Hellobee Boards

I lived in the Upper West Side for about 6 years, it was totally family friendly and the big plus is that the subway runs more or less through the center of the neighborhood, where on the East Side, you've got to walk all the way over to Lexington Ave.

If city living isn't your thing, it's quite easy to commute into the city from NY State, NJ or CT, so there are a ton of options.

First, that's awesome that hour husband has a job offer!

What are your favorite things about living in NYC?
- I love that I'm never bored. There is always something to do, see, eat etc. Every time I'm longing for a a house and visit family in the suburbs I remember how much I would miss living in the city. I love that I can walk or take public transportation. I love the parks and all their activities and amenities.
What is your biggest complaint about living there?
- Housing is expensive and I always wish I had a little more space.
What neighborhood do you live in/wish you lived in?
- I live Brooklyn (I'll wall you where), in a super family friendly neighborhood. If I had millions and could live wherever I wanted I would probably live in the West Village in Manhattan. My second choice would be where I live now. I actually prefer Brooklyn bec the hustle and bustle is a little slower.
Tips for a mom of two (2YO & newborn) moving there?
- No kids yet, but I see SO many mama's with 2 little ones and they seem to handle it well. First floor apt or elevators is very helpful for strollers.

Hope this helps and feel free to wall me if you have any questions!!! I've lived here for 10 years

@luckypenny: Well, I am biased, so I would pick the UWS again if I had to!

I hope it all works out, I love NY.

@luckypenny: I'm a Brooklyn girl. I love that there is always something to do (and lots that is free). I love the food options. My biggest complaint is how expensive it is to live here for such small space sometimes. I actually really like my neighborhood and a bunch of neighboring ones in Brooklyn because it is very family friendly, super diverse, and right near the park. We are planning on buying in our current neighborhood, hopefully before LO starts kindergarten.

Once you get here join your neighborhood listservs and take a lot of walks in your neck of the woods to see where/what all the parents of with kids of similar ages are doing.

NYC Bee here.

I grew up in Queens, and love where we lived. My parent's were able to buy a house in a transit friendly area.

I love NY and would never want to leave because its so easy to get around without a car. I have a car and driver's license but have not driven in about 10 years (my husband likes to drive and chauffeurs me around when we need to drive). I also love that everything with within walking distance (of course depends where you live)

My complaint about living in NYC is that the housing prices are sky rocketing. I wish I bought a house/apartment when I was in my early 20s (if i could go back I would tell myself not to wait and just buy).

We live in Queens right now but have lived in Brooklyn (Bay Ridge - great area for raising a kid. great schools, rental pricing is not too bad and they have a very active parents group) for 4 years and Upper East Side (I lived there for 2 years and DH for over 10 years) and now we're back in Queens

I would love to move back to Bay Ridge because DH and I both work in Brooklyn and the schools are a little better than were we live now.

Advice for mom of two. - Start looking for daycares when you know where you're going to live and if you're not going to be a SAHM. There are really long wait lists for popular ones. Join a parents board, they give really great recommendations.

Also dont do a walk up if you live in an apartment. Sounds like fun walking a couple of flights of stairs but its not going to be fun with you have a stroller, groceries and wiggly babies

If you have any questions feel free to wall me. Good luck!

i live right outside the city and grew up here so i am pretty biased, but it really is such a great place! we've lived in manhattan and brooklyn and LOVED both.

What are your favorite things about living in NYC? -- the places tourists don't tell you about.. little hole-in-the-wall shops and restaurants that transport you to a different time (tons in lower east side and east village), getting lost in central park and prospect park (brooklyn), the little garden parks that are hidden from the street in the east village, being able to be yourself all the time, and of course ALWAYS being able to step out and find what you're looking for no matter what time of day or night

What is your biggest complaint about living there? -- tourists, time square, the smell in the summer

What neighborhood do you live in/wish you lived in? -- i've lived on the lower east side, east village, and carroll gardens in brooklyn. loved all 3. wished i could live in tribeca but way to pricey. (great for families tho)

Tips for a mom of two (2YO & newborn) moving there? -- make sure you have a good stroller with big wheels able to take the city streets and that can maneuver easily. look for buildings with elevators if you can. makes it so much easier with bags and things. don't have a car -- to expensive to park and if parking on the street you have to move at least once a week for cleaning and takes forever to find a spot

let me know if you have any questions. i'd be happy to answer them!

