You're Single and Tired of the City. Is There a Suburb for You?
By ELSA BRENNER
Published: June 19, 2005
Mickey MacDonald says the party scene in Long Beach on Long Island is like "college continued." He rents an apartment a block from the beach.
Marko Georgiev/For The New York Times
David J. Bistany lives and works in Hoboken. Census figures show more than half of the residents over the age of 15 have never been married.
MARRIED people with kids aren't the only ones who move to the suburbs. When single people find the cost of real estate in the city too high, and the congestion too intense, they also look for homes in New Jersey, Westchester County, Connecticut and Long Island. But instead of examining class size and scores on SAT's, they're often more interested in finding like-minded people.
After Henry Uman divorced in the early 1990's, he bought a house in Larchmont, a family-oriented suburb in Westchester County on Long Island Sound, rather than move to the city. Mr. Uman, who is 69 and a retired lawyer, said he has found everything a single man his age could have hoped for in the unlikely choice of Larchmont: a house big enough so his three grandchildren could sleep over, good neighbors, a waterfront to walk along with his dog Huck, and "women to meet wherever I go."
Age and income levels notwithstanding, singles of all stripes seek many of the same qualities when looking for a place to live: good housing, proximity to work and to New York City, opportunities for recreation, and bars, restaurants and bookstores where other singles congregate.
The following are snapshots of some areas that are popular choices for single people. Some are predictable, like Hoboken, an established community in New Jersey rich with old town houses and bursting with restaurants and bars. Others are more surprising, like Huntington on Long Island, which attracts single people in their 30's and 40's. Many of them are near the water, which provides a certain social locus for people no matter their marital status.
Long Beach
A small city on Long Island, Long Beach is a favorite with 20-something singles. Located in Nassau County around 20 miles from Manhattan, it has a population of 35,462. It attracts single people who play on the beach during the day and party late into the night at local bars and restaurants. The community, where the comedian Billy Crystal spent his youth, has a 2.25-mile-long boardwalk that draws joggers, bicycle riders (who have their own lane) and others who prefer to stroll. The adjacent beach is a 3.5-mile stretch of pure white sand open to the public throughout the year.
When Mickey MacDonald, who is 22 and fresh out of college, landed a job as a sales representative for Pfizer in Nassau County last year, he didn't think twice about where to move. He describes the young singles' party scene in Long Beach as "college continued." He rents a one-bedroom apartment a block from the beach, although many of his friends share single-family houses, as they did during their fraternity days.
House rentals in the west end of the city, near the bars and restaurants, start at $1,800 a month for a two-bedroom and go up to $2,500, said Renee Goins, a sales agent with Gull Realty. Studio apartments can be found for $1,000 a month, and one-bedrooms for $1,500 and up, she said. One-bedroom co-ops start in the mid-$200,000's, one-bedroom condos in the mid-$300,000's.
Like other young singles, Mr. MacDonald enjoys a swim in the Atlantic Ocean after work during the warmer months, taking off later in the evening to meet friends and dance at bars like Minnesota's, which has a DJ and features hip-hop and rap music. On weekends, he sometimes travels to Manhattan via the Long Island Rail Road, which has a train back to Long Beach on Sunday mornings at 1:04. For commuters, the rush-hour commute is about 53 minutes; late at night, the trip is somewhat longer.
Janine Siegel, 39, who is in a biracial relationship, described Long Beach as an open-minded place. "In some place more traditional, such as the Five Towns on Long Island, we would stand out too much for my comfort," said Ms. Siegel, who is white and lives with her boyfriend, Christopher Watt, who is black. She was referring to the upscale South Shore towns of Hewlett, Woodmere, Cedarhurst, Lawrence and Inwood. Sometimes, Ms. Siegel, the mother of a 12-year-old daughter, and Mr. Watt frequent establishments like Billy's Beach Cafe, where they order wings and a beer and socialize at the bar with friends. In the summer months, they take in the city-sponsored free concerts on the beach.
Huntington
The North Shore village of Huntington, a 70-minute train ride from Manhattan, and its neighbor Huntington Station are favorites with Long Island singles who yearn for a hometown atmosphere. The main attraction is the village's vibrant downtown with its mixed-use buildings, apartments, condos, shops, food establishments, parks, cafes, movie theaters and performance venues. Both communities, part of the town of Huntington, also lure those who want to be close to the 17 beaches on the North Shore, and to the yacht clubs.
