Affordable Housing Fight Continues

Take a look at this article written by the Long Island Press about the fight for affordable housing.

Affordable Housing on Long Island

When you’re done, swing back here and read what I sent to the editor.

To the editor:

When I read Spencer Rumsey’s story on affordable housing, I was living in a hotel in Raleigh, N.C. while my fiancé and I wait to move in to our newly leased apartment. Our apartment in Northwest Raleigh has more than 1,000 square feet, two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a patio, and is a two-minute walk to Lake Lynn. We will be paying $745 a month.

We moved here about a week and a half ago from Suffolk County after the cost of living gave us no other choices. A newly engaged couple, we knew that a future together could not start while living with our parents. We came to North Carolina after I was able to obtain a job with one of my previous employers that has a office based in Raleigh.

The cost of living and affordable housing issue has been covered to death, but in most of the articles read, no one seems to mention how the salaries on Long Island are not on the same level as the cost of living (perhaps we’re all afraid of being labeled a socialist or communist). While living on Long Island, my fiancé and I, together, made a whopping $40,000 a year despite having advanced college degrees.

With technology companies fleeing Long Island for cheaper territory (FYI Raleigh has been named as one of the best places for a tech company to relocate), all the jobs that are left low-paying retail positions. Higher-paying jobs can be found in Manhattan, but the cost of commuting for many Eastern Long Islanders outweigh the increase in salary.

I have heard the argument from many Long Islanders that moving south would come with a severe dip in salary. In many instances, that’s not the case. But even if it were, the salaries are on the same level as the cost of living. In my case, I took a $3,000 hit when I moved south, but look at the amazing apartment I can afford with that hit.

The cost of living issue on Long Island is a multi-faceted problem. Until residents, business owners, school districts and politicians begin to address all of the issues that created and continue to exacerbate this problem, many young people will continue to flee Long Island.

Holy Life Changes, Batman

I was just beginning to mentally process that I had quit my job and was taking another in a city and state 500 miles away when Chuck reached across a table at Trish’s Café in Babylon Village with a diamond ring.

I knew this moment was coming at some point. Hell, being the girl that I am every time Chuck and I did something together I was silently hoping for it. Realistically, I didn’t expect us to get engaged until after the move. It was too much for my brain to process.

I went from being 27 and feeling like a teenager to being 27 and feeling like an adult. It was a little overwhelming, but the happiness that I felt was beyond words.

Sorry, no actual engagement pictures. You'll have to deal with this one.

I knew that this was a step in our relationship that would have never come had we not decided to move down to Raleigh. You can’t get engaged and plan a wedding when you don’t have the funds necessary to move out of your parents’ house. Sure, plenty of couples live in their parents’ basement or attic apartments for a few years to save some money, but that’s not really an option for us.

Converting part of my house into an apartment would cost the equivalent of two years rent for an apartment in North Carolina and Chuck’s basement looks like it could be featured on an episode of Hoarders: Buried Alive. That’s not to mention the tax jump that would happen if our parents made these hypothetical apartments legal.

Moving wasn’t something we wanted to do, but something we had to do if we ever wanted to tie the knot. All the people that aren’t my parents or Chuck’s parents that know about our move believe it’s a great idea. Most of the older people I talk to tell me that after they retire they’re heading off the Island too.

It breaks my heart that I have to do this. Now, I have to plan a Long Island wedding from 500 miles away. Dress shopping, hall viewing and vendor meeting will all be done on rushed weekends before I hop on a flight back to Raleigh.

All this because Long Island is just too expensive.

Finding Our Humble Abode

The hardest part about deciding to move out of state is finding a place to hang your hat.

Sure, there’s that whole employment issue, but with the cost of living so low, a minimum wage job could pay the rent. Finding a place to rent is where the problem lies.

Chuck and I are still deciding where in North Carolina we want to move. Raleigh was at the top of our list until the school district imposed a hiring freeze. It would be the best place to find a minimum wage gig, but with no chances of even finding work as a substitute teacher, what’s the point?

The plus side of Raleigh is that I know people in the area who can tell us what areas are great and which are the ghetto. My friend Jess in Durham ended up in a nasty apartment complex and ended up calling the police on multiple occasions, three of those times was because her place was broken into.

