| The good: * Mass transit good enough that you don't need an internal combustion engine * One of the best pools of internet companies on the east coast * Extraordinarily diverse: I have friends from all walks of life, from blue collar (UPS delivery) to white collar (finance) to video production, photography, painters, sculptors and trying-to-make-it-actors-but-working-in-service. * Any kind of cuisine, delivered at any time. * Live comedy or music any night you want it * Superb dine-in experiences * Some of the best museums in the nation The bad: * Extraordinarily expensive. But if you live in an outer borough it almost balances out with living in a suburb somewhere: $1500 in rent, $120/mo in transit costs. Compare to Raleigh, NC: $795 for similar apartment in-city-limits, ($100/mo auto insurance, $3.50/gallon @ 27mpg @ 20 mi/day = $78/mo in gas, $300/mo in payments on a $15k car) $478/mo in transit costs. Chose Raleigh because I'm familiar with it, and there are actually some tech companies there (but you'll probably have to commute to RTP unless you're at Red Hat or Citrix or Wells Fargo). So a ~$350/mo (I'd extend this to a generalized 27% - this includes eating out, though not necessarily groceries) premium for living in Brooklyn compared to Raleigh. * Summers are brutal, and you usually have to rely on in-window units; central HVAC is unheard of except in brand new luxury residential buildings * Accidentally getting on that one empty car on the subway that just pulled in during rush hour * Constant temptation to get completely shitfaced every night because there are 5 bars within stumbling distance of home * It drains your energy until you get used to it. * It won't be like Sex in the City or Friends (more like Seinfeld with a shittier apartment), and people who expect it to be leave quickly -- thank goodness. * City income tax on top of state and federal. * Really, really crappy landlords. * Really, really crappy sidewalks [translation: too many people don't pick up their dog's (you hope it's a dog's) poo.] |