P.S. Since this is an NYC group, would love to get to discuss the question of living close to work vs. commuting length. The MMM post on commuting calls 40 minute commutes crazy... but there's no way I could live in walking distance of my Midtown office, and my bike commute from Brooklyn is 45-50 minutes right now.
I'm trying to optimize where we live and pick a more affordable neighborhood (probably in Queens or deeper Brooklyn), but afraid that will also drive up my commute even more.
Hi Blake! Thanks for your comment on my journal - I'm writing you back there. Looking forward to meeting you at the meetup!
Your point about commutes is well founded and something I planned to talk about in more detail at the meetup. Mostly, I think that mustachians in NYC and other major cities with public transit have a few things working for/against them as far as commutes:
PROS:
-No cars for NYCers, other than in very rare exceptions. Zero cost for gas, zero cost for insurance, zero cost for car payments.
-Public transit is affordable when compared to almost any car-ownership scenario
-Can use commute time on the subway for reading, studying, self-improvement, etc.
CONS:
-Biking is far less attractive in NYC, especially once you get within manhattan during rush hour. It is flat out dangerous if you're in a clogged street with no bike lanes. The situation is improving (more bike lanes, please!) but biking in the city requires serious huevos. I say this as someone who does bicycle to work.
-Biking gives you FAR less bang for your buck in NYC than it does in the suburbs. If you bike everywhere in manhattan for a year (zero subway use), your max savings would be $1,344, assuming you went without a monthly metrocard. In the suburbs, using your bike this much vs. a car (especially for a daily commute) would likely save you several multiples of this.
-Subway commutes take longer than car commutes because they travel at far lower speeds and stop/start. People in the suburbs regularly take 30 minutes to drive 20 miles. In New York, if you were 20 miles from manhattan, you could be at JFK. It'd probably take you twice as long - at a minimum - to cover the same amount of distance.
If you're looking for shorter-distance commutes to midtown, look at LIC, Astoria, and Sunnyside. Lentils5eva (my fiancee) and I both work long hours in midtown, and proximity to midtown was a major factor in picking our place in Astoria. All the neighborhoods I mentioned are very, very close to midtown whether by bike (me, 25 mins) or subway (lentils, 30 mins). Rents in these locations are still not breathtaking, by NYC standards.