We haven’t done much legwork for Winston-Salem, but with Chuck’s cousin living in the area and her husband being a local cop, finding a good place to live will be pretty easy. Jobs are an issue since the unemployment rate hovers around 10 percent, whereas in Raleigh and Asheville it’s a couple points lower.

Asheville was one of our favorite towns, but it’s also the one we spend the least amount of time in. We also don’t know anyone that lives in the area. While we plan to visit again in June for an extended weekend, there isn’t much we can go on when it comes to finding a safe place to call home.

Apartment listings on websites don’t exactly have an “Avoid places that will require me to have the cops on speed dial” option. Apartments may also look great on paper and then a quick search for reviews leads you to some disappointing information.

Take The Meadows for example. Sure it’s pretty and reasonably priced. A quick Google search leads me to this awesome review.

Now, most of the reviews on this site are a few years old and you can’t take everything you read on the internet as fact so where does that leave Chuck and me when we try to find a place to live?

I guess we’ll just have to wing it and hope for the best.

The Risk Takers

My former co-worker, Vicki, amazes me.

She left us last year to head down to New Orleans to bartend at a dive she used to work at in college. In the month or so she was there, she banked enough money to spend a month traveling Asia. Camera in hand, she took amazing photos and experienced amazing things. She did it again not too long ago, visiting other parts of Asia, India and the Middle East. She’s settled down and applying to grad school for photography.

My cousin’s friend, Vanessa, and her boyfriend moved to San Diego a few years ago. Itching to come back to Long Island they packed whatever they could carry in a backpack, hopped on their bicycles and are in the process of cycling cross country back to New York. Believe it or not, there’s an entire community of people that do this.

Another Vanessa I know is leaving dirty Jersey for the nicer climate of Florida. No real job prospects on the horizon, but she and her man have a date set and they’re heading south. She’s already begun selling her belongings.

My friend from college, Jenn, who has always been a free spirit, told me that she and her girlfriend just bought an SUV and plan on buying a pop-up camper. They are taking that SUV and pop-up on an extended road trip to California.

When I wondered, via Facebook, if I should pick up and move to Asheville to live in one of those mobile homes I saw for $50,000, Jenn was my biggest supporter (via Facebook. Savanna and Katie also encouraged the move via email) noting her intent to live in a camper attached to her car for an extended period of time.

Four beds, 3 baths and a fireplace on an acre of property for $50K? Not bad for "trailer" living.

I’ve always admired people who were able to leave everything behind to do something risky that made them happy. Raised by a financially conservative mother, my first question is, “How will they pay their bills?”

Ultimately, that is the question that keeps me from doing anything risky. Sure, packing my bags and moving to North Carolina would make me happy, but how will I pay my car insurance?

Or, my car payment?

Or, my student loans?

Or, my credit card bill?

Or, the rent?

People tell me that I’d figure it out. I see them make their lives work with less. I’m financially responsible enough to make sure the bills are paid, so I guess I would figure it out.

Bolstered by my friends’ courage, I’m slowly putting my fears aside and giving serious thought to banking as much money as I can, renting a truck and just figuring it out.

Even if I have to live in a trailer.

Two Years Later

Two years ago today, it was a Monday and I walked proudly into the Herald offices. It was my first day at my first real job in journalism. This was everything that I had worked so hard for. Almost two years after graduation I was finally stepping foot into my career.

Despite the ranting, raving, complaining and crying I do on a regular basis, my job has been good to me. I write at least 12 articles a month and contribute to many more that don’t include a byline. In two years, my writing has come a long way and I think I’m pretty damn good. My editor and copyeditor make me look pretty awesome so thanks are in order for them.

Not a fan of Justin Bieber, but it was pretty cool to interview the hottest teen idol in the world right now.

My job does provide me with a paycheck that does pay the bills and allows me to put a little away for a future away from Long Island. In today’s economy and in this industry, it is nice to feel some job security. Yesterday, though, was a hard day to see the bright side of this place.

It started with sitting in 45 minutes of traffic to move five miles. Sure, there was a massive accident, but it didn’t help my sanity as I inched along the Sunrise Highway service road. Two years of traffic is starting to take its toll on my mental stability. I considered pulling over just to have a good cry.

I had two stories to write, only one of which I was mildly interested in. But, after writing a story about an animal control officer getting arrested for animal cruelty, I had to force myself to get through my lame story on beach erosion. With 99 percent of my stories being on topics that I don’t have any interest in, it’s getting harder and harder to push myself to write a good story. I always do though, since my name and reputation are literally on the (by)line.