One-bedroom rentals in Huntington range from $1,000 to $1,300 a month, two-bedrooms from $1,200 to $1,800, with the village representing the higher end of the price spectrum, said Katy Anastasio, the owner of Anastasio Associates. A one-bedroom co-op can be found for $280,000 and up, one-bedroom condos for $350,000 and more, she said.
Meredith Dunn, 26, moved last fall to Huntington Station because that area of the town is somewhat less expensive than the village itself. Ms. Dunn noted that Huntington Station tends to draw singles in their 30's, while the village itself attracts unmarrieds in their late 20's. She considered Long Beach, but said that the crowd there "was just too young for me." Ms. Dunn, who moved from Ithaca, N.Y., where she was a graduate student at Cornell University, is not looking for a bar scene but prefers quiet recreational pursuits.
"The village reminded me of a little college town with its great bookstore and arts cinema," said Ms. Dunn, who works in Syosset, several miles south on Long Island, for Erase Racism, a nonprofit organization. "I'm not a bar person, so after work, I like to plunk down in a cafe and just start up a conversation," she said. Her favorite local literary hangout in the village, the birthplace of the poet and journalist Walt Whitman, is the Book Revue. It draws authors like J. K. Rowling, Chang-Rae Lee and Michael Crichton when they are on book tours.
Singles also feel at home at the Cinema Arts Center, a theater in the village featuring independent and foreign films, a cafe with live music and movie clubs.
Newark
Newark's image is rapidly changing. It is no longer just the city of immigrants, evoked by Philip Roth, or the city of race riots, seared into the public consciousness through television images in 1967. Today the former industrial port on the western bank of the Passaic River is experiencing a rebirth, attracting the attention of housing developers who are in many cases targeting young hip singles.
Although Newark still has a significant population living below the poverty line, many of those drawn to the city these days are students attending local colleges and universities. "With mortgage rates so low, they often buy something instead of renting while they're in school," said Octavio Mendes, a real estate agent at Burgdorff ERA Realtors in Short Hills, N.J. A two-bedroom, two-bath condo goes for $240,000 and up; two-family wood-frame homes with small backyards start at $550,000, he said.
For those preferring to rent, the Cogswell Realty Group in Manhattan plans to build 3,500 market-rate apartments in the center of downtown Newark within the next decade. The firm is now constructing 317 units, with rents ranging from about $950 for a small studio to $2,300 for a two-bedroom. Arthur R. Stern, the chief executive of Cogswell, said: "All of our plans for Newark are aimed at singles. It's a growing market there."
Elsewhere in the downtown, a two-bedroom, two-bath rental goes for $1,500 a month, Mr. Mendes said.
Newark is a hub for single people who live in the city or in the surrounding area. Richard Charles, 53, a commercial real estate broker, likes the Portuguese restaurants and nightclubs in Newark's multiethnic Ironbound district.
"Newark is a perfectly good counterpoint to New York City, and I don't have to go through the agony of tolls, and parking my car," said Mr. Charles, who is divorced and lives in Wayne, N.J. His favorite nightspots in Newark include the Adega Grill on Ferry Street, a nightclub with Latin music, and the Savoy Grill on Park Place, which is fast becoming known for its live jazz.
For sports fans, the New Jersey Devils' $310 million arena is expected to open for the 2007-08 National Hockey League season. And for culture mavens, there is the New Jersey Performing Arts Center and the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra.
For commuters, Manhattan is less than 20 minutes away on the PATH train. Mr. Mendes noted that many singles also like the fact that on summer weekends, they are last than an hour from Asbury Park and other New Jersey Shore points along the Garden State Parkway.
Hoboken
In Hoboken in warm weather, restaurant tables with colorful umbrellas dot crowded streets lined with Victorian homes, brownstones, new condos and factories that have been converted into housing. The city of 38,577 people - the birthplace of Frank Sinatra 90 years ago - occupies a 1.3-square-mile area on the Hudson River.
Once a thriving industrial port, Hoboken today is a haven for singles drawn to its charm and proximity to Manhattan on the other shore.
