So we started looking today trying to get a feel for what’s out there. I still have no idea why we looked in Stamford other than as a worst case scenario and good excuse to hit Stew Leonard’s in Norwalk (a pretty strong selling point for me given how much I love food these past few years.) There’s some significant downsides to that idea:
- Distance from friends
- Commute time to work
- Living on the train schedule
- Nobody would come visit us up there
- Eventually I’d need to get a license and a car since I’d feel trapped in the neighborhood there without one
- Rent is no cheaper than NYC and I’d be saddled with over $300 a month in commuting expenses
But then, there were the nicer features:
- Stew Leonard’s close by
- In unit washer/dryer
- Easy parking
- 5 minute walk to Metro North
All of that also needs to take into consideration that I’ve really slowed down the past couple years as my workload has increased and taken more of my time. I think I get out maybe twice a month at most. I spend a ricockulous amount of cash on takeout since it’s frustrating to cook at home here. I tend mostly to see people on the way home from work or at the major events, but beyond that, I really don’t get out of the house or away from the office that much. I also really don’t have time/energy to take advantage of what the city has to offer at the cost it is.
All that said though, I think Stamford is just way too far out. There are some decent options in Jersey City but that means Ryan has to find a job in Jersey since commuting from there to Long Island would be worse with tunnels and bridges and more expensive factoring in the tolls. Brooklyn on the other hand has some promise, but still unclear on that. Given that Ryan isn’t that happy at his job now he’ll probably look for something near wherever we end up. Any way one slices it, we won’t be ready to jump on anything until probably mid January. With a site launch in the first half of Feb that’s going to make timing VERY interesting.
Now there’s just a few loose ends to clear up before we can actually start looking in earnest and a lot of neighborhoods to start visiting to see if we can tolerate them. I’ve spent close to 11 years in the East Village in 2 locations and while it will be difficult to leave in some ways, in others I think I’m done with this neighborhood and ready to move on. I’m in my 30s now, I really need more space and less party people around making noise on the weekends. I’m not ready to give the far out suburbs a go, but who knows how I’ll feel in January?