I found it extra hard to push through because earlier in the day my good friend from college informed me that she and her boyfriend are taking their savings and picking up and moving down to Florida. Without a job lined up, like Tommy and Gina they’re going down with a prayer and a dream. “Should we just do that?” I asked myself. “Should we just go?”

A tweet from my friend Lauren answered my thoughts. She sent me a link to this Wall Street Journal article: The Next Best Career Move: Actually Moving

Wow. Thanks, WSJ.

The rest of the day was spent pondering if Chuck and I should pack our bags and hightail it out of New York. The WSJ article confirmed my beliefs that we would be better off if we moved down south with our savings and a dream. Easier said than done when you have minimal savings and every other article you read is about North Carolina’s 11 percent unemployment rate.

The mountain town of Asheville is the next area to be bombarded with resumes from Chuck and me.

Another blow was reading about the hiring freeze in the Wake County School District. This was great news after spending an hour printing out cover letters to accompany the 12 resumes that Chuck was planning on sending to various schools in the district.

So, what do we do?

Stick to our original plan on having a loose deadline of January 2011 to move?

Or, push up our deadline to August, save as much money as we can and just go?

Or, give up and take my mom’s offer of renovating the upstairs living room into an apartment?

I think some serious conversations need to be had between Chuck and me. The game is changing and we might have to change our strategy.

Long Island. Retail Price: $Too Much

I stepped through the entrance of my friend Jessica’s townhouse on Sunday and was met with an amazing sight. Her place was wonderful…and gigantic. With two floors, two bedrooms, two and a half baths and a living room that could eat Chuck’s entire studio apartment, a place like this would have been perfect for Chuck and I.

Jess and I went to Manhattanville College together and she continued to live in Westchester for a few years after graduating. She’s familiar with the high cost of living in downstate New York. Jess’ townhouse, which she rents with her boyfriend, is in Durham, N.C. and her rent is one third what she would have paid on Long Island for the same place.

This photo of my adorable kitty and I, was taken in front of the doorway to the kitchen of Chuck's apartment. Through that doorway was another 60 square feet. Maybe. (He's was moving out, hence the mess)

Seeing her place on my most recent trip to North Carolina made the cost of living on Long Island even more mind-boggling. Her rent is actually LESS than what Chuck paid for his studio apartment in a renovated mansion dating back to the 1800s.

I’m having trouble comprehending why there is such a disparity.

Sure, we have proximity to New York City, the greatest city in the world. We also have amazing beaches. We’ve got some good wineries too.

And we have…good schools? Sure, in some districts. The quality of our educational system can easily be debated. Without any standardized measure that is used throughout the country, it really could go either way.

So what else do we have that warrants such a high price?

A winter sunset at Jones Beach

I, and anyone else that has had to replace a tire this winter, can tell you it’s not our roadways. With many of our bridges and overpasses deteriorating, they’re downright dangerous.

The people of Brentwood want to know why gangs have taken over their neighborhoods. Suffolk County P.D. gets paid a lot of money to do their jobs. What’s wrong within the department that has allowed crime in this area to get out of control?

While New York has the entire country beat when it comes to a good slice of pizza, a bagel or a deli sandwich, there is nothing offered commercially in New York that can’t be found anywhere else.

You can’t even argue that salaries are that much higher. As I learned at recent Long Beach Board of Education meeting, the salaries are actually on par with the rest of New York State, while the cost of living is higher. I’ve met plenty of people that have actually gotten paid more in similar positions outside of Long Island.

Give it some thought. Is there anything on Long Island that is so spectacularly wonderful that it deserves to stick such a high price tag on it?

Dear Senator

When the New York State Senate rejected a bill that would have allowed gays to marry, I wrote an email to my senator Brian Foley.

Apparently Foley, a Democrat, voted for the bill after being swayed by the personal stories of those that ventured to Albany to speak to legislators. I had never emailed my senator and to be honest, I didn’t know who my senator was until that vote.

I'm so wrapped up in Nassau politics, I didn't know this guy represented me.

Last week I received an email from Foley’s campaign committee thanking me for my support on the issue of gay marriage. The email then asked me to contribute for Foley’s campaign to get him back into Albany this year.

