What are the safest suburbs around New York city where renting an apartment is
reasonable and commute time to Manhattan is reasonable.  By reasonable
rent I mean around $1000.  By reasonable commute time I mean around a
half an hour by public transporation.

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Request for Question Clarification by rebeccam-ga on 24 Jul 2002 14:46 PDT

gregoryew-ga,

What are your requirements/expectations for an apartment (lease
length, # of bedrooms, bathrooms, parking, A/C, security, etc.)?  My
first thought, having grown up in the area, is Hoboken, but the rent
rates will vary considerably depending on what you're looking for.

Thanks!
Rebeccam-ga

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Clarification of Question by gregoryew-ga on 24 Jul 2002 15:25 PDT

I would like a lease length of around a year.  1 Bedroom, 1 bathroom,
no parking necessary, I would like A/C.  It should be secure with a
security system and a front doorman would be nice.  Also I would like
it to be cat friendly and have some kind of broadband connection to
the internet.

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Clarification of Question by gregoryew-ga on 24 Jul 2002 15:48 PDT

When looking at rent net for Hoboken I could not find an apartment
listed that was around $1000.  They were all above $1500 dollars which
is not in the same ball park.

Hi Gregory!

Yuck, moving!  I'm spending a lot of time with apartment rental sites
of late -  I'm learning my way around the sites quickly, so I thought
I'd lend a hand to a fellow mover.

Here's what I've found for you:

Using rental criteria of $800 - $1250, must have controlled access,
like to have AC, cable access, pet friendly, security system:

@ForRent.com

Queenswood Apartments, Corona, NY
http://www.forrent.com/search/detail.asp?site=1005361

Efficiencies start at $899, 1 bed at $1015

24 hour attended entrance
Cable ready
Utilities included
Dishwasher
Controlled entrance
Near public transportation

MapsOnUs.com clocks this as 7.9 miles from NYC proper.  Fifteen
minutes by car, perhaps slightly longer by public transportation.


@Rent.com
Searching at Rent.com returned no hits below $1600/month.  

@Homestore.com

Three pages of listings, most in NY proper, others in suburbs:

http://www.springstreet.com/apartments/fyp/search/matchlist.jhtml?_DARGS=%2Fapartments%2Ffyp%2Fsearch%2Fspg%2Fspg_matchlist.jhtml.16_A&_DAV=1


Another source for apartment listings is EasyRent.com.  They can give
you ballpark figures and locations, but to obtain specific listings,
you must subscribe, at a cost of $189.

EasyRent Guest Search
http://www.easyrent.com/content/search/tenant/view1.cfm?CFID=3239393&CFTOKEN=19760392

Most suburban listings with the features you desire are, alas, well
over $1500/month or more.  Those that are closer to your desired rent
are also an hour or so away.

A fellow Researcher has pointed out that there may be more reasonable
rents in Stamford, CT and Edgewater, NJ (about 40 minutes by express
train).  If these are acceptable options, please let me know via
clarification request, and I'll see what I can dig up for you in those
communities.


Good luck with the move!

--Missy

gregoryew-ga,

I can speak to the areas surrounding Manhattan that I've been to in
the last year or so... Obviously, the further you get from the city,
the cheaper rents are, but you also have to factor in transportation
(I forgot to ask how you'll be commuting.)

I have many friends who have moved to NY in recent years with pretty
much the same criteria you do, and most of them are now living in
Hoboken, Brooklyn, or Queens (Astoria in particular.) I've visited all
of them, and they all live in safe, clean buildings in neighborhoods
they like even though they're not rich :)

Century 21 has a page on Hoboken, and features rentals.  The 1 BR
listings range from $875 to $1850. (
http://www.hobokenhomes.com/rentals.asp )

I found some good listings in Brooklyn on Brooklyn-Realty.com
(http://www.brooklyn-realty.com/cgi-bin/search.cgi?search=1&lfield8_keyword=Apartments%20for%20Rent&marknew=7&sort_order=-11%2C123%2Cf
)

And in Astoria, Century 21 will help you find an apartment through
http://nycastoriaapt.com/.  (Pretty much every page I found brought me
back to Century 21!)

I hope this is a step in the right direction!

Best,
Rebeccam-ga