Where Else but New York?
We had our first heat wave last weekend and boy was it unpleasant. I don’t know the exact temperature, but it was in the high 90s. When you factor in the sun and the humidity, it was over 100 degrees. Matilda didn’t like the heat one bit and insisted on being air conditioned at all times.
The extreme heat, and the fact that we STILL have not been able to move into the condo that we bought, makes me hate New York right now. I just read that New York is dropping in the list of the world’s best quality of life cities from 46th in 2006 to 49th. I am having a real hard time remembering why I insist on living here. I could buy a 1,300 sq ft condo in Westchester with a pool, doorman, gym, and parking space for my car for the same price as the 815 sq foot condo we bought in Manhattan. We don’t take advantage of the nightlife. When we go to the movies now, we go in Yonkers. I haven’t been to a show or a play in years. I went to a museum last winter, I think. We have mice in our apartment that we cannot get rid of. I have caught Matilda eating paint chips that may or may not contain lead. Oy.
And then there is the crushing anxiety of where we are going to send Matilda to school. According to some, we are TOO LATE for many preschool options. And we can’t send Matilda somewhere in the neighborhood. A kid walked up to us on our block and asked if Pablo speaks Spanish. When he said yes, the kid asked him for a dollar. 12 year old boys in my neighborhood can’t even beg for a dollar in English!! Am I going to send Matilda to SCHOOL in this neighborhood?
We don’t have many alternatives open to us. We have to stay close to my parent’s house because we need the free child care. I’ve been toying with Inwood, Riverdale, Bronxville, Tuckahoe, White Plains and Tarrytown. Obviously, places that bring me close to Yonkers cause me to shudder. Why am I such a snob about moving the burbs? Anyway, post comments. Am I crazy? Remind me of why New York rocks please. Or suggest an area where the schools are good, the parking ample, and the takeout is great!
Why not Eugene?
Yeah! Move to Eugene! You could buy a beautiful 2000 sq ft “vintage” home in the best neighborhood for $450K, public schools are top notch (in fact I don’t even think there are any private schools), and fulltime daycare is only $800/month. Oh, or you can hire a college educated nanny for $9 per hour, which compared to NY is very cheap… You may be bored in the nightlife dept, but Portland is great and is only 1 1/2 hours away. Come visit and see what you think.
$800 a month? As in $40 a day? How they hell is that possible?
Janey!
You need to come to Barcelona, stay here for a month with all the family and plans, and then you will be glad to be back to quite NYC, jajajjajajajajaa!
If this helps you, in Barcelona it is exactly the same, you just have to change Yonkers for Sant Cugat, and you will have the same thought in catalan language…
Then, I think it is even worst as daycare is not 800$ but sometimes 900€!!! But you just will have to pay that if you are lucky and you find a place for your kid: there’s no enought place for all the kids, so some of them have no place even if they have the money… And then, if you find a cheaper place than that your kid will have to learn some arabic language to be able to comunicate with other kids…
Don’t you like NYC now??? Jajajajajjajaaja!
Anyway, I don’t think you don’t like NYC anymore, I think you are just still in the process of having a kid changing your life…
You love NYC!
The daycare center near my house is $1,558.00 a month for a total of $18,696.00 a year. And yeah, I don’t think we can get in. They don’t have many spaces.
Why do you love NYC!!?!
Remember TMBG:
“The streets are paved with diamonds and there’s just so much to see”
Move to NJ. It rocks!
I had a realization recently. There is absolutely no need for Matilda to go to preschool when she is 2. Its a waste of $10,000 – $20,000 a year. Furthermore, there is no need for us to move to an area with good public schools, but high taxes until Matilda is 5 years old. So I think we have bought ourselves 4 years to make a real decision on suburbs.
That doesn’t change the fact that I still want to get a car!
I feel your pain, Hanee. The daycare down the street quoted us $65 per day, and the woman doesn’t even have a yard. A 3BR condo is about $600,000 and it was 95 degrees this weekend.
Remind me why I’m NOT living in NY? ‘Cause it sounds like I am, minus the awesome parts.