Moving to New York City, where is a good place to live?

Most places in Manhattan are safe, except for Harlem or Spanish Harlem (on the Upper East Side.) Some parts of downtown (like Alphabet City) can be sketchy, but not truly bad. New York is actually pretty safe, contrary to popular opinion--just as long as you keep your head about you and play it smart. The Upper East side actually has some good deals--from the upper 90s to the 70s on 1st Avenue and East End, and sometimes on 2nd Avenue. Hell's Kitchen can be relatively inexpensive. It seems that, generally, the more East or West you are, the cheaper it is (ie. West End or East End.) But you need to be aware that it is highly unlikely for you to find a decent place in Manhattan, no matter where it is, for less than $1,000 (though sometimes people luck out.) I wouldn't recommend Queens--it's quite a trek to get to Manhattan. Brooklyn is a better choice. I agree that Craigslist can be sketchy--there are a lot of scams on there. I would recommend looking at the New York Times website. You can choose a 'no fee' search, which means you won't have to pay a broker fee (those can be relatively expensive.) You can also look on Citihabitats (www.citi-habitats.com.) Good luck!

I recommend looking on nabewise.com, they give you information on neighborhood profiles. Use that to narrow down an area that you might want to live in. Rentenna.com lists apartment rentals, most are a bit pricey. But I like the score they assign each one since it takes into account complaints against the landlord and crime statistics.