cww.blog!

Since I wrote here about my trip to New York City less than two weeks ago, I've flown to Massachusetts, back to Pittsburgh, and have now driven to New Jersey. I'm staying in something that resembles a motel but is, perhaps, about one step up from that, and it still costs around $100 per night. Ah, the economics of being near New York City.

I drove here from Pittsburgh today, through really bad rain in western Pennsylvania and again on the New Jersey Turnpike. Google said the trip would take about six hours, but despite driving over 90 mph on some of the straighter sections of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, the total time I spent in transit was about six and a half hours. The rain and two brief stops, one for a wholesome Burger King breakfast at the crack of 5:00 this evening and one for gas, were probably the culprits.

I'm here for a few days to look at apartments, houses, condos, townhomes, and cardboard boxes to rent, since I'm going to be moving to this part of the country later in the month. Again, because this is the New York City area, everything is much more expensive than anywhere else I've lived. As a result, I'm trying to balance price against commute time, at least for the first six months I'm here, during which I may well be broke.

So far, I've contacted three landlords in Manhattan, another three or four in Queens, and about 20 in New Jersey. All look promising, and the sizes of the apartments range from a small studio in lower Manhattan to two-bedroom units in New Jersey. The only problem I've encountered at this point is the term of the lease: it seems some owners aren't too keen on leases for less than a year.

Tomorrow, the dirty work begins, as I use roads and rail to get around the NYC metro area to look at potential residences. As exciting as that is, I'm really looking forward to my first cup of coffee in the morning, which will probably be purchased at the Dunkin Donuts across the street.

Wish me luck! I'll try to update you with my findings each night I'm here.