[pitchmaster1224]

Hello, I am currently in Ohio, but am transferring my with current company to Manhattan. I will be working in Manhattan, but don't wish to live there. I will be a medical sales rep and my territory will be lower Manhattan below 60th st...it will be both east and west Manhattan.

I am wanting advice as far as the best place to live apartment wise (i.e., N.J., Queens, Brooklyn, etc.). I was looking at Northern N.J. such as Hoboken, Newport, etc., but any other suggestions are welcome. I have heard if working on the west-side, NJ. is ideal, whereas Brooklyn/Queens for east-side. As I mentioned, I will be working both east and west so I am a bit confused as to where to live. I know Newport is very close to New York, but is it close to lower Manhattan?

Lastly, I am looking to rent an apt. and prefer to share with a roommate to split the cost. I do have some leads that I am going to explore next week when I am there, but the more the better. So if you or anyone you know is currently living by themselves and is looking for a roommate please let me know. I am 28, clean, non-smoker and obviously an avid golfer. I am looking at the $1200-$1800/month. range. I am somewhat familiar with the area already as I went to college in N.J. Any advice will be much appreciated!

[chuck_apex]

I live in Brooklyn Heights, there are 7 or 8 subway lines that can get me into Manhattan, either East or West side. Hoboken, Jersey City are also convenient. Maybe also Long Island City in Queens might work for you as well. Craigslist has lots of apt & roommate listings

If you decide to move to NYC, your golf will probably suffer, Bethpage is close to an hour away, the local NYC courses are not the best to speak of. In NJ, there are lots of good county courses (Morris, Monmouth) as well as expensive daily fee courses that are all within an hour drive of the places you are looking at.

Good luck, let me know if I can help in any way

[Marrrk]

your golf doesn't have to suffer if you move to NYC. I live in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and I play Bethpage Black 2 or 3 times a month. Bethpage has 5 very good courses and it's extremely convenient to get to by train or car. I'd be happy to show you the ropes once you get out here. I'm not sure I have great advice about where you should live; there are literally TOO MANY options in and around NYC. But once you're here, you can definitely play some golf.

Feel free to PM me with any questions you have. I was in your shoes a few years ago so I can definitely relate.

[Onebulldogs]

The first question you need to ask is: Do I "NEED" a car? If the answer is yes, you don't want any part of living in NYC. Even in the boroughs, they can be extremely expensive to park/maintain. At most, I would own a 'beater' car and park on the street.

First, you need to decide is how close to Manhattan do you really need to be. The farther you are from Manhattan, the cheaper the rent (and cost of keeping cars) and the closer you are to a LOT of golf courses. The downside to living "out" is longer commutes and you are farther from the "Action." Living in NYC offers a TON of cool things to do (provided you have a shipload of money) especially if you are single.

If I had to do the "city work" thing again, I would probably live in Westchester and train into Grand Central. I doubt there is a huge difference between the CT/NJ commute for you. The biggest thing about living and golfing in NYC was the hassle of the "casual" round/practice. Living in CT, I can sneak out early for 9 midweek or easily stop at the range. When I lived in the city, even going to the range was hard and very expensive. Land in and around NYC is incredibly expensive and the cost of ranges reflects it. Most of the time, I ended up driving to Elmsford.

If I had to try the "live in NYC" thing to give it a shot (which is what I did a few years ago), this time I would live in Brookly near Dyker Beach GC so I had a reasonably cheap course as close as possible ("quantity") and play Bethpage (and other courses) when I wanted a "quality" round.

Couple of things to think about: Living in NY State gives you better access to Bethpage. There are shipload of young people living in Hoboken b/c of the reasonable (by NYC standards), easy commute, and easy access to nightlife.

[nevets88]

I live in the upper east side and it takes me two hours to get to Bethpage by public transportation, an hour by car with *no* traffic, i.e., early in the morning. The upside of public transportation is I can get in a good two hours of reading in. And the above poster is right - getting out to practice is a hassle, and the few places to practice are pricey. There are ways to make it more affordable, but what you lose is time.

