<p>12rmh18 - yay for the visit from your S2 and congrats to your S1 on getting half-way through grad school! Glad he’s finally getting some much-needed and much-earned time off.</p>
<p>GSharp - looking forward to hearing what your D2’s plans are! Keep us posted! </p>
<p>Congrats to Bestfriends’ S on his new job!</p>
<p>Ditto that, limomof2. </p>
<p>S is in SDak and crossed into his third time zone today. D is in Thailand and headed for a weekend at the beach. I am in Maine for the weekend with H. Life is good. </p>
<p>LIMOMOF2 – Did you see me wave to you on my way in / out of LGA today?</p>
<p>Aliceinw – I waved to you and your H on my way into Portland, ME today.</p>
<p>12rmh18 – Glad that you were able to literally rig a way to get S2 moved in. How did the surprise visit home go? Many congrats to S1!!!</p>
<p>YDS – Austin still has a shot. 1) – No official offer from NYC except verbal so far. 2) – If Austin were to send an offer with an expiration date before NYC sends an official offer, then Austin would “win.” However, D2 said that the interviews were designed to be intense and she has no idea how she did and if they are even interested in her anymore. As an example, the very first question in one interview was “This is what bothers me about you… How do you respond to that?” Hopefully she didn’t tell them the truth. 
D2 definitely liked Austin and the company, but feels that the NYC company’s research “style” is closer to hers. As far as “entertainment,” all I know is that D2 called me at 10:00PM (your time) and said that she and her friend were getting ready to go downtown. Wow, your libraries must be open late! They got back to the friend’s house at nearly 4:00AM. It must take quite a while to visit all of the art galleries, museums, and take the late-night Capitol building tour. All I know is that they had dinner at a restaurant in “the hills” overlooking a beautiful valley and that DW and I should move there because it is very laid back, nobody seems stressed, people are outdoorsy, and DW will fit in because there seems to be an inordinate number of red-heads. ;)</p>
<p>NYC may have a slight edge, but not much. Having said that, D2 has been actively checking with alumni/friends needing roommates and sending me email and text messages asking my option of apartment X in the East Village, apartment Y on the Upper East Side, etc. (Like I’m some sort of expert.) So I know where she is concentrating her effort.</p>
<p>Edit: OK, anybody familiar with Clinton Hill, Brooklyn? Is it safe? How long on the subway to essentially Time Square?</p>
<p>Nobody stressed out??? That’s because she wasn’t driving. I concur that people are laid back and outdoorsy. One reason I love it here. She’d be SUP’ing in no time.</p>
<p>I don’t know about LOTS of redheads, but ds2 dates one. ;)</p>
<p>What a funny question. I kind of like it. </p>
<p>G# - my D would tell your D that it is a long commute into Manhattan (Time Square) from Clinton Hill. Trains out that way are not as reliable. Most of D’s friends that live in Brooklyn commute from there to downtown or financial district. Upper east side is not as “hip” as downtown. The west side of Manhattan has very good trains and lots of places to live near subway lines.</p>
<p>Hi there G#! I heard your D2 is considering NYC and looking into Living in the Clinton Hill section. <a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/23/realestate/23livi.html…”>http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/23/realestate/23livi.html…</a> Just as showman858 said, I hear the trains are unreliable, especially the G train. She could also take the C train. My guess is that it’s at least a ~30 minute commute. On one website, I found…[The G line is notorious for being inconsistent and unreliable," DelleCave said. Christiana T., 21, lives in Clinton Hill and works in advertising in Manhattan. She agrees that commuting around the G can be difficult. “I wish it was a direct train instead of having to switch,” she said. “But on weekdays it’s OK, I just wish it was faster on the weekends.”]</p>
<p>Good luck again to your D2 G#! Hopefully she will have great options.</p>
<p>My D1 is on her way home from her Spain/Portugal bus/hostel tour. She had a great time and was a thousand times better about posting pictures than her brothers. She is also a better shopper so I can’t wait to see my present tonight! </p>
<p>GSharp - sorry I missed your wave from LaGuardia this morning. Hope you have a good trip! </p>
<p>Still keeping my fingers crossed for your D2 and the NYC job. 
