In the words of the bard: “This city has no chill”. And we mean that in the best of all possible ways. Living in Manhattan is like being at the center of the world, the fountain from which art and culture springs. Manhattan is ambitious, it's full of life, and it feels like it's pushing you towards something great. There’s always going to be something to do, no matter what you’re interested in. Manhattan offers anonymity for the introverts, and an endless stream of interesting people to meet for the extroverts. Oh, and the food’s better.

One of the harder parts of living in New York is the fact that for many the ratio of days where you enjoy the madness vs. days where you're getting smacked, is out of balance. This might improve if you work from home, but for the most part, you either learn to live with the challenges or find ways to escape. If you're from the ‘burbs, Manhattan will feel dirty, crowded, and loud, so if you need wide open spaces live near Central Park, or consider Queens.

We highly recommend visiting NYC and staying in the community in a VRBO rather than a hotel to get a feel for what it's like to live among the locals. You can receive discounted fares on travel via our partnership with Expedia as well.

There are so many variations of lifestyles available in New York that it seems silly to isolate them into a single description. For many though, it works like this -- you live in a tiny, 650-foot or so square-foot apartment and pay around $4k in rent. This is typical in much of Manhattan unless you rent in a four-story walkup or with lots of roommates.

The city is loud. Noise is everywhere -- traffic, beeping horns, subway trains, sirens, loud people. It takes a while to get used to. The city works hard. People put in long hours through high-paying exec-type jobs or multiple jobs/gigs to make ends meet.

With all due respect to LA and SF, the diversity here is different. Over 800 languages are spoken, in tight quarters, and the dress, habits, and food are from every world culture.

NYC is the safest large city in the US and one of the safest large cities in the world. Most people walk around Manhattan anytime night or day, and feel safe. Oh, and it is a walking city. Very few people own cars and if you can't walk you take a train. The trains aren't beautiful but they go everywhere.

People go out. Alone or with partners, or with friends. People don't have friends “over” very often, because apartments are so small. You meet in restaurants, bars, parks, etc.

Speaking of parks. They're everywhere. Union Square. Washington Square, little Stuyvesant Park, Madison Square, they're everywhere and amazing places to rest and be entertained. And of course, there's the greatest city park in the world, Central Park. Locals spend full days here walking and eating going to the zoo, skating, or bird-watching, and being entertained for free. Water. NYC is surrounded by water so rivers and beaches are everywhere for walks and views.

Hate to get into a brawl with other major cities but cultural opportunities in NYC are unmatched. Incredible museums like The Met, MOMA, Natural History, the Whitney, & the Guggenheim, it's endless. Not in the mood for a big museum? Wonderful small galleries are also all over the island—oh and world-class opera, symphony, dance, and theater.

On top of all this, you're on a short train (or ferry ride) to four other amazing boroughs.

To see the insanely wonderful things there are to do in NYC check out the calendar of events.

Elementary schools in the NY Public School System are zoned, so can always go within your geo zone. In some districts these schools are amazing and in others, they can be weak, so for sure talk to locals and look at scores and reviews on sites like niche.com. There are “community” schools that are not zoned but give you priority if you are in the district, and then there are gifted and talented programs.

Middle School is entirely district-based And, there are several special needs and advanced programs.

HS is a cluster system right now, it used to be grades and state test scores had some effect on admissions for the top high schools, but now it’s a strict lottery draw. You can audition to get into one of the Arts schools or take the SHSAT and go to one of 9 specialized high schools, like Stuyvesant.

Generally speaking, the classmates at your kid's elementary and middle school live in your neighborhood, but their high school peers could be from anywhere. If your kiddos attend one of the specialized high schools their friends will come from Queens, Staten Island, Brooklyn, and the Bronx.