limetree1

My husband has the possibility of a move to New York, which means us all relocating from London. (he will be working in the financial district as he works for one of the big european banks)

We have three children (13, 3, 1), the 13 year old will obviously need secondary schooling.

Can anyone advise on areas to live/schooling etc.

As this will be our first time working abroad any help/advice will be appreciated.

penguinsix

First, do a search on this forum for "New York", "Manhattan", "New Jersey", or "Connecticut". You'll find dozens of threads from people just like you asking the exact same question.

Do you want to live in the city (NY)?
How much do you want to spend on housing?
How long of a commute can your husband tolerate?
Public (government) schools or private (independent) schools?
How long will you be here?

Those are a few to start. Others who are local to NY will also chime in with some city names you should consider.

limetree1

Thanks for the quick response.

Not sure about living in the city, although my husband currently has a 1hr 20 commute and would appreciate a shorter one!
Not sure on housing budget as yet but would presume a fair one for the family size.
School would probably be private as the contract intially would be for a couple of years.
Thanks again for the quick response.

penguinsix

The US schools generally start at age 5, though many have what is known as K-4 (4 year old kindergarden). It's generally a half day program.

Your plan to return to the UK might complicate this a bit. Your 3 year old might be 'behind' or so. You could consider the British School in New York, though that would mean the kids would be commuting with your husband. Others can comment on their views of that school. Not sure if there are others in the area that are following the British model.

With the 13-year old you have a few more options. You could go into the American system to give them a taste of US life. If you end up in a pretty decent area (i.e. wealthy, safe area) you should consider the 'free' public schools as many of them will be academically stronger than the private schools in the area. Really all depends on geography.

Here is more about the schooling:

http://britishexpats.com/wiki/What_d...kids_in_school

The other website you should consider, when you get a few cities in mind, is city-data.com. They have forums for people relocating from different parts of the US and can speak quite locally about specific towns and neighborhoods.

http://www.city-data.com/forum/new-york-city/
http://www.city-data.com/forum/connecticut/
etc

penguinbar

If you do decide to live in Manhattan private schools are about $25K plus per year and many have a waiting list to get in as well. You need to figure out your housing budget and when whether you want to live in the city or outside. As mentioned if you do live outside the city there are many towns with excellent public school systems. It would help to narrow down where you would like to live as mentioned whether it be New York, New Jersey, Connecticut etc. Penguinsix gave you some very good links. If he will be working in the financial district you might want to check out living in Battery Park if you would like to live in the city.

Jerseygirl

Hi and welcome to BE.

I live in NW New Jersey...it takes 1 hour to get to Penn Station by train from where I am.

The closer you live to NYC the more urban the district. We prefer to live in a more rural area. Like London...most areas of the NY Metropolitan Area (Conn/NY/NJ) will be expensive and it's not just property but property taxes too.

My daughter went to private schools in Morris County and Somerset County. So if you are interested in any of those areas let me know and if I can help you out I will. Private schools here are extremely expensive compared to the UK...they also expect a sizeable donation each year.

As others have said try the search function because there's been loads of threads on moving to NYC. Also check out Englishmum's past posts...she's posted lots of valuable information over the past few years.

If you have trouble locating any of the info please give me a shout.

Bob

city-data.com is a good site to check out and get a feel for some of the towns.

Is the job a company transfer or not? Makes a difference to visa and restrictions on them, a company transfer would be L1 so you as spouse could work, if it were a H1, you wouldn't be allowed to work.

With a 13 year old, might want to consider a greencard application asap once you move over even if you don't end up staying, just so you have it in case you like it and want to stay because if you hold off, especially on H1, you run the risk potentially of the 13 year old timing out.

Welcome to BE and good luck though!

Chrissywissy100

I've just had lots of good advice given to me on relocating to the NY area here...

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=671026

limetree1

Thankyou, will have a scan round all the links etc. that you guys have mentioned and no doubt come back with more questions.

Thanks again

discoviking

'The financial district' is more than one place these days. Most of the large financial institutions have offices in Manhattan (midtown usually) and also in Jersey City, around Pavonia/Newport. There are some financial companies down by the Wall Street area still too, but most moved to Jersey City after 9/11. So where you look for a place to live will depend on where your husband will be physically located once he gets here. You don't want to commute to Pavonia/Newport from Long Island, for example. People do, but it would be easier to commute from New Jersey.

limetree1

office will be wall street area, oh and company transfer

discoviking

In that case, some good options are Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and of course New Jersey. It's a bit of a pain to get to downtown from Long Island, CT or Westchester. Doable, but too many train changes for my taste.

If you want to stay in New York City (Including Brooklyn or Queens), I would get a NYC Subway map and look at areas close to the Subway lines.

If you want to live in New Jersey, I would get a NJ Transit map and look at towns close to trainlines that run into Hoboken or Newark. Then you would take the PATH from there to World Trade Center. Forget commuting by bus or car, rush hour traffic is horrendous.

anuny

If your hubby is making good money (read big bucks ) You can live right in the neighborhood - Battery Park.

Schools - Good private schools can cost you over 50K per annum. People live in small enclaves easily accessible by metro north, NJ Transit and the buses.

Sorry, I dont have kids, but every one I know do send their kids to public as well as private schools. Your 13yr old will have to look for a High School. She'll start probably as a junior.

penguinbar

A 13 year old would be a freshman in high school not a junior. She still could be in Junior High or middle schools depending on how the schools are seperated.
Most 13 year olds are still in 8th grade so that would be middle school or Junior High.

anuny

Correct. Sleep deprived and jet-lagged I finished school a month short 16, in the mid 70s