UK to NYC
 

Hi all,

I'm new to this site and I'm hoping I can get the help and support I need just now.

My family and I are relocating from the UK to NY in the next few months. My husband is staying within the same company, which has done countless relocations before so it will be well managed from that point of view I'm sure.

My concerns are around where to live and schools mainly. Our eldest turns 6 in October so I believe he'll go into 1st grade??

I am not going to be working so we don't need to worry about childcare for the younger two at the moment.

We're looking at Brooklyn as we've heard it's good for families and there's lots to do. My concern is that we currently live on the south coast of England and have a 3 bed house with a garden. It's going to be a big adjustment not having any outside space of our own..especially with 3 young boys!

Should we be considering areas outside of NYC, such as New Jersey?

We're looking to spend up to £2000/$3000 a month on rent.

Thanks in advance! 😀

Re: UK to NYC
 

If you want a house with a garden for $3000 a month you're probably going to have to look at the 'burbs.

Whereabouts is your husband's office in Manhattan? If it's in midtown east near GCT look along the Metro-North Railroad in Westchester or CT. If near Penn, look along the Long Island Railroad or New Jersey Transit. If near the Port Authority Bus Terminal look along the commuter bus lines in NJ. If in the financial district, look for which subway lines connect to which commuter rail station. Similarly if you decide to stay in the city, work back along whichever subway lines are closest to the office.

School quality varies dramatically and has a big impact on property prices and rents, so if you see a bargain, check up on the local schools before committing.

We live out in Westchester and love it, and I find my commute to GCT far less stressful than commuting into London. We don't have kids though, so don't really care about schools.

Re: UK to NYC
 

Have you thought about Long Island and the north shore of Nassau County?
LIRR has reliable transport into Penn Station and you can get a decent sized house with a garden (and even a pool!) there. The schools are also some of the best in the country, with a lot of their students going on to win national science prizes and more.

Re: UK to NYC
 

His office is in the financial district.

Thanks for the ideas of different areas outside of the city..I'll look into those.

Good idea to follow the commuting lines out.

What's Jersey City like?

Am I right that my eldest will go into 1st grade?

Thanks again 😀

Re: UK to NYC
 

What would my husband's commute be like from these areas, into Penn and then down to the financial district?

Re: UK to NYC
 

What type of area is Westchester? What would the commute be like?
What sort of property could we get for our money? Sorry, 20 questions!!

Re: UK to NYC
 

In NYC, yes. But check to see if other districts have different rules.

In NYC, anyone born in 2010 would be entering Kingergarten in the 2015/16 school year according to this link:

Elementary - Elementary School - New York City Department of Education

So anyone born in 2009 (like your eldest) would be going into Grade 1 in 2015/16.

Re: UK to NYC
 

I've been researching Jersey City recently for a friend planning a 6 month secondment, apartments and corporate rentals have an additional 6% tax on top of the rent. I don't know anything about schools in that area. To be honest I don't think it's somewhere I would have considered for myself when we relocated with a young family having been there 3 times in the last 30 days looking at 1 & 2 bed apartments.

Re: UK to NYC
 

Expensive!

The areas with the good school districts, I'd say most on this list, you will struggle with your budget if you also want to be near a station with a decent commute.

'Best 100 Middle Schools in New York' List Released | Bronxville-Eastchester, NY Patch

Re: UK to NYC
 

I just checked LIRR (train) website and it say from Garden City (which is a massive commuter hub to the City) to the Financial District is an hour commute:

Re: UK to NYC
 

Thank you, that's great 😃

Re: UK to NYC
 

That's great, thanks very much for that, alternageek 😀

Re: UK to NYC
 

I'd say it's NYC's equivalent to Surrey. Your budget is a bit tight for a house rental in the nicer parts of Westchester, but I'd still say you could find something suitable if you looked around. So long as you avoid most of Yonkers, Mt Vernon and maybe Ossining and New Rochelle there's few really bad bits of Westchester.

Having said that, my current commute from Philipse Manor station in Sleepy Hollow to GCT then short walk (or Times Square Shuttle if I'm lazy) is fine - about an hour and change door-to-door. However my firm is moving to the WTC in the autumn which means a ride from GCT on the 4/5 downtown and I am not looking forward to that, so I wouldn't recommend Westchester for a commute to the financial district.

A couple of other options for the financial district might be NJ then the PATH train to the WTC or maybe even Staten Island and take the ferry. Like all the locals, I've always assumed SI to be the red-headed step-child of NYC but I have a colleague (a Polish ex-pat) who lives there and really likes it.

Re: UK to NYC
 

I suspect that finding an acceptable compromise of house/garden, commute into Manhattan, and decent schools, within even the upper end of your budget will be a great challenge.

We tried to find such a compromise back in 2002, and schools weren't even part of our decision process. We gave up after six months of trying to find a niche that would give us an even "tolerable" quality of life. :(

Re: UK to NYC
 

Does anyone know about the various parts of Brooklyn? Places to avoid etc?

I'll have a look at SI, thanks.

Is Trulia the best way to search for properties?