Houston3000
Member
Honestly, how close you are to "the action" is more about what subway line you're close to than what neighborhood you're in... and let's face it, you need to ride the subway from wherever you live if you honestly want to experience the city. You can live in the heart of Manhattan and would still need to hop the train over Brooklyn for all the cool parties going down there, or ride uptown if you want to experience even half of the cities museums, or walk around Central Park. My point being: A place in Mid Brooklyn, in those $1100 1BR apartments is still less than 20 minutes away from anywhere you'd want to be and even closer to some places than someone with a $3000 studio in Midtown... AS LONG AS you're near the L or JZ line - which isn't hard considering they run the full length of the borough (or if you're downtown, obviously the other trains).I don't really think people moving into the city want to live in those areas, though- they seem to be a better fit for native New Yorkers. Most people who move to the city want to be close to the action. For me, it's worth paying the price premium to have easy access to things that interest me.
My first apartment before I moved to Manhattan was out in the "boonies" of East Brooklyn, in the ghetto, I paid ~$400 a month. My ride to Union Square was literally 25 minutes, and my ride downtown into LES was even shorter - on the express. On top of that I could get to all the shit going down in Brooklyn all the time in less than 15 minutes. And as I said, that was in EAST Brooklyn... if you're around the mid section you're in an even better position.
The only real problem spots in that area is when you get out near Rockaway where it can take you an hour+ since the A line basically runs out before it reaches the island. Queens in general is also relatively terrible - there's a few decent spots along the 7 and Q but for the most part not very good subway coverage.