corkycool

Hi, my husband are I are just literally starting the process of a move from London to New York. My husband will be working above Grand Central Station and I will be building the new home!

We have 2 kids, my daughter is almost 6 so due to start Year 1 in September over here. My son is 3 and a half and at a montessori nursery at the moment. He has another year before 'big' school.

We are obviously in the very early stages of moving. But have no idea of where to live, where the best places are, where there may be a majority of expats around? With regards to schools for my kids, my husbands company would pay for private education, so private schools are an option, as my daughter is currently attending a private school here in London.

We would like to live in a suburban area with lots to do with the kids and more of a community feel, that is not too far to commute for my husband. Garden space for the kids as well.

So if anyone else has recently been through this and has any useful tips or advice on places to live and schools we would be very grateful to hear them!

penguinsix

Where to begin. It's quite daunting to say the least.

From a planning standpoint, I'd start on a master list. Put on it every single thing you need to do, and leave plenty of room to add stuff. Visas, banks, utility bills shutdown, etc. Make it huge. You're going to need some discipline to get this all sorted.

I would also pick a date, probably 2 or 3 days before you leave, to have everything done. Even if you are not the procrastinating type, your going to find at the end if you have 2 or 3 days with nothing to do in the UK you'll actually have a bit of time to enjoy things before you head off. If you are the procrastinating type, you'll need those last few days before the removal man arrives and you head to the airport.

As far as some of the practical things, I would start first with those things that take time. Education records are a good one. Request transcripts from your kid's schools so you can speak intelligently about what they have and have not learned thus far. Vaccination records are *very* important as your kids may need jabs they haven't gotten thus far (take a look at the WIKI on Education, listed above). You may also need to sort out a few bills, credit cards, UK mobile phone, banks, etc. (recommendation: keep your UK bank account active if at all possible).

Then start looking over to this side. A common suggestion is 'rent first' at least for 3 months or more likely 6. You want to get your feet on the ground before committing to something longer term (either a long term lease or a purchase). You want to test the waters and see if this is the neighborhood for you, and whether you can stand living in the US (many cannot).

Some of the NY'ers will be up soon to suggest specific towns and areas. Manhattan is wonderful, if you can afford to live there in the big city, but there are plenty of nice suburbs only a train ride away. Westchester County or even Connecticut may be options to consider.

One other thing is some serious time with your spouse. Talk about the worst case scenario. You wouldn't be the first 'trailing spouse' of an Expat to go completely bonkers when you arrive in a foreign land far from friends and family. You may want to talk through it with him 'what if' we (you) don't like it. What would it take for both of you to call it a day and fly back to Heathrow? The excitement of a move can quickly be replaced by the depression of living in a different culture with no friends and family or other support mechanism. It can be incredibly difficult. (See Wiki: Making Friends in America, also see Cultural Differences).

Anyway, the whole thing is a process. As I said I'd start with a list of things you think you need and then come back to this board and post some specific questions as you go along (what bank, what removals, what's the weather like, etc).

Good luck on your adventure.

Rete

Suggest you do a search of this forum. This has been discussed for years and more recently in the last 4 months about the suburbs both in New York, Long Island and New Jersey. Since your husband will be working in the Metlife Building adjacent (not on top of) Grand Central, he would find travel easier if you moved to Westchester or Connecticut. Depending on his earnings and your savings and whether you wish to own or rent, your choices are varied. Be aware that nothing here in the tri-state area (NY, NJ, CT) in the way of housing is cheap or even reasonable. You are looking at 1/2 or 3/4 of a million for a house and the taxes are skyrocketing with a huge tax increase just levied recently.

Look for towns like Scarsdale, Hartsdale, Valhalla, Briarcliff, Somers, Mahopac in New York and Byram, Greenwich, Fairfield in Connecticut.

corkycool

Hi,

Thanks so much for your advice. Its very difficult knowing where to begin I agree! We would be renting as we plan to rent our house out here in London. Not sure on the budget yet, but thought it we could work out where to live then the schools would follow after that...

