Hey all,
I've really been struggling with this decision and I would love to know what you all think. Throwaway account to protect anonymity.
I currently live in an absolute sweetheart of a deal. I took over my friend’s rent-stabilized apartment in Midwood which costs approximately $1500 monthly for a one bed, one bath, approximately 700 square feet – objectively something most New Yorkers would kill for. My commute is fine (under an hour each way), there’s decent food and grocery options, etc. The price was great for my budget.
The kicker is I’m finding it extremely hard to build community, and specifically my community. There are many ethnic enclaves here that tend to keep to themselves, which I completely understand, but there’s a lack of young people/community events that cater to my specific interests (for reference, I’m a musician, and I'm queer).
Prior to moving out here, I had lived in north Brooklyn since 2014 before needing to move due to a litany of circumstances that aren’t worth getting into in detail. Considering that my community is built around live music, I’m finding it extremely difficult to maintain my social network as most of the venues I frequent are out in that neck of the woods. I’ve basically been subsisting off of long train trips and Ubers, neither of which are ideal and inefficient both in terms of time and money.
I’ve recently come upon a job where I’ve luckily doubled my salary and I’m strongly considering moving back to one of these neighborhoods where I feel most comfortable (think Bushwick/Ridgewood/etc.) but rent prices have gone supernova by the looks of things. I’m in my mid-thirties so I’d prefer to avoid roommates if possible, especially considering the general demographics of these neighborhoods skew towards young transplants. At the same time, I’m also balking at how expensive rent has become in these “trendy” neighborhoods and whether or not it's worth it to pay the transplant tax.
If you were in my shoes, what would you do? Would you forego extremely cheap rent for the added benefits of community?