HI. I'm looking for any information on the Rockaway, Rockaway Beach, etc area of NY. My daughter is preparing to move to NY, will be working in Manhattan and the idea of living in a beach area appeals to her. I'm actually from NY, but I don't think I've ever even been there in the 20 years I was growing up in and around the city. Now we live in New England. I'm suggesting areas like Astoria and Jackson Heights (maybe because that's where I lived as a kid, but really I think because they are a reasonable commute). Anyway, when I "turned up my nose" as she said, at the idea of Rockaway, she pointed out that things have changed a lot since I left the area. So she said, ask your travel friends, so I am.

So any info on the commute to Manhattan, the nature of the area to live in, etc. would be appreciated.

I have a friend who grew up in Far Rockaway and her parents still live there. When I've visited them, their area of Far Rockaway looked to me like tidy, 1950's bungalows, inhabited mostly by older people like her parents. I can't imagine there are many appropriate rentals. Other parts of Rockaway, however, have significant crime rates and would not be somewhere you want her to live. Going to Far Rockaway from Manhattan would mean taking the A train all the way to the end -- it can't be a short ride.

If she's young and single and working in Manhattan, she should consider living in Manhattan (if she can afford it) or Brooklyn. What happens when she goes out with friends at night? Is she going to want to take that A train all the way home?? If she likes the beach, she should get a summer share in the Jersey Shore, Fire Island or the Hamptons.

If she's willing to live outside NYC in Connecticut or Northern New Jersey, she can be quite near the beach. The commute probably wouldn't be any longer than from the end of the A train! There are a lot of apartment buildings in Stamford and she could keep a car. Also, NJ Transit's has a coastal commuter train line that runs all down the Jersey shore to Bayhead.

My brother lives in Long Beach, NY and commutes to Manhattan each morning by the Long Island Railroad ($200 per month) and then a short subway ride. It's a great area and I think she might like it there!

Rockaway and Far Rockaway are interminable commutes from Manhattan.

Also - neither is a hotbed of young people. In fact, some areas are populated primarily by senior citizens and there are quite a few nursing homes and assisted living facilities.

This is not a place for a young person to go. Esp since the beach is usable only a few months a year anyway.

If she wants to live in the suburbs there are much more convenient and plesant areas. But - if I were her I would live where yougger people congregate - in Manhattan if possible - if not, nearer areas of Brooklyn, Astoria in Queens or perhaps Hoboken.

If I were a young-un just coming to the city, I'd probably look at the Upper East Side (cheaper than parts of downtown), Harlem, and many nabes in Brooklyn. In any case, Rockaway seems way too far a commute, esp. if you're in your 20s. Who would ever want to come out and visit you?

I love Jackson Heights, btw.

Thanks for the replys. I think she'll find this info useful.

So another question - about Brooklyn. I don't know anything about the different areas of Brooklyn. Any advice on which parts to avoid or that might be nice. She's been looking on Craig's List and turned up quite a few in Brooklyn but we don't know the neighborhoods. A friend of hers just rented in Jackson Heights after looking in Brooklyn and said there were several neighborhoods she would have been afraid to live in. Another girl we know does live in Brooklyn but had her car window smashed the week she moved in.

She's definitly looking in Jackson Heights and Astoria but we thought a few more neighborhoods to look in would be helpful. Manhattan of course would be most desirable but she's a recent college grad and hasn't even got a job yet so Manhattan will probably be too expensive.

There are good, moderate and terrible areas all over Brooklyn and Queens. the rent is in direct proportion to the quality.

If she doesn;t have a job yet I don;t know how she's going to get an apartment at all - since you need first month;s rent, security deposit, agent's fee (if you use one) and to demonstrate a salary acceptable to the landlord (they won;t lent you rent an apartment that is 50% or your salary).

Has she gone into all this yet? Does she have the thousands in cash stashed away? Or is she looking for you to fund her up front and sign a guarantee on the rent (in which case you'll have to submit your emplyment history, income tax returns and go through a credit check). The landlord won;t let you sign for her unless you have relatively low debt versus income on your own.

