Everything You Need to Know About Moving to Queens

As the largest and second most populous NYC borough, Queens is home to plenty of amenities including both of the NYC airports, Citi Field, Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, and USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Of course, there’s a heck of a lot more to Queens than just these landmarks. The borough is the most culturally diverse area in the world with around 47 percent of its residents being foreign-born. And while it might not be as popular as Manhattan or Brooklyn, there are plenty of reasons why people choose to move to Queens. If you’re looking for a change of pace, make sure to read the below guide and decide if Queens is the right place for you.

Cost of Living

The biggest reason people move to Queens is that it is more affordable than Manhattan or Brooklyn depending on where you move. More gentrified locations like Long Island City will be more expensive, especially if you decide to move into one of the luxury high rise apartments. As well, areas that are closer to Manhattan tend to be more expensive. With that said, you can still find one-bedroom apartments for under $2,000 if you don’t mind a bit of a commute. The further into Queens you go though, the less access you will have to public transportation, which means you might need to invest in a car. In many cases, the savings you might have will easily be eaten up by car payments, gas, and insurance fees.

Public Transportation

Depending on what neighborhood you choose, you may or may not have a lot of options when it comes to public transportation. In general, the closer you are to Manhattan, the more train lines you’ll have access to. It’s why so many people are moving to areas like Astoria, Long Island City, and Jackson Heights. Besides the subway stations, some Queens neighborhoods also have Long Island Rail Road stations as well as several bus routes that take you around Queens and into Manhattan.

Unfortunately, not all areas of Queens have good public transportation access. Central Queens especially has several areas with no subway access while areas like Sunnyside, Woodhaven, and Astoria might have subway lines, but are not ADA-accessible. So if you don’t want to spend money on a car, make sure to research your neighborhood carefully to make sure you have public transportation options. And when you can, try to find a place that has multiple subway options in case there are delays or issues on one of the lines.

Safety

Queens is incredibly safe with overall violent and property crime being safer than every other borough besides Staten Island. The reason for the low crime rates is for a few reasons:

• Community involvement – Queens neighborhoods tend to be like mini towns and many of them have a very community-focused atmosphere
• Family focused – as the suburbs of NYC, Queens tends to attract a lot of young professionals looking to start or grow their family.
• Community policing – many areas have their own neighborhood watch and work in tandem with the local police precincts

Of course, there are some rough areas of Queens so if safety is your number one concern you’ll want to avoid the following neighborhoods:

• Jamaica
• Willets Point
• The Rockaways
• Ozone Park
• Rosedale
• Corona
• Ridgewood
• Hunters Point

Long Island City and Flushing also have higher crime stats than the rest of Queens, but it is still considerably lower than Manhattan or Brooklyn. It is generally safe during the day or night, you just have to be more aware of your surroundings, especially around major transit hubs like Queensboro Plaza in LIC.

Jobs

Queens has the second-largest economy of NYC’s after Manhattan. Not only that, but it also has the most diversified economy with occupations spreading evenly across health care, retail, manufacturing, construction, transportation, film and TV, and more. With that said, the airline industry is particularly important to Queens, it is home to both JFK and LaGuardia, providing around 25% of the sector’s employment and more than 30% of the sector’s wages. Closely behind the airline industry is education and health services, followed by transportation and warehousing, and retail. If you’re a white collar worker, you’ll be happy to learn that around 17% of the jobs in Queens are in information, finance, and business.

If you can’t find a job in Queens, you can always commute to Manhattan! Just make sure to find a job in Midtown to shorten your commute.

Amenities

Queens is the largest NYC borough and, as such, has a ton of cool stuff to do. Probably the first thing people will tell you is to go to one of the many restaurants. If you’re looking for some good Chinese food, head over to the Chinatown in Flushing. Many of the Chinese people who lived in Manhattan migrated over to Flushing due to the rising costs of Manhattan rents. Nowadays, Flushing has surpassed the Manhattan Chinatown not just in size but diversity. It has large populations of Chinese groups from various areas of Mainland China and Taiwan. Want some Indian food? Then go to Jackson Height where you can have a taste of Indian cuisine and shop at one of the many Indian stores for some spices so you can make some curry at home. If you’re not in the mood for Indian, that’s fine. Jackson Heights is the cultural melting pot. Right next to an Indian restaurant you might find a Colombian, Tibetan, West Indian, or Argentinian restaurant.

Outside of eating, there’s still plenty to explore. If you’re a sports-fanatic then Queens is the place to be! Head over to Citi Field to catch a Mets game or go to the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center to experience the excitement of the US Opens. Or head over to the Arthur Ashe Stadium. While it is no longer the site of the US Opens, you can still catch other activities such as the Westminster Dog Show, professional wrestling shows, and more. If you prefer horse racing, you can go to Aqueduct Racetrack in South Ozone Park and place your bets on your favorite horse.

For those who love nature, Queens has plenty of parks to choose from. There is, of course, the famous Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, which is the fourth largest park in NYC with a total of 897 acres. It is, of course, home to the famous Unisphere and New York State Pavilion as it was the site of the 1939 and 1964 World Fair and the area includes attractions such as Citi Field, New York Hall of Science, the Queens Museum, the Queens Theatre, and the Queens Zoo. If the park is too touristy for you, there are plenty of other options:

• Kissena Park – Quiet and relaxing trails around a lovely lake
• Hunter’s Point South Park – views of the East River and Manhattan skylines
• Alley Pond Park – secluded and more natural landscaping
• Little Bay Park – small, with excellent walk along the ocean
• Fort Totten Park – Picturesque area with historic Civil war fortress and views of the bay

As you can see, you have a plethora of activities to choose from, and you don’t even need to leave Queens!

Get Ready for Your Queens Move

Once you’ve found your perfect apartment, get NYC Great Movers to help you on moving day. We have moved hundreds of people to Queens so we know exactly what to do to make your transition seamless. If you need more than the basic moving service let us know and we will work with you to create a moving plan.

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