I also agree with the other poster - if I had to live out of the city, I'd live in Westchester, or somewhere north of the city. Better quality of life in general, but your work requirements might not make that feasible.

The one benefit of living in the city golfwise is that you're smack in the middle of Long Island, New Jersey and Westchester, so you have a great variety of courses to choose from. Courses in LI, NJ and Westchester are pretty much the same distance from Manhattan.

I don't own a car, but with Zipcar, I feel as if I own one and it's really enabled me to drive more often to courses. For an explanation of Zipcar: http://frabujous.us/zipcar

Good luck.

[Spuyten Duyvil]

You're going to love working and living here, pitchmaster, but I have to be brutally honest: golfing in New York City is a true labor of love and a constant uphill battle.

The previous posters have already given you some really good advice, but we can probably do even better with some more specifics, namely...

1. Define "avid" for us. How many times are you looking to play (in season) or practice?

1a. What's your annual budget for golf?

2. Do you have a car?

3. What are your general likes/dislikes in terms of neighborhood? Can it be a little sleepy or a longish commute, or do you definitely want to live in a place that is very New York?

Good luck!

[drpino]

Brooklyn is the place to be. Cheaper rent than Manhattan (but the desirable neighborhoods are getting close), slightly easier to have a car, easy to get into manhattan via public transportation, good population of people in your age group (25-35) with lots of bars/restaurants/A&E/recreation, easier access to the NYC munis (BK, Qns, SI ones), easy to get out to LI, easy to get to NJ.

[PINGeye24ever]

NJs got plenty of golf, living in Newport or Hoboken (which I currently reside in) you have acess to the PATH system, which will take you to Christopher, 9th, 14th 23th and 33rd sts. as well as the world trade center 24 hours a day. Living in hudson county though there are no county owned municipals so unless you've got the money to join one of the hudson county clubs, bayonne or liberty national, you'll be forced either to play the bad essex county munis at full price or the bergen munis, unless you make the trip up to crystal spings golf resort a couple of times a month, or join a club in either essex bergen union or passaic county, you also will not receive the NY resident discount at bethpage

[pitchmaster1224]

Onebulldogs, on Aug 2 2008, 11:44 AM, said:

First, you need to decide is how close to Manhattan do you really need to be. The farther you are from Manhattan, the cheaper the rent (and cost of keeping cars) and the closer you are to a LOT of golf courses. The downside to living "out" is longer commutes and you are farther from the "Action."

I would like to be close to Manhattan for work reasons. So it does seem my golfing will be harder to manage since I will be furthur from courses...but a shorter commute to work, which is something I have to do a lot more than golf, would win out in that scenario.

Spuyten Duyvil, on Aug 3 2008, 11:07 PM, said:

You're going to love working and living here, pitchmaster, but I have to be brutally honest: golfing in New York City is a true labor of love and a constant uphill battle.

The previous posters have already given you some really good advice, but we can probably do even better with some more specifics, namely...

1. Define "avid" for us. How many times are you looking to play (in season) or practice?

1a. What's your annual budget for golf?

2. Do you have a car?

3. What are your general likes/dislikes in terms of neighborhood? Can it be a little sleepy or a longish commute, or do you definitely want to live in a place that is very New York?

Good luck!

Well currently I play 1-3 times/week, so moving to N.J. may cut this down a bit. I don't mind paying for golf, so I do have a budget, especially since I am single with no family. As far as neighborhood, something close to New York for a short commute. It does seem my golfing options are limited here however.