I just moved here myself, so I don't have a lot of advice, but I just wanted to say that I totally understand where you are coming from. We lived in LA and NYC was the absolute last place on my list that I wanted to live, mainly because I had a lot of preconceived ideas of what it would be like to live here. We ended up finding an apartment in Brooklyn and I LOVE it. Getting around is really easy, and I found that the neighborhood we live in has a nice quiet, safe, family-friendly vibe and there is so much to do! So I know NY can be intimidating, but it's so much better than I thought it'd be. Good luck!

@luckypenny: whoa, YAY!!! What an exciting opportunity

Okay so I'm gonna be sort of a downer on NYC but you want honest opinions, right?

What are your favorite things about living in NYC?
- Haha, this is a funny one. DH and I find it hilarious that our favorite things are the parts that remind us of some place other than NYC. We love Coney Island and Prospect Park. Any little bit of space or green that actually feels like planet earth. And I guess I should say the professional opportunities, since that's really the only reason we're still here. Possibilities are kind of everywhere. But so is competition, so it's still not easy.

What is your biggest complaint about living there?
- Everything is mysteriously harder than it is in other cities, though some people will call this a virtue a la "if you can make it here..." Basic life necessities like groceries and laundry are massive headaches (and I won't even get into the quest for decent housing, forget affordable). The city eats up time and money and most people feel overwhelmed and exhausted most of the time. And the museums/cultural stuff/whatever aren't really any different or better than any other place I've lived. Do kids even care about that stuff, either?

What neighborhood do you live in/wish you lived in?
- I'm in South Brooklyn, widely considered the most family friendly area. I've also lived in North Brooklyn (Williamsburg), the West Village, Upper East Side, and Astoria Queens, and absolutely despised NYC until South Brooklyn. Now I only hate it about half the time.

Tips for a mom of two (2YO & newborn) moving there?
- Decide whether you mind that your kids probably won't be able to run around outside without a supervised trek to the park, and most of their extracurriculars will require long waiting lists just to participate. Cars will be driving too fast down your residential street on a regular basis. Preschool admission/tuition is a clusterf**k and once they're older the school lottery system is competitive and absurd. Can you afford a country house? Every family I know with a acceptable quality of life and ability to provide some semblance of normal childhood has a house outside the city (Hamptons or Upstate mostly) where they can escape regularly to reality. DH and I cannot afford this and find it almost unthinkable to stay in NYC much beyond when our kids start walking (#1 is due in May).

@Beehive: agree with everything you wrote

@anandam: Hahaha. I couldn't help laughing at your answers. As a native Brooklynite, I've wanted to leave NYC for a long time but unfortunately I married someone who loves BK and wants to stay forever. Thankfully when we moved to the Kensington area last year and it has helped me hate New York less than I used to. If I have to stay here in Brooklyn for the rest of my life, I could stay in this area and (Ditmas Park, Windsor Terrace, some parts of Park Slope), where I can go sit next to the lake and watch the swans.

@mrsjazz: Glad it was funny and not just depressing! Haha. Yeah we're just above you in Windsor Terrace / Greenwood area. It's definitely the most tolerable area by my measure.

I don't live in NYC, but Hoboken (also lived in Jersey City for a year) across the hudson from Midtown. As Tidybee stated, Hoboken is super family friendly and there are tons of people with kids, lots of mom meetup groups, lots of play dates to be had, and a lot of restaurants and things to do while somehow feeling both "big city" (because it's extremely densely populated) and small town (because "only" 55,000 ppl live here...in 1 square mile.)

I like it because you can walk everywhere, there are a lot of parks, and the aforementioned family friendly aspect.

I have a weekly meetup at a neighborhood bar with a bunch of other moms and their LOs. Yup...we bring our babies to bars here, and it's not a big deal. Hoboken is also a really easy commute for my husband, who works in Midtown. When we lived in Jersey City, he took the PATH (subway) to work, but not it's faster for him to take the 126 bus. From door to door in the morning, his commute is 28 minutes...that includes the walking to the bus stop and then walking to his office building in midtown. He could also take the ferry which would only take about 10-15 minutes.

