Indecision

About a year ago I was so tired of living in Manhattan that I told Doug we had to get out. So, we looked across the river in Jersey City, found something we really liked and got out of Manhattan. Now, I totally miss living in the city, I miss running in Central Park, I miss taking a cab home if I need to and I miss having my friends come over and just chill on the couch (for some reason, Jersey City seems so far to people).

There are a lot of pros to living in NJ. Much cheaper rent, walk in closets, washer and dryer in our apt., a balcony, beautiful views of NYC and did I mention cheaper rent? Some of the things I don't like are: it feels so lonely and far away from all of my friends, a cab home late at night costs $55, the restaurants by us aren't go0d and the demographics are so very different than what I'm used to. The area is primarily families from India and China that have the grandparents living with them, so they really aren't very social with people outside of their family, it's quite an insular community. In fact, the only people I know are our 3 neighbors and I've never gotten past the weather forecast with them.

Our lease runs up at the end of November, so I think we're going to start looking at moving back into the city. The Upper West Side is sounding very appealing to both of us. We've always lived in a newer, full amenities building with a concierge, gym, new appliances, etc. This time I think we are going to look at more traditional brownstone apartments with a lot of charm. And on the UWS, we'll be right by Riverside Park and Central Park, so I'll be a very happy runner.

Moving in the city is such a pain in the ass and the thought of packing up all of our stuff again and moving it across the river makes me want to throw up, but staying out in no man's land sounds a little worse. Doug thinks I'm a crazy person and that the grass is always greener on the other side for me. I say, I know what I want and I just haven't found it yet, maybe because there's not enough grass here in the first place.