A West Coast Guide to Moving to NYC (Pt. I)

This is the first post in what I'm going to entitle the "Moving to NYC" chronicles. In the next few posts we'll discuss the process to move to NYC for all you west coasters out there. I was one and I did it; so can you.

Moving from one coast to another, from one city to the largest city in the United States, seems like it may be a daunting proposition. There are many things to consider, I hope to cover most of those here.

Setting a Date: The First Step
So, you thought the first step was going to involve money or identifying where you want to live. Nope, the first step is setting a date. If you fail to set a date as your first step, you'll end up postponing all of the later steps and staying where you are. It's a natural human reaction to stay with what you know, so let's kill that one right off the bat.

If you're living alone, find out when your lease ends. If you're renting month-to-month, call your landlord and give no more than 60 days notice (unless it's the middle of the month or something). Give yourself some time to plan what you're about to do, but make the decision as to when you are leaving first. If you have roommates, this becomes a bit more difficult, but the most important thing is that you start severing those ties that bind you to where you are. The first is where you live, the next steps follow out of necessity after that.

Part of setting a date also involves starting the process of canceling your bills and consolidating your finances. Do you have cable TV? You're not going to be watching it, turn it off. Let your utility companies know when to shut off power, gas, etc. Make certain that when your date comes around, no location-specific things you've subscribed to are left over.

Consolidate Your Assets: Step Two
If you have a job, you're going to want to figure out when you're going to leave it, or when you'll let them know that you're moving. Some jobs will relocate you, some might allow you to move, most will require you quit. If your employer is extraordinarily cool, let them know as soon as possible when you're leaving. If they are not, start putting your affairs in order so you can give your two weeks without much hullabuloo.

The next part of this step is the hardest for most west coasters: sell your stuff. You want to move to NYC (or any other city) to get a fresh start? You're not going to need your things. That awesome art piece you picked up, your DVD/book collection? Useless. Sell absolutely everything that you can except what you absolutely need. Your furniture? Gone. Your car? Get rid of it. Your media? Whatever.

Keep in mind why you're moving as you're doing this, it will make it easier, whatever the reason is. When was the last time you actually used most of the stuff you have? If it's been more than a month, you should be getting rid of it, and hopefully doing so for a decent chunk of cash. You want as much of your assets turned into liquid ones as fast as humanly possible. Take everything you want to keep and throw them in a storage unit. You're not going to have space for them when you move. Selling your car gets you the added bonus of getting used to walking and public transit, not to mention another bill you can remove.

One thing that you will want to keep, or acquire if you don't already have one, is a laptop computer. This will be one of your best friends in the months to come. With a laptop computer and around $6000, you can comfortably move anywhere in the United States and be able to find what you need next. Most people, no matter what situation they're in, won't actually find getting to those two things terribly difficult.

I emphasize this so much because it is not only one of the most important steps, but it's also one of the most rewarding. When you're down to a few boxes in a storage unit and a couple suitcases full of clothes, the freeing sensation is unimaginable. Try to get to the point where you can carry everything you're going to move. If you can't handle it all yourself, you need to put things in storage, or sell more crap.

Figuring Out Where To Live: Step Three
Most people would consider this as step one, nope, it's step three, though you will likely still be working on step two when you start this.

The biggest key is looking for a temporary place to stay. If you have friends in the city already you can live with, this might already be done. If you don't, then this step is required for you to find a temporary living situation. There are innumerable advertisements on craigslist for apartments to sublet, and that's what you want to do. Sublet a furnished room for a month. It sounds almost impossible to arrange this from a few thousand miles away, and without friends already in the city, it can be. In that case, find a short-term (one week) sublet to use as a springboard to getting something more long-term.

A lot of people make the mistake of wanting to live in Manhattan right away--don't do this--instead plan on living in a nearby neighborhood. You can expect to spend nearly a thousand dollars a month in rent for a room anywhere near Manhattan, and be lucky to find anything in Manhattan for under twelve hundred. You can certainly find better deals, but don't expect them.

As a newbie to living in the city, there are some places you probably want to avoid living in right away, and some places you'll want to seriously look at. I'll list them right here for your reading pleasure:

Places to look at:

• Williamsburg - Hipster neighborhood less than 15 minutes from Manhattan, lots of bars, but pricier rents than areas further away.
• Brooklyn Heights - Not as hipstery, still in Brooklyn, and still close enough to Manhattan to be an ideal first place to live.
• DUMBO - Still in Brooklyn, but if you can afford DUMBO, you might as well start out in Manhattan
• Hoboken/Jersey City, NJ - Living in Jersey will either make you hate or love New York, but you don't want to stay there too long, wait until you get sick of living in New York before you put down roots in NJ.
• Astoria - I, personally, would avoid Queens like the plague, but a lot people tell me that Astoria is actually a pretty nice place to live, and it's only a few minutes outside of Manhattan.
• Lower East Side - This is in Manhattan, and damn pricey, but still a smidge cheaper than the East Village
• East Village - Where every hipster wishes they lived. Enough said.

Places not to consider:

• Upper Manhattan - Just too far away from the fun, and if it's cheap, it's in Harlem. I hear you're supposed to keep how awesome living Harlem is a secret these days, but as a newcomer, it will be the exact opposite of awesome.
  
• The Bronx - You've heard horror stories, I'm sure, only about half of them are true. You don't want to live in the Bronx unless you're a veteran of NYC, or so I've heard.
• Anywhere else in CT, NJ - Seriously, not worth it.
• Staten Island - A twenty minute ferry ride with a separate fare from the rest of the MTA may not seem like a big deal now, but it will once you live here.
• Anywhere more than four stops away from Manhattan - Once you've lived here for a bit, you might want to move further away, but when you first move to New York, you're going to want to spend as much time as possible in Manhattan, trust me. Late night, those extra few stops will seems absurdly far away.

Finding a Job: Step Four
Once you've made arrangements to sublet, you've done almost all you can do from where you are now unless, of course, you still need a job. If you don't have that $6000 (in New York that will cushion you for no more than a couple months comfortably), you'll need one of those ASAP. Craigslist is invaluable, but most places will want you to come in and interview. Temping is always an option, but the best idea is to get your resume out there to as many jobs as possible, with details as to when you'll be moving.

You might be lucky enough to get a phone interview and have something lined up before you even arrive, but don't count on it. Your goal here is to get out of where you are and to where you want to be. Once you have the cash, the place, and almost nothing to move, the rest becomes very easy.

Getting a Plane Ticket: Step Five
You've set a date, you've sold most of your crap, you're looking for a place and a job, now it's time to finish up the last of your preparation, buy a plane ticket. I recommend flying JetBlue at the moment, as NYC is their headquarters most flights to and from are pretty cheap; plus, you can catch up on that TV you've been missing.

See me soon for Part II, or namely "Now I'm Living in NYC, Now What?"