While New York City is one of the greatest cities in the world, it can’t get away from the fact that it is a city, and thus is cramped, noisy, sometimes dirty, and a difficult place to raise a family. Many New Yorkers will remember the buzz raised in 2011 when it was revealed that Deputy Mayor of New York, Robert Steel, had his primary residence in Connecticut rather than in the city he was working to run. The deputy mayor isn’t the only one to find life outside the city to be more pleasant; according to the US Census Bureau, 1.6 million people commute to Manhattan from outside the borough each day, with many coming from other states such as New Jersey and Connecticut. Over a quarter of a million workers commute from NJ alone. So, why the trend?
WHY LIVE OUTSIDE NYC?
There’s More Space and Rent is Cheaper Outside NYCIt’s no secret that the average apartment in NYC is far from the spacious living area seen on the hit TV show, Friends, and even the more modest accommodations seen on shows such as Seinfeld are far larger than the average New Yorker can hope for. Even in the outer boroughs, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a home with a yard, and affordable space may be in less desirable parts of the city.
Real estate agents will tell you, one of the most important factors in housing sales is location, location, location – and New York City is a hot commodity. The prices per square-foot in New York have risen drastically in the past few years and look set to continue upward. In 2000, the average price per square-foot was around $345, but has jumped to almost five times that at just under $1500 in 2013. Stamford, Connecticut has sufficiently lower, consistent real estate costs, with the average square-foot currently just under $300. Jersey City settles at $612 per square-foot, but has had quite dramatic market spikes in the past 5 years, with as low as $26 in 2009. When buying or renting, your money can go a lot further outside of NYC.Commuting Isn’t That Bad
While it might seem like quite a trek to commute from out-of-state, in many towns it’s actually not much further than coming from some of the outlying boroughs. Cities such as Jersey City, New Jersey and Stamford, Connecticut are only an hour by public transport to Midtown Manhattan. New York International’s editor-in-chief and editor commute in daily from Connecticut and New Jersey respectively and find the commute can be a great time to catch up on e-mails and the day’s news – especially now with WiFi offered on many trains and buses.You Can Have the Freedom of a CarWhile this might not seem like a big deal to many – for those with children the convenience of a car cannot be overstated. Trying to bundle children on and off the subway while making sure they don’t fall in the gap between the train and the platform, or trying to bring home the food shopping for the whole family via public transport just isn’t convenient or easy. Neither is keeping a car in the city. Depending on the borough, finding a place to park your car can be very expensive and driving in NYC can be frustrating. According to CNN, Brooklyn, Queens, and Manhattan top the list of 10 worst cities to drive in in America. Living outside NYC makes keeping a car more of a convenience than a curse.School Choice and Fewer Crowded ClassroomsPublic and private schools vary in quality from location to location, and you won’t necessarily find a better school simply by moving out of NYC. However, since the public school your child attends is based on the district in which you live, it is not uncommon for parents to choose to live outside of NYC simply because they’ve found a highly rated school district there. You will also find that the overcrowding problem that plagues city schools is less prevalent in areas outside NYC.
WHY YOU SHOULDN’T LIVE OUTSIDE NYC
Of course, living outside NYC while working there isn’t all good…TaxesLet’s face it, the NYC metropolitan area is not a cheap place to live, even outside of Manhattan property taxes are some of the highest in the nation. In fact, in an Xfinity article ranking the top 10 states with the worst property taxes, New York, Connecticut and New Jersey came in 5th, 4th and 1st respectively. Of course, property taxes vary depending on what area of the state you are living in, but in general you’re not likely to find yourself with lower taxes if you move out of the city.Additionally, living outside of NYC while working there adds an extra level of complication to your yearly tax filing. If you are living in another state but working in New York, you must file in both states, and usually must pay NY state tax. In some states, such as New Jersey, you are lucky to credit your NY taxes towards your NJ taxes, but since situations vary, you’ll have to look into the specifics of your particular situation. Another level of complication is added if you are a telecommuter. Although telecommuters will save time and money working from home, since they are working for a New York company, they still must pay New York income tax. If you live and work in the same state, you will have less of a headache when tax season comes around.Commuting Can Be Long
In 2011, the national average travel time to work was 25.5 minutes, but in the area surrounding NYC, commutes are typically double to triple that average. There’s even been a surge of “super-commuters” in recent years who commute daily from 2+ hours away. There are around 59,000 super-commuters who come from all states surrounding NYC, as far as Massachusetts and upstate Pennsylvania. There are some jobs that you just won’t find in the suburbs and some people are finding the long commute is worth sacrificing time to have the best of both worlds.Commuting Can be ExpensiveYes, taking the train is typically more glamorous than riding to work on the subway, but it also comes at a cost. Trains from outside of the city can be very expensive. The Long Island Rail Road can cost anywhere from $89 to $466 a month, depending on the zone from where you commute. This is in addition to a $112/month NYC metro pass for subways and buses. Even Amtrak’s multi-ride tickets are expensive, especially if you’re used to the railway system in Europe. As for drivers, ABC News reported that in 2012 commuters who had a 50-mile, one-way trek to work could have spent as much $155 more a month compared to the average driver. Commuting from out of state can cost precious time and money.NYC Has Some Great SchoolsNew York has a range of schools in its public school system, some are great, some not so much. However, some of the best high schools in the country are in NYC. CUNY’s Hunter College High School sends the highest percentage of its graduates to Ivy League Schools out of all of the public high schools in the United States. Manhattan’s Stuyvesant High School, the Bronx High School of Science and the Brooklyn Technical High School are all some of the best in the country. The budget has risen to $21 billion for New York Public Schools and raising teachers’ minimum salaries has helped to keep teachers in their districts longer, creating more experienced and better performing teachers.Commuting from outside of the city has its perks, but living in the city obviously has attraction as well. Ultimately, it is a personal choice and the costs can be adjusted based on your lifestyle. Decide what is most important to your living and working environment before deciding which lifestyle is best for your east coast life in the United States.