I decided to shoot Foley, or his committee, an email back. I let him know that I had not forgotten that the senate took an entire month off and were in fact paid for it. I reminded him that had I pulled that same stunt I would have been fired.

I also informed him that I do not feel politicians act in the best interests of their constituents, but for their own personal gain and until that changes I wouldn’t be voting in any election, locally or nationally.

Finally, I noted that I don’t plan on being in New York by the next election because the cost of living on Long Island is forcing me to move to a cheaper area.

Now, I don’t know Foley and I’m sure he’s an okay guy, but I’m a tad bit frustrated with politics these days. This BS between Democrats and Republicans has reached epic proportions and the people are suffering. Just quit your bitching at each other and work together to try to get this country back on track. Put your philosophies aside, talk to the idiots that voted for your incompetent asses and do what needs to be done to get this country back to the caliber that it SHOULD be.

Never mind the fact that this country is run by those with the most monetary backing for better or worst. Maybe if I had a few million to throw at a politician they would do me a solid and pass a bill to allow gays to marry, or legalize pot, or hell, make January 30 National Kitten Day.

On the hyper-local level, I’m leaving because Long Island is ridiculously expensive and no one seems to be doing anything about it. There’s a lot of talk, but no action. Eventually Long Island will be an island of the wealthy, since only those with big paychecks will be able to afford the taxes.

Even at this point, if I could afford to stay in New York, I don’t know if I would.

*Editor’s Note: Let’s be real, I’m sure North Carolina has its own set of issues, but at least it’s possible to make a decent living.

On Jan 20, 2010, at 8:12 AM, Senator Brian X. Foley wrote:

Thank you for your kind words regarding my recent vote on the marriage equality bill that came before the State Senate.  I, and many of my colleagues, believe this is truly an issue of civil rights and the separation of church and state.  The speeches delivered on the floor of the Senate that day were some of the finest speeches I have heard in my time as an elected official.  They were heartfelt, moving, and, in the final analysis, persuasive.

During my first year in the Senate, I have fought the tough fights – protecting education funding, standing up for the rights of our workers, and being a voice in Albany for the needs of Long Island.  I feel blessed to be able to fight these battles.  And now, I am facing a tough electoral fight – one which I fully intend to win.  But I cannot do it alone.  I need your help in order to continue to make your voice heard in Albany.

Please consider contributing $50, $100, $250, $500, or more, to help send me back to Albany.  To contribute, please visit my ActBlue page: http://www.actblue.com/entity/fundraisers/20512.

The contribution limit for my race is $9,500.  Please note that political contributions are not tax deductible.

Over the last year, we have been able to work together to begin to bring change to New York.  But there is still more to be done – and I need your help to do it!  Please visit my ActBlue page today and help me keep fighting to make your voice heard in Albany.

Thank you,

Brian X. Foley

New York State Senator

3rd District

Dear Senator Foley,

While I approve of your support for gay marriage, I have not forgotten that members of the Senate did not work for an entire month last year and still received a paycheck. If I were to have done that I would have been fired immediately. I do not blame you for that debacle, but I think a message needs to be sent to all politicians that many feel our elected officials no longer represent our interests and I will not vote in any election until that attitude changes. That said, I am in the process of relocating to North Carolina because the cost of living is too high on Long Island, a problem that everyone talks about, but no one addresses.

Please take me off any mailing list my email address has been placed on.

Thank you,

Ariella

Cute Hockey Boy

Two years ago at this time I was Brunos, a bar in Lake Ronkonkoma, sitting next to this amazing guy, Cute Hockey Boy, talking about something. I can’t remember what because the conversation glided easily from one topic to another. We had just finished watching the Islanders lose to the Flyers and the bar was starting to fill with its Saturday night regulars. When it finally got too loud to hear each other speak we hopped in the car and drove to Starbucks and finished our conversation over coffee until we were sent away by a weary barista. We returned to the Applebees parking lot where I had left my car and I returned home giddy as a schoolgirl nearly seven hours after my date had started.

My love affair with goalies came true when I met this goalie in 2008.

In the present day that amazing guy is still in my life and the Islanders are still losing (6-4 Penguins…ugh). Chuck and I have been through a lot since that first date: weddings, funerals, hiring, firings, weight loss, weight gain and more trips to the emergency room than I care to count.

