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timarie's advice is pretty solid. i don't know what your budget is, but it's pretty hard to just move to NYC and afford a 1BR unless you have a killer job/salary, particularly if you want to live anywhere remotely close to Manhattan. If you are willing to be further out or live in more "up and coming" neighborhoods, that will definitely help. this may sound obvious, but bear in mind that not only is living in a 1BR pricey, but you'll also be assuming all the other costs as well (electricity/cable/internet etc). as timarie also suggested, i would definitely go the broker route if you're going for a 1BR (which will cost you 1 month's rent upfront). it does suck big time, but it is a quick process. hopefully you have good credit/salary while trying to get your place. if not, it can get complicated with the whole guarantor requirement that some brokers/landlords impose. it even gets more complicated because most want the guarantor to live in the tri-state area AND also make a great salary. there are some things you can do to minimize the scrutiny on those things, but i'm trying to write more of a cliff note's version rather than a novel. if you have further questions though, i can answer them.

getting a roommate is definitely the most common thing for living out here, but can be an adventure in of itself. there are a lot of wacked out people, so be cautious. i advise giving the person a quick call first and feel them out that way. you can tell a lot from their listing(s) too and how it's written and what they expect. craigslist easily offers the biggest selection of potential places/roommates. you'll probably get to skip the broker's fee and even better yet, many people looking for roommates on craigslist have already been at their place for a while. The big upside to that is that the apartment is probably mostly furnished, but more importantly, they're probably locked into their rent price either because the unit is rent-controlled or the landlord really likes the tennant and hasn't jacked up the rent which means a noticable cost savings for you. however, this also has a major downside to it as well. for the aweomse apartments...where the price is great, there's a lot of space and the roommate is cool tend to go ridiculously fast. you have to be prepared to leave for this place right after it goes up on craigslist because some other interested person probably is just a few footsteps steps away and willing to check it out and throw down a deposit before you even get there. it's a mad rush. it's pretty nutty and insane, so beware.

you're very lucky you have someone to stay with whilst looking. that'll give you time to look at neighborhoods and find the right fit for you. it may also afford you time to find a roommate so you 2 (or 3) could get a place together (via a broker) and that is very desirable thing to have. you're also lucky too because the price of rent here (while still ridiculously expensive) has gone down some because of the recession. it's not significant, but it's enough to warrant mentioning. i imagine it may drop even a little bit more too in the coming months. also, it's not advisable to start looking for a place more than a month in advance of your planned move-in date. you're just not going to find much of anything. in fact, most places become available and rented 2 weeks or less before the planned move-in date! it seems crazy, but places are snatched up the same day they become available often times. in fact, that happened with me and the place i live in now. i was visiting a broker and he had just gotten a call from a landlord about a place (that the broker had previously rented--so he was already familiar) and the people were still living in the apartment and i saw it, loved it and took it that day (even though i had to wait for a couple weeks for those people to move out)! it's nuts and unlike anything you're probably used to. another piece of advice...NYC ain't like anywhere else! and what i mean by that is most cities, apartment owners are trying to attract you to rent from them. but here, it's not like that at all. landlords pick and choose who they want as their tennants and will do so on whatever merits they chose. it seems unfair and it is to a large extent, but that's the way it is. however, again, having a broker will minimize this risk for you as the landlords tend to trust the judgment/relationship of the broker.

in addition, many people do take the PATH from Jersey City/Hoboken/Newark to Manhattan. hoboken is ridiculously overpriced and newark is too far out IMO, but jersey city is mildly interesting because the places aren't too overpriced and it is a lot of space to be relatively close to manhattan. i don't think it's a good long-term solution for someone IMO, but it may not be a bad starting place for you. there are some downsides though to jersey. 1.) there are not very many cool shops/restaurants/bars in JC at all. if you want to go to cool places, you're going to have to commute into manhattan. 2.) you're going to have to buy 2 fares (a NJ fare and a NYC fare), which does get pricey, 3.) most apartments in jersey city are not super close to the PATH. sure, you can take a bus (or even walk), but again, that's an additional fare for the bus AND extra time to add on to your commute if you walk or take the bus, 4.) and this is a major pain in the rear, but the late night transportation situation is not desirable. the PATH does run every 30 minutes after 11PM (and it is usually on time so you can time it appropriately), but when you're wasted, you're not going to want to wait on the train at 2AM. further, if you want to taxi it back to your jersey apartment? it's going to be a $45 minimum with toll (not including tip). you're not likely to face exorbitant taxi fares like that in BK or Queens (unless you're way far out).

lastly, my personal recommendation for the money/convenience is astoria in queens. i'm admittedly biased, but for the neighborhood/food/safety/people/apartment size/transportation (that can suck), it's the best bang for your buck. i'm pretty sure timarie will back me on that.

Jen, it's actually gone down recently. You can get a really nice 1 BR now for around $1,300 in Astoria. Still pricey, but not too ridiculous given the going rates. And you can get 2BRs there for somewhat reasonable...1500-1700 that aren't teeny.

Esmter wrote:

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i still think everyone should live in nyc once in your life if given the chance. it makes you appreciate what you've got in other places (sq footage, somewhat reasonable rent, the chance at parking) a lot more.
and it really is the greatest place on earth, despite all those things. would i move back there? no way in hell, unless i had a lot more money.

I could not agree with this anymore.

Give yourself 2 years (which is supposedly the timeline for when people decide if they wany to stay or go). It's not for everyone though. I think there are way too many people that can't handle it and I don't say that arrogantly. It's just not for every one. Though I think it's good in general to be pushed outside of your comfort zone some and unless you were born and raised, NYC will do that to you!

But not only is the appreciation part true that was mentioned above, but there's more to it than that. It's really a life changing experience. I never thought I would live in NYC nor would I like it, but now I think it's going to be hard for me to move out of here. You really see America and humanity magnified in NYC in a way that you just don't see it anywhere else. It's eye-opening. But beyond that, I don't think you can find better food/restaurants consinstently anywhere else in the country and maybe not the world either. Not to mention, you probably won't have to worry about getting drunk and driving with most people not owning cars here. And in your younger years especially, that is a very valuable thing to have cabs everywhere that are reasonable to get to your apartment!