover that, while it's a great place to visit, it's not the best place for you to live. You'd also have to learn a lot about the different neighborhoods, because what would be perfect for my family might not be a good fit for yours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Based on Faith Academy Posted July 17, 2012 Share Posted July 17, 2012 I've lived in NY(state) for most of my life and it wasn't until 4 years ago that I finally visited NYC and I loved it!!! Hey how about you move there and then I will have an excuse to make a trip there?:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LibraryLover Posted July 17, 2012 Share Posted July 17, 2012 (edited) Maybe you couldn't live like a millionaire in Manhattan, and maybe you couldn't buy something, but a rental might be possible in some areas, and Brooklyn is better than Manhattan, imo. If you have big kids (I guess you don't, I was thinking you had young adult children) and they want the experience, you could share rent. One of mine lives in NYC and pays "only" $750/mo for a great room in a really nice 4 bedroom apartment in a great area (he shares with 3 friends, who each pay $750). You wouldn't need anything that large. Lots of families live in NYC, many are wealthy, although I see lots of young families in Brooklyn who look and dress like 'normal people'. ;) And live in very small apartments. lol It doesn't have to be forever. Could you do a house/apartment swap? Take on a short lease from someone doing work abroad? Maybe 3- 6 mos would satisfy some of the lust? I'm pretty sure I will someday live in Brooklyn for at least a short time. It is crazy $, no getting around it, but it's worth a CraigsList perusal. :) At this time of year, you'll find lots of folks looking to sublet. We're about to make a crazy (temporary) move (not NYC) ourselves. I never thought I would at this time in my life, but I am very excited now. Lots of possibilities & ideas are rattling around in my head! I am dreading the packing and storing, I'll say that. My dh works at home (and this is work- related), so does help financially. Btw, is a work move possible? Edited July 17, 2012 by LibraryLover Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngelaNYC Posted July 17, 2012 Share Posted July 17, 2012 Of course it's possible. You don't have to live in Manhattan, though. I live in Queens (one of the other NYC boroughs) 6 miles from the heart of Manhattan. It's more residential (I have a backyard, garage, front patio, etc). Yeah, it's somewhat expensive to live here, but it's fine once you know where to shop and how to live cheaply. Some people just don't "get it" about NYC. I, personally, would never live anywhere else. Homeschooling here is a dream. The places we get to go, the things we get to do and experience, and the opportunities and resources at your doorstep are unlike anywhere else in the world. And my kids love it, too - neither of my girls even want to go away for college because everything they need and want regarding education and future careers is here. Ask me anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AvasMom Posted July 17, 2012 Share Posted July 17, 2012 Definitely not my thing. We just moved from south Jersey so we visited NYC a lot. My kids need outside time and I need them to spend their outside time in a place that has grass, clean air, etc. We're in Lexington, KY now and it is admittedly driving me crazy though. I need more action. Lol! To me, the best place to live is suburban DC. That was our favorite. Plenty of action but it's a beautiful, clean city. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AvasMom Posted July 17, 2012 Share Posted July 17, 2012 Of course it's possible. You don't have to live in Manhattan, though. I live in Queens (one of the other NYC boroughs) 6 miles from the heart of Manhattan. It's more residential (I have a backyard, garage, front patio, etc). Yeah, it's somewhat expensive to live here, but it's fine once you know where to shop and how to live cheaply. Some people just don't "get it" about NYC. I, personally, would never live anywhere else. Homeschooling here is a dream. The places we get to go, the things we get to do and experience, and the opportunities and resources at your doorstep are unlike anywhere else in the world. And my kids love it, too - neither of my girls even want to go away for college because everything they need and want regarding education and future careers is here. Ask me anything. I think we've met! I see my kid's picture on your UN tour post. Lol! He was wearing green and navy stripes. KPW group, right? Lol! Small world! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted July 17, 2012 Share Posted July 17, 2012 Maybe you just need to move to *a* city. City life is really worth it, I find. But Manhattan is, indeed, hard to swing financially. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justamouse Posted July 17, 2012 Share Posted July 17, 2012 We live an hour and a half away. We LOVE it and often talk about 'retiring' there. There is just SO much to do, so much fun to have, people, for the most part, are creative and funny and awesome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngelaNYC Posted July 17, 2012 Share Posted July 17, 2012 I think we've met! I see my kid's picture on your UN tour post. Lol! He was wearing green and navy stripes. KPW group, right? Lol! Small world! Hey!! It really is a small world. That was a great trip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeacefulChaos Posted July 17, 2012 Share Posted July 17, 2012 Seriously... I loved it, loved it, loved it. But, it's not possible for a family with four kids to live in Manhattan, right? Why oh why did I not go to college there?? I visited last year for the first time, and I loved it, too. Sigh... I really did entertain thoughts of moving up there for an hour or two. ;) But DH hates the city (any city), and I have to admit that I do like the whole 'big backyard' thing that rural life gives us. But I do love NYC... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pehp Posted July 17, 2012 Share Posted July 17, 2012 I adore NYC!!!! Good friends used to live in Manhattan. Very tiny apartment, 1500/month rent (which seemed like a killer deal to them); they've since moved to Brooklyn and love it there. I have to agree. I heart NY. My friends did find it expensive. They figured out how to live there w/out spending a fortune....but it was $$ and they sort of said schools in Manhattan were problematic, but if you hs it doesn't matter. ;) I think Brooklyn would be great--family friendly and yet right there in the midst of it, still. Never have had the desire to actually live there though. I love our open fields, garden, mountains, creek-playgrounds, and lack of neighbors waaaay too much. I'm definitely in the 'visit it and love it' camp, but couldn't ever stomach it to live there. Too many people. I'm a rural girl and love my mountains. I need wide open spaces. Still, I totally get where you're coming from b/c the energy of NYC is awesome ....& the cultural experiences! ahh! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ByGrace3 Posted July 17, 2012 Share Posted July 17, 2012 I was just there about 2 weeks ago. We love NYC. I grew up on Long Island and was visiting my sister. Plenty of people live "near" the city, and many families live in Manhattan. I don't think living there with small kids would be my thing, but I do love to visit. FWIW I did live in New Orleans with small kids and loved it though certainly not nearly the same, there were certainly benefits of big city life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LNC Posted July 17, 2012 Share Posted July 17, 2012 (edited) Seriously... I loved it, loved it, loved it. But, it's not possible for a family with four kids to live in Manhattan, right? Why oh why did I not go to college there?? My twin lives in Manhattan. It was a blast to visit her in January, meet her friends from work and moms/babies group, and see her neighborhood. I couldn't imagine how families live their before either. We walked to church, restaurants, a bookstore, the grocery store and even her work. She basically never has to take her baby out of the stroller except when she leaves the neighborhood. I saw kids by themselves playing kickball on the large sidewalks, riding scooters. When I went to bed, I could still hear kids playing outside running around. I was shocked! She loves it now though and has made some great friends through work, college friends in different areas in the city and lots of families in their building. Edited July 17, 2012 by LNC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
busymama7 Posted July 17, 2012 Share Posted July 17, 2012 I would never have believed I would love it as much as I did. We went with our four oldest kids this spring. It was amazing and I did entertain the idea of how in the world I could live there with 7(almost 8) kids. I don't think we would be happy there long term but I love love loved it while I was there. I miss it and want to go back so bad! The whole experience was just amazing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
staceyobu Posted July 17, 2012 Author Share Posted July 17, 2012 Maybe you just need to move to *a* city. City life is really worth it, I find. But Manhattan is, indeed, hard to swing financially. I've only lived in large Texas cities (Dallas and Houston) and disliked them both. However, the biggest thing I hated about both of them was the traffic and there is no good public transit option. Well, and the weather. Houston feels like you are literally living in h3ll. I've visited other large cities (LA, Chicago, Philly) but NY just felt so completely different. Just a different vibe. I cried when we left. But, seriously, we were there for 27 hours. So, I probably wasn't there long enough to get a good impression. But, I'd love to move there and get sick of it and then move back to Texas. Then we could really appreciate our cheap real estate and moderate winters. :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
staceyobu Posted July 17, 2012 Author Share Posted July 17, 2012 My twin lives in Manhattan. It was a blast to visit her in January, meet her friends from work and moms/babies group, and see her neighborhood. I couldn't imagine how families live their before either. We walked to church, restaurants, a bookstore, the grocery store and even her work. She basically never has to take her baby out of the stroller except when she leaves the neighborhood. I saw kids by themselves playing kickball on the large sidewalks, riding scooters. When I went to bed, I could still hear kids playing outside running around. I was shocked! She loves it now though and has made some great friends through work, college friends in different areas in the city and lots of families in their building. So, what kind of job does one need to make it there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LibraryLover Posted July 17, 2012 Share Posted July 17, 2012 There are yards in lots of the boroughs. Queens even has folks with chickens. There are some folks in Brooklyn with roof gardens and chickens. NYC is not just what people see on TV. I have a friend who lives off Amsterdam in Manhattan, and her roof pots are spilling over with tomatoes and herbs and loads of other good food. Unless you're looking above and out over her building, you'd never know. But green spaces (roof and below) abound in NYC. There are also many community gardens, although there is a long waiting list for plots in some areas. A lot of folks grow flowers in these community plots- to sell- and that angers some people who want to grow food. