Well, Queens and Brooklyn are on the Island as well, and a lot of that is ghetto.

IMO if you work in Manhattan but live in some generic NJ suburb, you'll end up kicking yourself later in life for not living on Manhattan. Sure, maybe you'll need roomates but who cares, it's only 1-2 years.

Oh yeh, leave the guns at home, if you wanna live in the city, you wont be able to get them legal within 1-2 years. Look in brooklyn, easy to get into the city from, probably more affordable than NJ or LI (if you add in taxes, commuting, car costs and all the other junk).

If you live in NYC dont get a car, its really more hastle than its worth unless you need to use it on a daily basis, the mass transit system is pretty good. If you are gonna keep the bike, leave it registered wherever you are, and buy a lojack for it.

Housing is gonna be expensive, figure $2k per month anywhere you go, including utilities.

And you better get a job too, you wont be able to afford to like on 40k.

I grew up in NJ so I can do the best I can to help you there. I love Jersey. People talk trash, but I'm from central NJ where most things are normal. A lot of people commute to NYC from central jersey but it would be a bit longer. There are trains obviously that will cut it down, but by car, she's be looking at about 40-45 min commute. A 2 bedroom apartment will run you anywhere between $1000-$1800 depending on where and what you're looking for.

Princeton is a really nice town but very pricey. Right outside of Princeton is where I grew up, a township called South Brunswick, which is very close to Rutgers. Really anywhere in central jersey would be good (Counties: Middlesex, Mercer, and Monmouth). North jersey is where the guidos are. South jersey is all Philly fans, and I would say too far for a daily commute.

What is expensive in NJ is property tax, so if you'll only be there for 2 years or so, it would be a good place to be since you won't be buying.

Surviving on 80K, very possible. My mom recently bought a new construction home on that salary (she's single..it is a small house though). My dad probably has double that salary and has a bigger house on about an acre, my step mom doesn't work, and they have a 5 year old. So I think you guys would be fine on that salary, just hope its more than 50k, that would be a little tight for 2 people.

Um....that would be a big no.


Agreed...especially with rents still low

NYC can just suck that one. The only time NYC will know about my guns is if I need to use them. At that point I won't really give a crap if I have to spend some time in jail to save my or my gf's life. Anyways I'll probably put my place of residence at my parents home in Georgia so no need for emissions and bullshit like that. I'll keep my GA tags.

Vehicle is very necesarry. I have a small side pressure washing business here and if I do move to New York/Jersey I plan to do work up there with it as I go to school. I'll need a truck to pull my trailer. Plus I do a lot of mountain biking, triathlons, etc so I need to travel from the city a bunch.

Firefighting is on the table for me when it comes to a job. It was the route I was going to go before I started school.

I looked into the taxes. New York I believe was 6.85% for her taxable income. Federal should be 25% but I think more realistically 17% since I think Federal works off of a piecewise formula. I didn't look into the city tax.

We'd really like to just rent a room and if we go to NY we'll look into that more

But as I said it's very unlikely that we'll move to New York. The only reason we would is if she for some reason didn't get an offer on the other 2 jobs that she would much prefer.

Understandable


Takes 2-5 years to be a NYC firefighter from the time you first sign up for the test until you actually get hired, and its really only worth it if you want to make a career and retire from it


Between 3 and 4%, but everything else is taxed too, food, clothes, gas, everything carries an extra 2-8% tax on top of other taxes


You will never find a room for rent, maybe a 1 room studio apt, or a room mate, but not a room, it just doesnt exist.


I know I sound negative, but thats the reality. Once you get past all the negatives, NYC is probably one of the coolest places in the world to live

I wouldn't aim for NYFD. I'd want to be in the outer suburbs (less chance of getting shot at). I know in Georgia the process is usually 6months to a year at the most and I'd start the process as soon as we know where we are going (which will be before Thanksgiving). I'm also getting my CDL A +Haz which helps a good bit for getting hired on. Along with getting scuba certified with stress and rescue. I know a good bit of FFs and they've said that stuff like that is very good to have on your resume. I'd also add that if I don't get into Rad Tech i'm going to take EMT courses for that year so I should have a good bit of stuff on my plate by then.

I know the negativity of NY. It's why leaving Georgia isn't my favorite idea. I'm just trying to get somewhat of an idea of what it would be like there.

Um, which part of it would be a big no?
Brooklyn and Queens are upper middle class now? First I've heard.

Both boros have their ghettos but also have some very wealthy ares. You would be lucky finding a brownstone in park slope for under a million.

Tom

Wouldn't suprise me. So many parts of Atlanta that were ghetto 5 years ago or so are now high dollar. 10 years ago if I heard the name "Cabbagetown, Decatur, East Point, College Park" I thought "Oh fuck, you better run". Now all the yuppies live there. Infact my gf and I went to Decatur today and the town was abandoned because of the Gay Pride festival.

This song right here about Cabbagetown is the shining example...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcgMDj52prI