Thoughts on living in Long Island City as an IB analyst? My office is in central midtown area so the 7 train could get me to and from pretty easy (no PATH), and LIC seems a good bit cheaper, at least in terms of $/sqft. Not much of a partygoer either so being in the center of nightlife is not a priority either.
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Know a few people living in LIC. They all like it but usually move into Manhattan after a year or two. If you work right by a 7 train, it's very quick and convenient especially for the analyst years where you have minimal social life.
The issue is really weekends and dating - even if you're not interested in nightlife, I assume you still want to have dinner with people, and lower Manhattan can be a solid 30+ minute commute. Additionally, many girls are only interested in dating people who live on the island of Manhattan - common problem for those living in outer boroughs and Jersey. The LIC discount on rent has narrowed so you're still paying a good bit of money for these tradeoffs.
That said if you want a newer place with no roommate, and are fine with the above two items, it's a fine place to be.
LIC is pretty darn good for dating if you are an Asian.
LIC is a good area, not too far from Midtown nyc, and a lot more people are moving there these days which shows in the higher rent pricing
If you want to have a nice apartment but at relatively reasonable prices, LIC is a good place to be. More restaurants have opened up recently as well, so lots of food options compared to a few years ago
LIC and Astoria are both solid areas for people wanting to commute into Midtown but pay a bit less or have more spacious accommodations. Both nice places, good food, what have you. You sacrifice a little bit of time for other things like scenery. I like Midtown better, but there's a cost-benefit discussion to be had.
Food
I used to think the food in LIC was good (moved here in 2022), but I've recently soured a bit. Most restaurants here charge a TON for dinner because they don't have lunch traffic (no one works here) and a lot of people also go to Astoria / Manhattan / Greenpoint for dinner (especially Greenpoint, which is a 30 minute walk or 6 minute Uber via Pulaski bridge). You can also get food delivered from both Astoria and Greenpoint, which eats into the local food economics.
As a result a lot of restaurants struggle, and the ones that survive are quite expensive. There's some exceptions (Cyclo, Petey's) but overall definitely a worse food scene compared to Astoria or Greenpoint. A lot of restaurants close pretty quickly because of these dynamics (there was a tapas restaurant called 4747 that lasted like 3 months).
I pretty much never eat out locally, most dinners are in Greenpoint with a handful in Manhattan when I want to go somewhere fancier. Honestly, I think the biggest food advantage of LIC is being so close to Flushing, Astoria, and Greenpoint which are some of the best food neighborhoods in NYC.
Convenience
The commute is really convenient - probably one of the best neighborhoods to commute to midtown from. The E/M train is very frequent (2 minutes on weekedays) and takes you right to 53rd street intersections with Lex, 5th, and 7th and Rockefeller center which covers probably 80%+ of IB jobs.
I also own a car, which would be really bad in Manhattan but parking is pretty easy where I live in LIC. I park on the street and usually find a spot within 3 mins, 10 mins if it's very crowded.
Social life will take a slight hit IMO. When you're an analyst being "in the middle" of things matters for spontaneity. But for planned events / vising friends in Manhattan it's pretty good. Just not the same connectivity as living in Murray Hill or something.
Happy to answer any other questions. Overall, I think it's a really solid neighborhood. You will definitely get better amenities / sqft for the price compared to Manhattan.
Essentially the guide would be to look at anything close within the stops of E/M right? I assume taking transfer is a hassle you dont want to add (i.e take the R then the M or something, seen pretty nice places that way) - how far off going into Queens/Astoria is manageable in your opinion (considering night time returns/morning delays etc., even if Uber's are an option)
The goal is to get a studio and invite friends from abroad so that the rent is not wasted lol.
Jackson Park / Hayden / Linc are fine...also looking for roommate in LIC
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