Prognosis: produce

Feeling hungry? You will be after heading over the Green with Envy, Riddled with Guilt and reading about her artichoke extravaganza. I heartily second Gwen’s endorsement of the Union Square Greenmarket. It runs year round, and late summer/early fall is a spectacular time to go and enjoy amazing heirloom tomatoes, fresh corn, and the first harvest of the fall apple crop. Gwen also mentions buying organic, which helps decrease the use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers that deplete the soil and runoff into waterways. All good stuff. But believe it or not, the greenmarket isn’t the only way to buy local, organic produce direct from farmers.

That’s what I’m talking about

Just found this great post over at Et Cetera about an artist who bought a 400 sq ft Chelsea 1-bedroom and lived there while he renovated it into an unbelievable space. I’ll let you click over to see what he paid, but trust me it’s a lot less than you think. This is a perfect example of how to think small and live big. This guy’s place is probably worth well over $1 million now, just 5 years after he bought it. Hats off.

UPDATE: I just noticed that Et Cetera’s post was based on this New York Times article that has its own audio slide show. Check it out.

Find someone special

Alright, has everyone found their ideal, tiny New York apartments? No? Well here’s my last difficult-to-follow tip for how to score that perfect place. Find someone to live with…preferably someone with whom you can share a bed. Probably the last thing you wanted to hear. You’ll have to abandon your vision of striking out on your own in the city, mixing it up in the singles scene, and any hope of actual privacy. But it’s essential to at least have a roommate if you want to stretch your resources and decrease the strain you put on the planet. So get to it. Place those personals, call your friends…do what you have to do to find someone you can tolerate splitting a small space with. From now on, I promise posts will be less like parental nagging (“when are you going to find a place? when will you get married?”) and more practical useful insider tips for living well and being green. In the meantime, good luck finding that special someone.

Finding a place

Without question, the most difficult part of living in New York City is finding an affordable apartment that meets a basic standard of quality. The only way to describe the real estate market is ruthless. I won’t spend time on horror stories. If you’ve been here, you know and if you’re just coming, you’ll soon find out. Unlike most other lifestyle decisions/tips this blog will talk about, finding the right NYC apartment often just a result of dumb luck. But there are some things to keep in mind that will help you find a place without breaking the bank, and just might keep your carbon footprint low to boot. So without further ado, here are 5 tips to help you find the apartment of your dreams. (Okay, maybe keep you from the apartment of your nightmares.)

1. Be aggressive and ruthless. Remember how I mentioned the crazy market? You have to adjust to it. Most brokers won’t think twice about screwing you for thousands, so be prepared to do the same to anyone else you encounter if given a good opportunity. I’m not advocating doing anything illegal, but just throw decorum and the normal niceties of doing business out the window. And if you see something good, take it IMMEDIATELY.
2. Craigslist is your friend. One major goal should be avoiding a broker’s fee, especially if you may want to move again soon. The best way to do this is to get on Craigslist and stay on top of every ad in your budget and desired neighborhoods. Some good places will literally be listed and rented within hours. If you can refresh every 10 minutes, you might just might get one.
3. Think small. You will be shocked by the size and price of the apartments you see, particularly if you’re looking in Manhattan. In some ways, the smaller the better. You see, keeping things small will help with several things. Your rent will be lower. You’ll use less energy. You’ll buy less stuff. All good ways to stay in budget AND be more earth-friendly. Most New Yorkers spend 1/3 of their income on housing. If you want to stretch your budget, don’t just try to beat it, see if you can get down in the 20%-25% range. It will feel tight at first, but you will adjust fairly quickly.
4. Stay near the trains. This will increase your rent, but you should more than make up for that in the saved cab fares, or worse yet, parking/gas/insurance. Make it a goal to live in a neighborhood where you don’t need a car. Now sell your car. It will be okay, I promise. You may even find it oddly liberating.
5. Ask everyone you know. The holy grail of apartment hunting is a rent controled place. This means the rent will never go up, and is likely about 1/8th of the market rate. There are very, very, few of these left. The next best thing is rent stabilized. This means the rent can only go up by a pre-determined amount each year, and they are also increasingly rare. Talk to people you know about apartment leads in general. You’ll often find a steal through a personal connection that might not be available to the general public.

This may be the single most important decision you make if your goals are living above your income and lowering your impact. Put some time and energy into it.

Kicking it Off

First things first: everything is relative. I want this blog to be a useful resource for people who are: a) concerned with the environment; b) looking to stretch their budget in New York; and c) not monks. That last one is really important. Living green on a budget can lead to drastic measures like freeganism, or No Impact Man. That’s not what this is about. That said, the “high life” does not mean this blog will teach you how to find a 2000 sq ft loft in Tribeca for under $1000 and spend your nights getting bottle service with the celebrity chasers in the Meatpacking District. For my purposes, the high life is a reasonably comfortable living with some extras and perks that might seem out of reach without a Wall Street salary. God knows I’m not the first to come up with almost any of this stuff, but hopefully pulling it together in one place will be interesting enough for anyone in a similar situation to keep reading. And I am always grateful for tips on how to improve…so if you see something I miss, then send it my way. Alright, that’s plenty long enough for an intro. Enjoy the blog!