So, you’re thinking about living in Staten Island? Great, that’s a wonderful idea. Staten Island is not a small place at all. It’s a county, as well as a borough of NYC. There are more than a few reasons to believe you’ll really enjoy your life here. Check out what that’s like before deciding to move. Here’s living in Staten Island 101.
Living in Staten Island can be wonderful
With a population of about 475, 000 people, Staten Island is definitely a place that a lot of people choose to call their home. It is separated from New York Bay and New Jersey by two tidal straits. One is named Arthur Kill or Staten Island Sound and the second one is Kill Van Kull. That way, you get the best of both but still get to be secluded. You can get that small neighborhood feeling of living in Staten Island, but still, be able to listen to the music of the traffic in the city. That’s one of the reasons people move into their dream home from an apartment.
The Connection
The railroad can take you from the north to the south of Staten Island easily and, in most cases, it’s free. And from there, you can take a bus to New Jersey. Not only that, but the connection from Staten Island to Manhattan is also quite good. City buses can take you to Brooklyn every hour. With a lot of shopping centers and malls, maybe there’s no need to go anywhere else.
The Ferry
The Staten Island Ferry is a free way to get to Manhattan. It’s also quite a relaxing ride preparing you either for Manhattan or coming back home. You get to enjoy the view of The Statue of Liberty or Lower Manhattan every day. Not a bad sight, is it? Snacks are overpriced and not so good though, so maybe you can skip on those.
The Bridges
There are four bridges that connect Staten Island to Manhattan. They can all get you to the city that never sleeps and gets you back home.
- The Verrazano Narrows Bridge connects Staten Island to Brooklyn and enables the connection with the rest of New York. Also, as it’s quite an impressive suspension bridge, so you can’t say it doesn’t look really good, too. Maybe that’s a good enough reason to decide to live in Staten Island.
- The Bayonne
- The Outerbridge Crossing is actually more of a crossing than a bridge, but that’s the way it goes
- Goethals Bridge
It’s Cheaper
It is not a surprise that living in Staten Island is much cheaper than living in New York. That enables you to have a better standard of living. Relocating to NYC with ease is now an option. You get to enjoy life in NYC, but also to improve your lifestyle. And they say you can’t have your cake and eat it too.
Population
If you can’t find the cheapest time to travel to Europe and that’s something you’ve always wanted to do, we may have a better idea. The population of Staten Island is quite diverse. Almost a third of its population comes from Italy. And that means that you can find good Italian food here. You can also find the best pizza in NYC here. Irish people make up a significant part of the population, too. Other European nations are present in Staten Island as well. You can say that it’s a great place for folks of all cultures and races.
Living in Staten Island as a young person
There are more than enough activities to keep young people busy.
- School is one of those activities. Staten Island provides a very good education for the young.
- Nightlife in Staten Island is more than decent. The only downside might be that some places close earlier, but Manhattan is very close anyway.
- There are around 5 festivals each month.
- With more than 700 policemen, Staten Island is the safest part of NYC to live in.
- There are a lot of shopping opportunities with Staten Island Mall and new Empire Outlets close to St. George Terminal and it is yet to be built.
Nature
You can enjoy the outdoor life here and get to be so close to the noise of the big city. It is an island after all, and there is an ocean breeze on one side of the island. Other than the ocean views, there are lots of wonderful beaches. With protected parks and lookouts on top of that, what more can you ask for? One-third of the island is parkland. And you can see deer very often since they don’t have any natural predators. Well, other than cars, unfortunately. And people who are hunting them illegally. We would advise finding more adventurous hunting trips instead.
The Traffic
There’s no denying that the only reason there’s no rush hour here is that it lasts all day long. With the possibility of it actually getting worse during certain times of the day. And people also get very mad when driving. But, you probably already know that to be a problem in most big cities so you can choose whether to put up with that or not. It’s up to you to decide if it would have an impact on you living in Staten Island.
Living with Your Family in Staten Island
Staten Island is a great place to own a home and start a family – you can get that suburban feeling here. One of the things your family would enjoy is a backyard pool that most homes in Staten Island neighborhoods have. So, if they’re up for it, check out some useful tips for moving and bring your family here.
Come and Find Out for Yourself
People can love it or hate it, but they can’t say that living in Staten Island doesn’t provide an opportunity for a balanced lifestyle. If you like what you’ve just read, there’s only one way to know for sure. Come and check it out yourself.
