New York City or Bust
A little over a year ago Maz and I were sitting at a café trying to figure out what to do. It was a Saturday night and we were pretty much bored with Milwaukee. I suggested driving to Chicago, but Maz wasn’t into that. An hour or so later I said we should go to New York. Well, he agreed and at 11pm we were packed up and ready to go. We made the 17 hour drive (ok Maz did all the driving) and by Sunday evening we were there.
I had never been to New York before and though Maz had, he didn’t spend much time there and hadn’t seen much, so we were ready to explore. We found a cheap hotel in Queen’s and through totally exhausted from the drive, set out to explore the city. The first place we went was to Times Square. While it may seem a tourist place to go… we were tourists so we had to check it out.
For the next three days we wandered New York. We didn’t really go to many ‘normal’ sights. We did go to the top of the Empire State building (go shortly before sunset for the great day light, the amazing sunset, and the awesome view at night). We also went to the Natural History Museum. The rest of the time we walked… a lot. We explored Greenwich Village, Little Italy, China Town, the Financial District, the Upper West Side…. and a lot more.
If we didn’t have a wedding to go to on Saturday we would have stayed longer, but on Thursday afternoon we made the grueling drive from Queens to New Jersey (I drove this time as Maz refused to drive across Manhattan again) and started on our way home.
As soon as we got back to Wisconsin we talked and joked about moving to New York. At the time circumstances prevented this move, but now things have changed and we are leaving Wisconsin in September and heading to NYC.
So why are we blogging about this? We have searched and searched but have not been able to find any decent information about moving to New York. We figured we would share the experience and any tips we have on how to make this move. We will share what seems to work and what doesn’t so check back often to see the latest as we pack up our lives in Wisconsin and move 881 miles away…
June 25th, 2007 at 10:44 am
Don’t go to New York. Make Milwaukee into New York, instead. Duh!
We’ll miss you!
July 7th, 2007 at 10:35 pm
My girlfriend and I are also considering relocation to NYC– you haven’t lived life until you’ve taken that proverbial bite out the “big apple”. I’ve lived in Astoria, Queens for a couple years and absolutely loved it. We’re in Charlotte, NC right now (which is very nice) but NYC offers so many different opportunities and experiences. To be realistic, there’s also alot more trouble to run into but those pitfalls can be avoided if you’re sensable, intelligent, and prepared. In most cities it’s easy to get caught up in that daily routine of life- going to work, home, and then back to work again; and maybe a dinner and a movie on the weekends. NYC has so many different things to offer, you never know what you’ll discover from one day to the next.
We plan to secure employment (or hot leads) before relocating and having an agency (property manager etc) find a small, yet stylish apartment/condo with a view of the skyline– and also a place close to “train access” which has an efficient route to work. depending on the circumstances, we may have to consider having roommates because of the high rent and high demand locations. I really like the idea of not needing a vehicle- payments, maintenance, traffic, parking etc. If we get a good routine going, the commute can actually be enjoyable. Ideally, we would work in Manhatten and live in Brooklyn, Queens, Long Island etc.