Living in New York?

Hey,

Are there any people here that live in New York? I wonder how expensive life is there. Any ideas on appartment costs etc for a single person? Or avarage wage of a New Yorker or something?
I'd like to go live there for a year once i graduate but I hear it's quite expensive, so it's not decided yet. Getting a visa for a year wouldn't be a problem, but I wouldn't have a working permit, so how difficult would it be to get a job? (By then I should have my bachelor in computer science and I'm also considering an economics-related master).
I could try earning my money with freelance, but the whole point would be to go out there, meet people, improve my English.. and not sitting behind my computer and program all day.

So any advice, ideas, experiences you want to share?

I don't live in NYC, but had family members living there, plus I visit it quite often.
Living in New York is indeed expensive, considering you want to live on the island (Manhattan). Most likely you will have to find a roommate to share the cost of the apartment with as well. You can see the level of pricing by going to NYTimes Real Estate section and searching "rentals":
http://www.nytimes.com/pages/realestate/index.html
You can also browse through a site like http://www.housingmaps.com just to see the Craigslist/Google maps mashup for latest rental offerings.

But it is a very exciting place to be, which truly doesn't sleep, lots of places to go to and have fun, lots of crazy people on the street. But if you want to go to nice places and enjoy the city to its fullest, it can become costly, so you might want to start saving now. Regardless, it is easy to fall in love with the city.

New York is one of the most expensive places in the US to live. Aside from the real estate, the costs of living are simply expensive. You can see salary stats for all over the US at http://www.payscale.com/

Is there any particular reason you were looking to live in New York?

Thanks for the advice guys. There's no particular reason, it's just the city that appeals to me the most. However, everyone is advising me against New York, so I'm also considering Florida. I have family there and a few connections wouldn't hurt, but Florida doesn't look half as exciting as NY (for someone that has never been to the US and doesn't know much about it).

Either way, my biggest problem is getting a working permit, and I still have no idea how to do that. I might just go through some vacancies and contact companies, but I'd have to be really lucky to find a company that wants to go through all the trouble of working on a visa request for me, without even meeting me upfront.

So any suggestons or ideas on how to get there are welcome!

Originally Posted by Hero Thanks for the advice guys. There's no particular reason, it's just the city that happens to appeals to me the most. However, everyone is advising me against New York, so I'm also considering Florida. I have family there and a few connections wouldn't hurt, but Florida doesn't look half as exciting as NY (for someone that has never been to the US and doesn't know much about it).

Big cities are always fun, there is never a loss of things to do no matter what you are into. I know a family who moved to Florida from Chicago, they say that everything moves a little slower down there. But the people down there say that they are the normal ones and we live fast paced in the city. What state you start in doesn't really matter, if you don't like it you can just move.

Originally Posted by Hero Either way, my biggest problem is getting a working permit, and I still have no idea how to do that. I might just go through some vacancies and contact companies, but I'd have to be really lucky to find a company that wants to go through all the trouble of working on a visa request for me, without even meeting me upfront. So any suggestons or ideas on how to get there are welcome!

Have you been to any sites like http://www.workpermit.com? Finding a sponsoring organization may be difficult because jobs are already in short supply.

It's not going to be easy to find a company to just hire you with a visa, however, I wish you luck! I also would like to work in New York for a time period because it's a wonderful place and looks like somewhere I belong. But that's why I'm going in March for a 2 week holiday to enjoy New York and California and see if it really is the right place for me in the future.

Hero-- I live in NYC.

I came for the weekend and by the end of the weekend I had a job and a place to live and many many years later . . . I'm still here. This is a very common story among New Yorkers.

Living in NYC and visiting -- as with any large city -- are two very different things. In general it's less expensive to live here than in London or Copenhagen. Salaries tend to be higher than in Europe (and elsewhere in the US), but there's a lot of variation.

My advice would be to look for an internship and look into a 1-year school certificate program of some kind as well as looking for a job. The latter especially can give you entree to interesting people and places. You may have fewer visa problems if you come on some kind of an educational exchange, too.

Thank you all for very useful information!

Man i went to New York this summer, A pack of cigarettes in the city is $13. That shows you how expensive it is. My family is from Long Island which is pretty nice and not to far from the city. I'm guessing its way cheaper there.

I'm actually going to New York next summer (not confirmed) sponsored by a family member and I hope to do EVERYTHING i can in probably a week and a half.