I knew early on that Chuck was the person that I wanted to strap a ball and chain to and keep around for the rest of my life. I’m glad he feels the same way about me, because otherwise this would be one awkward blog.

We’ve been ready to take the next step in our relationship for a while now and unfortunately the thing keeping us from doing that isn’t a fear of commitment, but an inability to pay the rent. If I had to choose between the two, I would take the fear of commitment over high cost of living.

We decided to relive our first date today by heading to Applebees for dinner. Everything was great until the end of dinner when Chuck’s stomach began acting up. We had end the night early because he forgot his medicine at home. “I wish we lived together,” he said as he drove me back to my house.

While we have come down with our fair share of misfortune in terms of school and employment, the simple act of starting your life together should not be hindered by an extreme cost of living. Why should my life be delayed because salaries are low and taxes are high? Why is rent for the same exact apartment two hours north $200 more expensive?

Next year we won’t be celebrating the third anniversary of our first date at the Patchogue Applebees. We’ll be in our own place in a city hundreds of miles away.

Leave it all Behind?

I saw this Forbes.com article today on my Yahoo! home page.

Best Bang for Your Buck Cities

I’ll admit that at first I didn’t read the whole article all the way through. I skimmed down to the end where I saw the “Read full list” link and found that three of the places I’ll be visiting this week were pretty high up. (I’ve since read the whole thing) It’s the second time I’ve seen some good news out of North Carolina. The first one was this article about America’s fastest recovering cities. Raleigh was in the top 10.

I’ve been so obsessed with this trip and the possibilities that might come from it that I’ve all but forgotten the little mini-trips that Chuck and I planned on taking. We would still like to go to Maryland and North into New England. Places like Salisbury and Providence are on the physical list, but mentally, I had almost excluded them.

What brought them back to the forefront of my mind was visiting my friend Lex for her birthday this weekend. I’ll be missing her big birthday bash because of my vacation so I took her out to the Cheesecake Factory in White Plains. For the most part many of my friends are within a couple hour’s driving distance. I’ll admit that even though I graduated almost five years ago, I’m still having trouble adjusting to not having my friends around at all hours of the day like I did at Manhattanville.

If I move to North Carolina seeing them will become a once a year thing instead of once a month thing. As someone who is so dependent on her friends for emotional and physical support, I feel that it would make me even more sad to be so far away and know that I chose to be that far.

But, while all of my friends have moved on to the next stage in life I stumble behind. At one of the oldest I’m also the furthest back in life.

Do I struggle here so that I can have the comfort of knowing my friends are nearby?

Or,

Do I move away to a place that can offer me the life I want to live, with the man I want to live it with, but give up the physical closeness Long Island offers me now?

Makin’ a Move

Chuck and I began thinking of relocating before we even met.

I was laid-off from Four Seasons Sunrooms where I worked as an executive assistant in January 2008, one week before my one year anniversary. I took a week “vacation” then promptly started my job search. I often searched for positions in the Albany area since at the time, I had a slew of friends in that neck of the (literal) woods.

It wasn’t too long after I was laid off, I met Chuck and we began dating. Things were going to well that I kept my searches more local in the event that possibly, just maybe, I found something good.

Chuck had also been laid off in January. His graduate program at Adelphi University had been cut a week into the semester. Already going back to Adelphi under stressful circumstances, he considered moving to Tennessee where a friend was living in a cheap apartment with a decent job.

Moving was on hold until later that year when he decided to go back to Rochester University and we had loose plans to head up north. Knowing Rochester had a problem with unemployment even in good economic times, I was nervous, but I was sucked into a cheaper lifestyle of living.

Our best apartment find, was a two bedroom, 1.5 bath townhouse that was under $1,000 a month. That’s if we had the money to spurge. I could deal with the snow and ice and cold 10 months out of the year.

I was terrified, but excited.

Had our plans worked accordingly, I wouldn’t have started this blog because I would no longer be living in my parent’s house. I guess things happen for a reason.

So, almost a year later, we find ourselves in a similar position. Instead of moving north, we’re looking south.While we have a list of potential locales that we’d like to check out,  right now, North Carolina is leading the charge with its cheap living and lack of masters-to-teach requirement.

We’ll spend six days down below the Bible belt in good ‘ol country living.

A year later, I find myself terrified, but excited. We’ll see how I feel this time next year.