Suggest she have a look at the real estate section of the New York Times. It allows you to search for all sorts of info on various neighborhoods throughout the city - including crime statistics - and also can give some idea of average rents. (You can use lots of other means of actually finding an apartment - but this helps you sort out what areas to look at).

Currently popular in Manhattan are Inwood and Washington Heights. Some areas quite nice - some gentrifying

Brooklyn Heights, Park Slope, Cobble Hill, Boerum Hill and Carroll Gardens are the best places to live in Brooklyn, in my opinion. I am a 30 year-old female, and I have been living in Brooklyn for a few months now. These areas have all "arrived," so to speak. There are other areas of Brooklyn that are coming into their own but are not quite "there" yet.

I wouldn't recommend Far Rockaway for reasons already stated here.

Brooklyn is a good choice, but the good neighborhoods close to the city are expensive (Carrol Gardens, Bklyn Heights, Park Slope, etc.) She can look a little further on the train lines and check out Bay Ridge (near the water and a great neighborhood), Midwood, or where I am - Gravesend.

Do realize that Brooklyn is huge and the neighborhoods vary greatly. For example, a 5 minute walk from my house in one direction and you can see 5-10 million dollar homes. 15 minutes in the other direction and you have rough housing projects.

I have friends who live in Washington Heights and love it. You get more space for the money and the commute to midtown or downtown is pretty easy.

But Washington Heights isn't exactly the kind of neighborhood that a young woman may want to hang out in.... It depends if your daughter ok with living in areas that are, to some extent, sketchy. Obviously, there are parts of the Heights (Maybe around Columbia Presbyterian Hospital) that may be better.

Yes, they live a few blocks from Columbia. I have 2 sets of friends there (women) and they feel very safe in the area.

It's just a thought since Manhattan is very, very expensive.

That's one of the reasons Inwood is becoming more popular - still in Manhattan, but very diverse and gentrifying - with fewer of the problems you can find in some areas of Washington Heights.

I agree with nytraveler that she isn't going to be able to get an apt (at least in Manhattan) without a job unless you are the one signing the lease.

Going with what Lizzie said, if she wants to live outside of NY and near the beach, my first thought is Stamford. It is really booming, with lots of nice apts and more jobs coming in (UBS is huge, RBS will be there soon). It is on the Sound and is a 45 min express train to Grand Central. Careful though ... some CT towns restrict beach access to residents only (Greenwich, most notably).

I still say that if she's young and single, she should be in the city.

Thanks for your information. I think the beach idea was just a passisng thought - she saw some apts in Rockaway for a reasonable price and thought "wouldn't that be nice". Now that she knows how long the commute would be she's not really considering it.

She's in that typical new grad situation - which do you get first, the job or the apartment? She has a couple of people she could crash with temporarily if the job came first, but I think she'd be more comforatble with a place to live first. Yes we realize we'd have to co-sign the lease, but I believe we'd need to do that anyway, if she had just begun the job, she wouldn't have tax returns,etc to show. So she does understand the difficulties of the logistics.

So she's looking for something under about $800 per person - so either a studio for $800 or a 2 bedroom for under about $1600. So that obviously lets out Manhattan. So any suggestions for safe neighborhoods in Queens or Brooklyn that meet those requirements. Thanks

If you look at the NYTimes real estate section they have info on all the neighborhoods. In Queens you might want to try Astoria, Sunnyside, Forest Hills.

She will have a very hard time finding something for that in Manhattan, and will have to find a roommate.

I would suggest looking at Craig'slist.com for roommate suggestions. There are lots of students in the city looking for roommates.

I live in Washington Heights, well actually Hamilton Heights, (they're getting fancier names now that the area is getting very gentrified), and there are alot of apartments in the area that are avaialble. If she goes through a realtor it will cost several thousand dollars, so I would suggest that Craig'slist.com would probably be a good route, and will save alot of time and money.

If I can be of any help when she gets here, please let me know.

She might want to check out Astoria, Queens. It's 1-2 stops out of midtown Manhattan. It's sort of got an industrial look, but it's not completely unattractive. There's a large Greek population, loads of great Greek Restaurants and many cafes.