As for the parts of the city she asked you about - I think they’re all fine, though obviously the commute to Brooklyn will be longer and if she expects to work long hours, that’s a real consideration. I am partial to The Village and would choose it over the Upper East Side any day! Having said that, my friend’s D just rented an apartment on the Upper East Side (but that’s because she goes to school in that part of the city, not because she prefers that part of the city).</p>
<p>Popping in because I heard G# was asking about safe neighborhoods with reasonable commutes to Times Square. May I once again bang the gong for Hoboken? 14 minutes on the PATH train from Hoboken to 33rd St, then a 10 minute (1/2 mile) walk up Broadway to Times Square. Hoboken has TONS of restaurants, shops and bars and seems pretty safe. My 25 year old son loves it there, and it’s more affordable than Manhattan (if you consider $2500/mo for a 2 BR, 4th floor walkup to be affordable). </p>
<p>
OK, this is hilarious!</p>
<p>I would like to announce that D2 finally received the official offer letter from NYC Company today!!! She is quite excited and relieved. She has been emailing me apartments all day. Through the alumni network, she has connected with 2 other alumnae who are looking for housing and have formed an alliance to look together with priority one being in a safe neighborhood, whew! Luckily, one of them already lives in NYC and can check out places. Thanx to everyone here with your advice! (LAF, you aren’t the first person to recommend Hoboken to me today). Where she would be working is by Bryant Park, so it looks like there are several direct train options. The downside is wanting to hear from Austin to hear what they have to say too. She’s been checking that out too and is amazed at how much more she would get for the same $ in Austin vs. NYC.</p>
<p>Yep, the trouble with NYC is they can’t possibly pay you enough to afford to live there. 
But for someone just starting out, with no dependents, it’s fun to live in the Big Apple, enjoy the cultural life, and take public transportation everywhere. After a while she may want to “settle down” somewhere else with a lower COL.</p>
<p>Hi all been awhile, glad to hear everyones updates. Great news G# glad your DD got her offer. My DS works near Bryant Park, he lives in Astoria Queens, easy commute N or R train, the area is full of young commuters, he and his roommates found a great roomy 3 BR 2 Ba apt for $3000/month after looking in city at closets lol
My DD is moving Fri to PA (boo hoo) and my nest will officially be truly empty. Summer (and life!) is going too fast.</p>
<p>Lots of visitors, so I will put on some coffee. And I’ll get some doughnuts, too. </p>
<p>G# - glad your D2 got her offer and is looking for a safe neighborhood. I did pass through Portland, probably about the time you were waving. Nice to see ya.</p>
<p>My S is supposed to cross into Minnesota today, and my D is heading from Bangkok to Siem Reap in Cambodia by bus. Crazy kids.</p>
<p>Happy Tuesday.</p>
<p>G# - So glad your daughter got the news she was waiting for. It’s exciting to see them “land”, isn’t it?</p>
<p>Momannoyed - My brother and SIL had this experience in Washington DC. The wanted to live near DuPont Circle but ended up in the more affordable Capitol Hill South area. Then their rent was raised and they headed for Maryland, at the very end of the Metro line. They liked it there but they had my nephew by then and the COL was killing them, so they came back to West Virginia. It was a hard choice, though - they loved the DC area. </p>
<p>Thanks for the coffee, alice! I love how your kids are taking advantage & seeing the world. They are both having the trips of a lifetime. When do they both return home?</p>
<p>GSharp - CONGRATULATIONS to your D2! Would she reconsider NYC if she gets an offer from Austin or has she made up her mind?</p>
<p>coskat - it sounds like your DS found a great place to live in NYC. Wishing your DD all the best in PA. </p>
<p>tx5athome - I hope your D brought you something wonderful! Spain & Portugal are both beautiful places.</p>
<p>My S2 surprised us with a visit last weekend after his first week of work. Unfortunately he injured himself while on a company-sponsored a cruise on the Potomac. S2 entered the new employee dance competition. The good news is that he won the competition with the Worm dance, but the bad news is that he dislocated his shoulder while doing an encore of the Worm. </p>
<p>Congrats to your D2, GSharp! Does she have any idea of when she might hear from the Austin company? Did the NYC company give her a respond-by date? I’m keeping my fingers crossed for NYC, of course, but I can understand why she might prefer the lower COL in Austin. </p>
<p>Congrats to your D2 GSharpe! This seals the verbal confirmation!</p>
<p>congrats G#… looks like i’m early enough to bring the coffee!!</p>
<p>so excited to hear the job news! Hope my D has good results in 2 years time, assuming she stops after the masters, which is likely at this point.</p>
<p>Nothing new happening with the kiddos. D2 is not making much progress with the online course I suggested for the 6 weeks she is home, she is making progress with visiting friends, so I guess that is good.</p>
<p>I will be starting a new job in my same company in two weeks, so the job news does have a familiar ring to me. I have moved to the new shiny object here, where all the cool kids are, why they let me through the door is a mystery.</p>
<p>B-) B-) </p>
<p>Congrats to you, jackief. It is not a mystery to us.</p>
<p>Thanks for the coffee, p56.</p>