Downsides: every thing is expensive. Like all those classes? Expensive. Housing? insanely expensive. Childcare? insanely expensive. But at least it's slightly cheaper than Manhattan!

Honestly, a lot of advice I might have for you would be tailored toward your budget. My husband was dead set on living in Manhattan when we moved here but one of my college besties had lived in Hoboken for years so I convinced him to check it out---and he canceled our appt with the Manhattan apartment broker the next day. Just seeing the difference in what you could get for your money convinced him.

But I always joke that he feels like he lives in NYC because he works there and has friends and happy hours there (because of work), whereas I feel like I live in NJ since I work on this side and have made friends here so tend to stay here more often. So there's that....certaintly saying you live in Hoboken isn't as cool as saying you live in Manhattan.

Also, a fair amount will depend on your DH's job. Will it afford you to live comfortably? Does it have any perks? For instance, my husband gets a lot of free admission passes to most of the major museums in the city through his job. And his job will pay for 20 child care days a year at Bright Horizons, which is cool if you are a SAHM who needs a break occasionally. And his job pays for wellness memberships.

There's just a lot to consider.

If you're comfortable, could you share details about neighborhood your husband will be working, ballpark housing budget, etc?

I lived in NYC for 5 years, but only one with a baby and the last year we were in Brooklyn.

I wanted to chime in about childcare. It is extremely expensive and daycare is hard to come by. We were looking at wait lists of a year or more at every daycare center and the prices were, to us, astronomical. Nannies were around the same price. I ended up quitting my day job and staying at home. One of the big reasons we left the city is because it would not have been sustainable over the long term, especially since we knew we wanted a second child.

@luckypenny: that's good then that you won't have to deal with the daycare nightmare. I was also all alone with no family nearby, it can be tough sometimes, but it's usually manageable. Good luck with the move!

One thing about NYC, specifically Manhattan living that was very ummm, unique, was the guarantor requirements on rental apartments. When I was living in NYC, the apartments my roommate and I were looking at required a guarantor that made at least 17 times the monthly rent! This was over 10 years ago, is that still required?

@looch: I think standard for renting (not with a guarantor) is at least 40x the monthly rent or at least that's what we've always run into when renting.

I haven't read other people's responses yet, so please excuse the repetition. Here are my answer:

What are your favorite things about living in NYC?
I grew up here and love it, so I am a little biased. The main things I love are the walkability, racial and cultural diversity, access to great restaurants and culture. Everything is at your finger tips. I remember being shocked at how much is out there for families, IF you have the money or WANT to pay for them.

What is your biggest complaint about living there?
The cost of housing. We are very lucky that we are financially able to live where we wanrt, but housing whether rental or to own is ridiculously expensive here. Even for us to move and get a 3 bedroom in a prime neighborhood here in Brooklyn, would put us to a new level of housing costs that boggles even my mind. We are trying to live in our current place as long as possible. Luckily, DD is only 9.5 months, and we plan to have a little bit of break should we definitely decide to have #2. The housing costs alone can be a source of stress. I think this why I work in the affordable housing world.

In general, I feel lucky to be able to live well here, but one of my complaints is the city's growing income disparity. It's getting hard for regular everyday folks to make it here, and it shouldn't be that way. That alone makes me get up everyday and do the work that I do.

What neighborhood do you live in/wish you lived in?
I live in Brooklyn where the following neighborhoods converge: Boerum Hill, Fort Greene and Park Slope. Those are all great neighborhoods and are slightly different from each other (Brooklyn neighborhoods could be their own post).

Tips for a mom of two (2YO & newborn) moving there?
Hmm....since you are from SF, you are already prepared for the small spaces and expensive housing costs. I'm a huge fan of Brooklyn and think there are lots of great places for families there. I would also look into Queens as well, particularly Astoria, Long Island City, Forest Hills, too. Queens is big though, so there may be other neighborhoods you might be interested in exploring.

Find a neighborhood parent list serv. NYC particularly the outer boroughs (everything that's not Manhattan) is a place of neighborhoods. I've found the parent list servs to be great sources for information for what's going on for families in my area.

@Tidybee: haha...That's awesome! Just one time ever, a guy passed by and sarcastically said, "Baby's first beer huh?". And we were all like......YUP!