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennyD Posted July 17, 2012 Share Posted July 17, 2012 (edited) We lived in NYC for many years (Brooklyn and then Manhattan) until last year. I absolutely loved it and miss it all the time, but it is seriously expensive, and both small-apartment dwelling and the constant hassle factor do take a toll, especially when you have growing kids. We were back visiting last week and a friend was telling me about the new pop-up pool that just opened for the summer in my old 'hood: "You wait on line and then the first 60 people get wristbands, and then everybody with a wristband can swim for exactly 1.5 hours before the next group goes in." And at that moment I was just a teeny bit less sorry that we had had to move to Tennessee. Still, it's such an amazing town. Someday again .... ETA: And just to give a sense of the prices, one of my friends is looking to buy in Brooklyn and was telling us about one of the few brownstones (i.e., an actual house) on the market in their current OK, not great, school district: 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, super narrow, and immediately abutting an enormous housing project. No parking, of course. $1.7 million. Edited July 17, 2012 by JennyD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Beachy Posted July 17, 2012 Share Posted July 17, 2012 I lived in mid-town Manhattan soon after I graduated from college. I was hired as a flight attendant and was based in New York. I LOVED IT!!!!! Some of the BEST years of my life. I loved everything about it -- including my crowded little apartment. I knew it was a temporary thing and I enjoyed it to the fullest. I figured I had the best of both worlds. When I had to work, I left the city for the beaches of the Caribbean, and I was able to enjoy city life on my days off. Yep.... life was good. :) Beachy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LibraryLover Posted July 17, 2012 Share Posted July 17, 2012 We lived in NYC for many years (Brooklyn and then Manhattan) until last year. I absolutely loved it and miss it all the time, but it is seriously expensive, and both small-apartment dwelling and the constant hassle factor do take a toll, especially when you have growing kids. We were back visiting last week and a friend was telling me about the new pop-up pool that just opened for the summer in my old 'hood: "You wait on line and then the first 60 people get wristbands, and then everybody with a wristband can swim for exactly 1.5 hours before the next group goes in." And at that moment I was just a teeny bit less sorry that we had had to move to Tennessee. Still, it's such an amazing town. Someday again .... Yes. There is some hassle (for me). Parking is a nightmare (and I know some people who don't have cars and rent as needed. Lots of people do that). If you want the children to easily be able to take lessons, have tutors, swim, cool off in summer etc., you need to have some real money. Still, it would be fun to have small children there for a time, and it will be fun when we are a little older and only need one bedroom and a pullout sofa for visitors. I have a friend with a second bedroom with a loft. You can fit a lot of people in there! I'm hoping when I'm ready to go, she can dump the current roomie who seems to have planted deep roots. I hope he gets married or something and moves. lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SunnyDays Posted July 17, 2012 Share Posted July 17, 2012 You guys are making me jealous! I've not made it to NYC yet but I think I'd adore it and have always wanted to go. Have any of you watched "Selling New York" on HGTV? I know those are highlighted properties by big firms, but... yowzas!! You know how you have a "parallel" life that exists in your head, the life you would have had if you didn't have your current one? I'd be a city career woman (publishing or PR or something glamorous) and have an incredible Manhattan penthouse!! :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennyD Posted July 17, 2012 Share Posted July 17, 2012 (and I know some people who don't have cars and rent as needed. Lots of people do that). That's what we did. But then there's the challenge of getting all the kids AND all of the car seats to the car rental place or zipcar spot, not to mention installing -- and later, uninstalling -- said seats while parked on the street. We actually wind up doing a lot more "stuff" here, simply because it's just more doable to go places and do things. But that doesn't stop me from waxing nostalgic anyway. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BinahYeteirah Posted July 17, 2012 Share Posted July 17, 2012 I lived in NYC to go to college and for several years afterward, until my oldest was almost two. I didn't mind it at the time, but I'm glad I don't live there now with my larger, older family. I don't think we'd ever have enough money to enjoy the quality of life we can have where we live now. Even simple things like grocery shopping can be very stressful if you don't have the extra money for delivery charges and the like. At least now the subways are becoming handicapped-accessible (they weren't when we lived there), so transport should be easier with a stroller and little kids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jewellsmommy Posted July 17, 2012 Share Posted July 17, 2012 I have to admit....I do not like New York City. I don't mind a visit, but would not want to live there! Nope. :leaving: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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