Will have a look at past threads and will come back to the board soon..

Thanks again for your time!

penguinsix

You may know that public schools (free) in the US are entirely dependent upon where you live, not just the city but down to the neighborhood and street. As you look for rentals, your first question will likely be 'what schools' for this place or that. You can goto sites like http://www.greatschools.net to get a statistical readout of the school in that area, and then do a google search and you might find their website or school districts website (more on all these terms in the WIKI).

Some public schools in the US (and many private) offer an IB program that will keep your kids on track for their studies back home. Or you may just want to go 'all in' and throw them into the US style system. There are some differences (though not as pronounced at the younger age levels). As you mentioned you're renting out the UK place I'm assuming going back sooner rather than later is in the plans, so you may want to take extra precautions to make sure your kids stay on track. (NOTE: If you pick up the phone and talk to some receptionist at the school, you're not going to get the answers you need about IB programs or curriculum vs. the UK. It's not really a common question. Try to speak to the principal (headmaster) at the school or one of the guidance/academic counsellors who can assist better).

One other site you might consider is http://www.city-data.com/ They have specifics on each city (just the numbers) as well as a message board by state and area where you can ask specific questions about this neighborhood or that. It's not just for expats, but for Americans relocating as well so you'll get a lot of input from various viewpoints.

pejpm1

I live in Manhattan..dont think I'd fancy raising kids anywhere in Manhattan that I can think of. Park Slop or Brooklyn heights are good if you want to be in NYC but still be somewhere fairly residential. Either that or maybe you could live in NJ? I've heard that Rutherford is nice.

Bob

Read the wiki, it covers a lot of good ground like credit history, utilities etc...

You'll need a good wedge of cash to make the move as painless as possible as there's lot of hidden costs.

Search the forum for posts by Englishmum as she's posted loads of great info for people.

nooka

If your budget is large and your relocation package generous then there is lots of scope for your new home. One thing I would really recommend is a recce visit, as however many recommendations you are given whether you like an area is quite instinctual. For example I really liked the sound of NJ from posts here, family recommended Brooklyn, and my dh's work colleague recommended the edge of Queens/Naussau. We weren't able to come in advance, so spent a month in limbo checking out schools and districts. Some areas were very different in practice to my expectations, others you could see why other people liked them, but they just didn't do it for us. The only problem you may have with this is that schools have just broken up for the summer.

Bladerunner

If you are prepared to live in an apartment, the Upper West Side between 96and 110th is still fairly affordable and you are between Riverside and Central Parks. Very child friendly.

penguinbar

Ilive on the Upper East Side. There are loads of private schools here. Most of them are at least 25K per year !If his company would cover the cost that's great! There are Montessori schools here as well. Depending on where you move there could e excellent publicschools.I grew upin New Jersey with an excellent public school system.Thereare some really nice areas of Brooklyn that are residential as well. It all depends on your budget too. Astoria in Queens is very residential. There arel oads of modern shops andrestaurants there as wll.It depends how far your husband wants to commut too.

LadyBelle

Hi!

We definitely did discuss a similar move recently on these boards; do a search and you'll see a few threads. For someone (I can't remember who now) who also would be commuting into Grand Central and who also wanted a bit of suburbia, I highly recommended staying along the train lines into Grand Central. It's a thorough thread and should help you a great deal.

Public (free) schools depend very specifically on your neighborhood/street, so if you're considering that, you'll want to think about that before you commit.

We just moved from London to Westchester recently and it's been great. If you need anymore advice, please feel free to ask. But do check out the recent threads, particularly those involving Grand Central commutes.

Best of luck!

LadyBelle

Here's the thread I was thinking of re: Grand Central commuters:

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=514507

Patrick Hasler

I don't see anything wrong with living in Grand Central anyway

Lot's of people do, it's handy for the trains

Just bring enough large cardboard boxes for all of you and reserve a space along the tunnels