David J. Bistany, 42, who lives and works in Hoboken, recently described the city's singles crowd as "young and mixed, gay and straight, mostly in the 25-to-35 range." Of the population 15 years and over, 56.1 percent have never been married, according to census figures.
When it comes to real estate, Hoboken offers a wide variety of prices and styles to choose from. Monthly rentals range from $1,300 to $2,000 for a one-bedroom, according to Mr. Bistany, a sales agent for Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage. Studio condos, about 600 square feet, start at $300,000. One-bedroom condos begin at $350,000 and go up from there; many are in former multifamily row houses.
Factories that have been converted to condos are generally more expensive, said Mr. Bistany, who lives in a condo in a century-old schoolhouse.
For recreation, the city's waterfront and pier - where the movie "On the Waterfront," starring Marlon Brando, was filmed 51 years ago - are host to live music festivals in a parklike setting. On weekends, Mr. Bistany jogs along the 14-block-long waterfront, taking in the sun and New York City views and meeting other singles like himself.
Nightspots include Lua, a restaurant and bar with waterfront views; Mulligan's, which has a sports bar and weekend disc jockey; and GoldHawks, a nightclub with live music. Mr. Bistany also frequents the Cage, a bar in the city for gay men and women.
Other times, Mr. Bistany hops the PATH into Manhattan. "One of the great things about Hoboken is that you don't need a car," he said.
White Plains
White Plains, a once-sleepy city now humming with activity, is a favorite for singles of all ages. It covers 9.8 square miles in the center of Westchester, with mostly families populating the leafy outlying areas, and singles and empty-nesters living in apartments and condos in the densely populated downtown.
Just 35 minutes from Manhattan by train, White Plains is convenient for people working in Manhattan, and as the headquarters of several Fortune 500 corporations, it also draws people employed by those companies.
"In some ways, White Plains is like Manhattan but less expensive," said Ken Wile, an agent for Houlihan Lawrence.
An 800-square-foot studio in a condo building starts at $250,000, "although they sell almost as fast as they come on the market," Mr. Wile said.
At Trump Tower at City Center, which is under construction, condos fetch about $700,000 or more, with most of the units sold.
Luxury rentals, which are plentiful in White Plains, begin at $1,700 to $1,900 a month for a one-bedroom apartment and go up to $5,500 for three bedrooms with views of the Sound in the distance. Less expensive rents can be found in multifamily homes.
Melanie Brown, a 25-year-old mezzo soprano, moved to White Plains last summer to be near Purchase College, the State University of New York, several miles away, where she is completing her undergraduate degree. She pays $1,000 a month for a studio apartment in a renovated building in downtown White Plains and walks almost everywhere she goes in the city.
Her favorite haunts include the Lazy Boy Saloon and Ale House and Kelly's Thirsty Turtle, which attract singles in their 20's and 30's, and Trotters Restaurant on Main Street, which has a popular bar where single professionals gather, along with a disc jockey on weekends.
For outdoor recreation, city residents head either to the west shore of the county, the Hudson River, or to the east shore, Long Island Sound. The county maintains a bike path that runs the full length of Westchester, and public parks and swimming pools are plentiful.
Larchmont
While Larchmont may not be a typical singles community, it offers an alternative for those who want a leafy waterfront suburb, a 35-minute commute to Manhattan and lower decibel ratings than those recorded in more densely populated locales.
For Mr. Uman, the retired lawyer, the 1.1-square-mile village on the Sound is all of those things and more. In addition to its many obvious charms, Larchmont is a culture-loving community, in Mr. Uman's estimation. It even has its own chamber music group, for which he plays clarinet.
The village, population 6,485, has a busy downtown, albeit a small one, with quaint shops and some highly rated restaurants. But rather than going out to local bars, Mr. Uman said, he prefers to meet new friends during his daily activities: walking along the town's shoreline, visiting the local library and shopping in the supermarket.
But the community's many assets come at a steep price. The recent median sale price for a single-family home in Larchmont was just under $1 million, far above the county's median, which is $615,000. Spacious one-bedroom co-ops in doorman buildings start at $275,000; two-bedroom units begin in the low-$400,000's, also above the Westchester County median.
