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Google Plans Large New York City Expansion

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Re: Google Plans Large New York City Expansion

#361

Post by zjaffee »

sumeno wrote: post #243
saalweachter wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's also in Midtown East . Also, one bedrooms are luxurious . Advice for anyone looking for an apartment in Manhattan: don't waste your time on one bedrooms, look for studios. You pay an unnecessary premium for the extra wall, and it ultimately just makes the space less usable. You can find larger, nicer, better located studios for much less than you'd be paying for a one bedroom.

Also, never have a family

This is honestly offensive, I grew up in manhattan, and tons of my friends growing up lived in very small spaces (families sharing studio apartments). The key difference is that the amenities that most people in the suburbs have within their own homes are available in shared spaces all around you.

Re: Google Plans Large New York City Expansion

#362

Post by thaumasiotes »

graeme wrote: post #121
thaumasiotes wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can also get a 2BR less than one hour's commute away from San Francisco for under $2000 / month.

A transit commute?

Yes, my commute from South Hayward to Embarcadero station in SF was 45 minutes, I used BART (obviously), and rent was under $2000.

Re: Google Plans Large New York City Expansion

#363

Post by thaumasiotes »

CydeWeys wrote: post #327
thaumasiotes wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can also get a 2BR less than one hour's commute away from San Francisco for under $2000 / month.

Is it possible to do this without a car, though? Because in NYC you don't need a car even to live an hour away on transit, and a car is a pretty substantial monthly expense.

Yes, it's possible to do it without a car. See my cousin comment.

Re: Google Plans Large New York City Expansion

#365

Post by sinker »

wholien wrote: post #250
MikeKusold wrote: post #219

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I currently live in Denver and spend almost every weekend in the mountains. To me, the depressing part of NYC is the complete lack of fresh air, outdoor activities, and solitude. Different strokes for different people.

there are a lot of outdoors stuff 1-3 hours outside of NYC. NYC itself does have a lot of parks too, of which Central Park is the largest example.

Central Park is more like a big outdoor garden not in anyway comparable to a large trail system or public lands area. There are trails a little north and in nearby Jersey 1-2 hours by car on the way to (if you head out in the early morning). But on the way back... God have mercy. Expect at least two hours and closer to three and a half in crawling traffic as soon as you get somewhere close to the city.

You can see quite a bit more like the Adirondacks you're willing to drive 5-6 hours, but a drive like that isn't suitable for a day hike.

You can also find some smaller trails and untended areas on the outskirts of the city (eg, Marine Park in southeast Brooklyn). But these tend to be.. well small.

Anyway my point is, like most big cities, it's difficult to really get "outdoors" with any measure of convenience.

Re: Google Plans Large New York City Expansion

#366

Post by gonehome »

tokyodude wrote: post #84
ndnxhs wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People who understand the lower salary is easily made up for by lower living costs.

I'm not sure I'm convinced. To give an example a recruiter once tried to get me to move to some place in India (2002). He told me I'd be making $30k a year which was 10x what locals made so I'd be living like a king. Even if that was true that I could live like a king for that salary in India all I could think about is how I'd be stuck there because I'd have no money to leave to a more expensive place in the future.

Yep - this is an extreme example, but the main reason it's a bad idea.

If you live in a high cost of living area, but are okay living with roommates you can save a ton of money. More than enough to make up the difference compared to living in a low cost of living area.

You also get better quality of life and a lot more opportunities - meeting people for work/friends/dating. It's also better to have a high salary in order to more easily keep a high salary.

I think you also learn more faster from increased exposure to talented people. I grew up in Buffalo which is a nice and very cheap place, but there was nobody to learn from.

Re: Google Plans Large New York City Expansion

#367

Post by TulliusCicero »

nsnick wrote: post #351
TulliusCicero wrote: post #241

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> MAX is not that handicapped by being at grade Yes it is. It limits how long the train can be, because it can't block traffic downtown, which limits its capacity. It also limits how fast it can travel. Having its own lanes is better than not, of course, but not as good as being completely physically separated. For an example of this that I'm particularly familiar with, a big part of Caltrain's unreliability comes fr…

MAX doesn't have the Caltrain problem because it is not at grade outside of downtown. You are comparing Portland to European cities which is not a fair comparison. Compared to any city in California, Portland is miles ahead.

