Here's to the hunt!

So, I've made this blog because I figured it would be easier for us to post pictures, etc as we actually go and see the apartments and to compare and contrast them. I'm telling my landlord on the 15th (in 2 days!! AHH!!) that I am going to be moving out in 30 days, which is a pretty scary thing since we don't have an apartment yet and I may potentially be homeless (haha). Let's hope that it doesn't come to that.

What I also know is that most places aren't really showing apartments for June 15th yet. Mid month renting is always kind of weird, but, I've started looking anyway because, I figured, if we found the right one and gave them our cash, they might be a bit flexible with us. We'll see.

Now, onto important matters. There are basically 3 areas of the city that we can afford to live in Queens, Brooklyn, and Upper Manhattan. Now, currently living in Queens, I have a generally good idea about the area, so I can pretty much see where an apartment is listed and know whether or not it's even worth touring. Brooklyn and Upper Manhattan I'm a little more clueless about. To help us with this, I introduce maps:

Queens

Now, from looking at this map, you may have noticed that Queens is a rather large bit of land with quite a few neighborhoods. What I will tell you is that, even though Jackson Heights looks like it's not that far away, due to train availability and crowds, it's still about a 45 minute commute. Ouch. So the only neighborhoods we're really interested in this area are: Hunter's Point, Astoria (Steinway), Ditmars (Broadway), Long Island City (Vernon-Jackson), Woodside, and Sunnyside. The great thing is that pretty much all of Queens is a SAFE neighborhood, but the downside is that outside of these areas it's very heavily ethnic and family oriented, so not a lot of cool, young peeps or stores unless we stick to what I've listed. By far, these neighboorhoods have the best commute. Due to the sheer number of EXPRESS trains that are available in Queens, almost all of these areas offer a 15 minute ride to Mid-town Manhattan.

Brooklyn

Now here is lovely Brooklyn. Again, very large. And here it what it means:

Now, all kidding aside, this tends to be pretty accurate. The plus side about Brooklyn is that a lot of young, cool people live there. The downside? Parts of it are legitimately unsafe. Essentially, these are the neighborhoods I've been told by Brooklyn-ites are A-Okay: Park Slope (pricey), Kensington, Flatbush, Midwood, Windsor Terrace, Williamsburg, Greenpoint. The ones that you might be able to live in, but it really depends on a case-by-case basis are Bushwick and Prospect Heights. And then ones to definitely avoid are Bedstuy and Crown Heights. Essentially the rule is Ocean Parkway for the WIN! and Ocean Avenue if you want to die.

The major downside of Brooklyn is the commute. None of the trains (except the 1 and the Q which are in the sketchier neighborhoods) are express in Brooklyn, and you will undoubtedly have to transfer at some point during your commute. Average commute time for most people is about 30-45 minutes.

Manhattan

Unfortunately, despite how much time I spend in the place, I really know the least about Manhattan. There are a lot of really awesome areas, but all of them are also very expensive. Really, the only thing that we can afford to look at it Upper Manhattan, Harlem, East Harlem, Washington Heights, etc. Now, everyone will tell you that a really safe street can be back to back with a really unsafe street, and the only way to know where yours lies is to visit it at night. There's a reason why places up here are more affordable, and it's important to keep that in mind. Most people say that as long as you keep along the express train, you're usually okay.
Just some important things to keep in mind when you're looking at ads on Craigslist or in the village voice. We can't possibly go see everything, so, being able to eliminate properties simply by the sketchiness of the neighborhood or by its uncommutability is an important skill to attain.