Barbara Cleary, the manager of the Larchmont office of Merritt Associates, described the village as "mostly a family community." According to census data, 65.9 percent of the population over 15 is married. "But we're also seeing more and more singles moving here from Manhattan," she said, "because they can work and socialize in the city and still have plenty to do at home."
Singles who move to the village, she noted, are more focused on its quality of life than "in just meeting other singles." Many of the local restaurants have "an upscale and stylish New York kind of feel to them," she said, and the village is near public and private golf courses, and sailing and boating clubs. It also has its own municipal tennis courts and beach.
Stamford
Stamford, a city of 117,000 along Connecticut's shoreline, covers 37 square miles in upscale Fairfield County, 40 minutes northeast of Manhattan on the Metro-North Railroad. With a downtown rich in entertainment, restaurants and shopping, it is a favorite for singles of varying ages. Because it is also home to major employers like General Electric, USB Warburg and Xerox, Stamford tends to draw a large contingent of single professionals.
Along with the downtown's variety of entertainment and restaurants - "everything from a great hamburger to fancy French food, depending on your taste and pocketbook," said Elayne Jassey, a real estate broker at Prudential Connecticut Realty - the city also offers a broad spectrum of real estate. Rentals range from as low as $1,700 a month for a small one-bedroom apartment to $4,000 for three-bedroom penthouses. In the condo market, costs range from the low $200,000's for a one-bedroom unit, to $600,000 and up for a town house. New luxury condos under construction at High Grove in the downtown will sell for $1.2 million, Ms. Jassey said.
Hilary Young, 27, an administrative assistant at Prudential Connecticut, is sharing a duplex in the downtown with her father for now until she can afford a place of her own. She frequents what she calls "the after 9 p.m. local bar scene." By contrast, Linda A. Nockler, 38, a manager for a financial services firm in Greenwich, prefers quiet evenings at the Avon Cinema, which shows independent and classic films, followed by dinner at a nearby restaurant. As for meeting people, Ms. Nockler said, "the Borders store in North Stamford is a good place to take in a tea or coffee and engage in conversation."
South Norwalk
It's not surprising that South Norwalk's waterfront district has a nickname, SoNo, that plays off of SoHo in Manhattan. A once-decaying area along the Long Island Sound in Connecticut, the former fishing port has evolved during the past two decades into an upscale residential area with a bohemian flavor. SoNo's streets are lined with restaurants, nightclubs and artsy shops in an area that encompasses several city blocks and is rapidly expanding.
Raffael Licata, a hair colorist who used to work in a salon on Thompson Street in SoHo, bought a two-bedroom, two-bathroom condo apartment in SoNo 11 years ago after he was struck by the pleasant similarities between the two neighborhoods.
"I came for dinner on a Sunday one summer afternoon and said to my friends: 'Where are we? I love it!' " he recalled. Shortly afterward, he bought the condo for $119,000 in a renovated 1913 building. These days, he said, he gets unsolicited offers of $300,000 and more for it.
According to Carol Ann Falasca, a broker at Coldwell Banker Real Estate in Norwalk, the city was ready to raze the harbor district 15 years ago. Now, she said, the lowest-priced condo on the market is a studio in an older building at $159,900, with a one-bedroom in a new building selling for $379,000. Monthly rentals range from $750 for a studio to $2,400 a month for a two-bedroom, two-bath unit in a new building.
Looking ahead, Summit Development, in partnership with the Spinnaker Companies and Greenfield Partners, is beginning construction of 61 condos and 136 rental apartments. Prices will begin in the $300,000's for the condos; the one- and two-bedroom rentals will go for $1,700 to $2,600 a month.
Mr. Licata described SoNo as friendly and "a lot less overwhelming and more laid back" than New York City.
"Sometimes when I'm putting out the garbage," he said, "someone will walk over and say: 'What are you up to tonight? Let's go grab something to eat.' " His favorite local haunts include Pane e Panini and SoNo Caffeine. "Those are places where I can also go by myself with the paper and sit, and the next thing know I run into someone," he said.
When it is warm, he heads for a grassy area in a park on Washington Street, where he invariably meets up with friends. Mr. Licata, who is gay, described the community as hospitable to people "of all stripes and colors." When he's in the mood for Manhattan, Grand Central Terminal is just slightly more than an hour away by train.>
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