PINGeye24ever, on Aug 3 2008, 11:35 PM, said:

NJs got plenty of golf, living in Newport or Hoboken (which I currently reside in) you have acess to the PATH system, which will take you to Christopher, 9th, 14th 23th and 33rd sts. as well as the world trade center 24 hours a day. Living in hudson county though there are no county owned municipals so unless you've got the money to join one of the hudson county clubs, bayonne or liberty national, you'll be forced either to play the bad essex county munis at full price or the bergen munis, unless you make the trip up to crystal spings golf resort a couple of times a month, or join a club in either essex bergen union or passaic county, you also will not receive the NY resident discount at bethpage

well this obviously stinks. I could live furthur south in Jersey and be closer to courses, but then the commute would be longer which I don't want. I also have a car, so it is more manageable in NJ I feel vs. New York (getting around and parking will be cheaper). Right now, I am looking at Jersey City/Newport. I will be in the area Tuesday onwards looking for places so if anyone has advice specifically on apartments/condos (i.e., specific neighborhoods or buildings), or knows of anyone looking for a roommate, I would greatly appreciate it! Thanks

[rdsmith3]

I moved from Ohio (Dayton area) to NW New Jersey in 1994. For me, my golf definitely suffered. Yes, there are lots of courses in NJ, but many of them are private and the non-private ones are generally crowded and it is difficult to get a tee time.

In Ohio, it was very possible to leave work, drive 15 minutes to a nice course, and play nine holes after work without having any reserved tee time.

In NJ (which I really like, BTW, for other reasons) because of traffic, it's hard to get anywhere in 15 minutes and it is hard to play without a reserved tee time. There are lots of nice courses, but it just requires more planning. There is less spontaneity. My best golf opportunities are when I take off from work on a week day.

[Spuyten Duyvil]

rdsmith3, on Aug 4 2008, 10:00 AM, said:

In NJ (which I really like, BTW, for other reasons) because of traffic, it's hard to get anywhere in 15 minutes and it is hard to play without a reserved tee time. There are lots of nice courses, but it just requires more planning. There is less spontaneity. My best golf opportunities are when I take off from work on a week day.

That's my strategy, too -- I try to set aside 6-8 personal/vacation days every summer for golf, and I aim to play 36 on those days when I can. Then I fill in around that with weekend rounds at the Bronx/Westchester munis, but only when I'm able to get a tee time within 30-45 minutes of sunrise (or, less often, a twilight round). That's pretty much your only chance of getting in a sub-four-hour round on the weekends.

to the OP: There must be a semi-private/resort club somewhere within a 45-minute drive of JC that has an all-you-can-golf package for $4000-5000/year or thereabouts -- unlimited rounds, range balls, priority tee times, etc. I'm thinking of this type of thing (this is in Putnam County, NY):

http://www.centennia.../individual.htm

[rdsmith3]

pitchmaster

Here is an example of a semi-private type of course

http://www.foxhollowgc.com/?page=17392

It is not as expensive as a true country club. It is a decent course. Depending on your membership type, it costs $4,000 - $6,000. You still have to pay greens fees. I believe the membership fee just gets you the ability to pick good tee times.

It is near 287/78 interchange. No public transportation.

[PINGeye24ever]

it says on full memberships includes greens fees. That's the annual rate right not the initiation fee?

[maskedman]

If you lived in Hoboken or Jersey City, you'd have a lot of reasonable choices for golf, but they'd be a drive. But, if you don't mind driving, you could get to any number of excellent courses in Central and Northern NJ as well as some good tracks in Rockland County, NY. Getting to Westchester or LI to golf wouldn't be that difficult, either. The work commute to Manhattan would be a breeze.

[asitlies]

I'm a former NYer, now in northern NJ. I would suggest Long Island. I lived in Rockville Centre - 35 minutes by train to Penn Station, and great restaurants, good golf close by. Or look near Eisenhower Park or Mineola. Depending on your age, either could be good. Feel free to email me - I'd be happy to talk with you.

[pitchmaster1224]

thanks for all the advice guys i drive up just today and will be apt. hunting the next few days in JC/Hoboken...if i don't find something that i like, i may look in LI or BK...i do realize golfing in oh/western pa was awesome with so many public-access courses that pretty much required no tee time and very reasonable green fees...i will miss that but i hope to play golf with you guys soon once i get situated.

[andyh]

you should check out astoria, queens.

literally a 15-20 in train ride to get to mid-town manhattan

[pitchmaster1224]

I wanted to thank all of you who gave me advice. I moved in Sat. and am living in the Newport/Jersey City area. I would love to play golf with all of you, so please let me know as I am willing to drive just about anywhere.