> MAX doesn't have the Caltrain problem because it is not at grade outside of downtown.

That still limits its speed for that area, and its capacity everywhere.

> You are comparing Portland to European cities which is not a fair comparison. Compared to any city in California, Portland is miles ahead.

Nah, transit usage is much higher in SF, and BART + Caltrain + Muni is better than Portland's system.

Anyway, like I said, Portland is one of the better US cities for urbanism, it's just that that's a bit like claiming to be a more honest-than-average politician.

Re: Google Plans Large New York City Expansion

#368

Post by taurath »

bradleyjg wrote: post #228
taurath wrote: post #4

This coupled with the Amazon news is starting to get distressing. With the amount of companies that copycat them it’s like the rich are getting richer and the economic benefits are still going to be concentrated only in the most affluent cities. The rest of the country desperately needs real industry and good paying jobs - and will go to huge lengths to try to get them but it appears nobody can come up with a busines…

> This coupled with the Amazon news is starting to get distressing. With the amount of companies that copycat them it’s like the rich are getting richer and the economic benefits are still going to be concentrated only in the most affluent cities. The rest of the country desperately needs real industry and good paying jobs - and will go to huge lengths to try to get them but it appears nobody can come up with a busin…

They want an educacted workforce, and the brain drain of people out of rural areas only accelerates that. Towns with good colleges are doing better than those without. The elitism comes mainly from economic rather than social considerations Ive been seeing. See: Texas.

Re: Google Plans Large New York City Expansion

#369

Post by mac01021 »

malmsteen wrote: post #292
mac01021 wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To remain near family? To help shape the future of the community that rasied them? What was deal with your class? You lived in the middle of knowhere and the only option would have been farming or mining coal or something?

Sense of adventure / lower familial pressure. You can always come back to "shape the community" (so american ^^) later

Europeans, Asians, etc don't see themselves as an influence on the place they live?

Re: Google Plans Large New York City Expansion

#370

Post by apohn »

zjaffee wrote: post #358
apohn wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Within huge portions of nearby suburbs, you can buy a sizable 3+ bedroom house for Not to be a ass, but where? And please don't just point out a home with no pictures you just found on Zillow, but a place where you've actually been to which has decent property taxes, decent schools, and is safe? And actually a 45 minute commute, not 45 minutes if you ignore the 20+ minutes it takes to drive your car from home to a t…

Look, you wont find this in the towns with the absolute best schools, and it is only possible to have this sort of commute if you work on top of the lower manhattan path station or penn station. Additionally, prices could've have risen since I last checked, and property taxes in NJ will always be high. But towns ranging from Maplewood to Cranford fall in this price range. Note when I say sizable I'm talking the ~2000…

Maplewood is a great example of homes that look amazing at first glance on real estate websites, but the high property taxes cause your mortgage payment to jump significantly.

Here's a great example. 36 Ball Ter, Maplewood. $550K, ~2200 sqft, interior looks newly renovated, looks really nice in pictures. $15.5K(!!) in taxes. With 20% down you're still looking at $3.5K/Month(includes property taxes) on a 30 year mortgage.

If you look at the price history on Zillow or Trulia, it looks like it was flipped (I think that's when the interior renovation was done) late 2017/early 2018, and the price went up to $750k and has plummeted since then. So the property tax assessment is probably on the pre-renovated value, not the renovated value. So whomever purchases this house can expect a fat tax increase when the town reassess the value.

Also, look at the prices between the East and West side of Maplewood. The East side is fairly close to areas that lots of people would prefer not to live in due to safety concerns.

Again, I'm not trying to be an ass or attack you. I'm just trying to present some real numbers so people have a realistic view when they think the greater NYC area is a place you can escape to when you want access to NYC with a medium CoL. NYC is a very high CoL area and moving to the suburbs can hurt (e.g. terrible commute) in unexpected ways, and you still have a high CoL compared to the majority of country.

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