Quality of housing in new york

Photo: ZeroOne

One of the things many people who are foreign to the urban life are reticent about is the quality of housing. There may be no greater disparity than the quality of housing in New York City. There are urban lofts and there is tenement housing; there are lush penthouses and there are back alleyway walkups. For those interested in the disparity, here are 5 of the primary types of housing that you can expect when you're shopping.

Row Housing: This is most of the mid-income housing in New York City. You're going to find primarily walk ups. Many of these are converted spaces which were once something else and are now housing. Maybe they were factories, maybe there was machine work done here, or maybe they were just bigger, artist loft spaces which have been subdivided down to smaller individual units. Most of these are fine; some of them are not. You're going to have bugs in the summer; some of these places have roaches living in the walls all year. You may even find a rat or two, but generally these are not the type of places you want to live forever anyway.

Projects: The quality of housing in New York takes a lot of its rancor from projects. Tenements, income dependent housing or Skid Row; this type of housing is where a lot of the poor people in the city live.

Owner Occupied: Another type of New York City housing which is kind of a "roll of the dice" is "owner occupied" housing. Most of this is in the outer boroughs; Far Rockaway, Staten Island, Flushing, Bronx; and most of these are rental situations at best. The roll of the dice comes into play when you're talking about how well these units and the grounds at large have been taken care of throughout the time the person living there has been in charge. It's pretty amazing what some people can get used to; you may find some of that amazing at these owner occupied spaces.

Co-Ops: These are buildings "owned" by the tenants. Most of the time you are looking at getting into a co-op there are certain income thresholds which have to be met and there is invariably going to be your appearance before a co-op board. One of the reasons these co-ops are so prohibitive to get into is because they are so well cared for. Some of the nicest apartments you are going to find in New York City are going to be in co-ops.

Luxury High Rise: Maybe the pinnacle of New York City housing is the luxury high rise. The quality of housing in New York doesn't really get much better than this. These luxury high rises are typically in the best neighborhoods, are full-service, and have all kinds of great amenities heaped upon the residents. Maybe you will have a fine fitness Centre and spa in your luxury high rise. Maybe there is a rooftop deck which is able to be reserved for individual functions. Very likely there is a private laundry inside of this building; maybe even nicer would be the valet dry cleaning and laundry service that you can just leave to your doorman. Whatever the case for the erstwhile travelers for whom money is not an object, having a luxury high rise residence is what makes the most sense.

Whether you're looking for a co-op, condo, or luxury high rise living in New York City you should call on Prestige International who are skilled in domestic and international housing for people looking to settle in New York!