I mean, not everyone can afford pay cash for a car. Or the ones they can afford need repairs more often.

You’re not wrong as to what’s best but those aren’t always options for people. Where to live, where to work and how to get there don’t always line up great for folks.

Well there is bad decision #1 is a car payment....

You're justifying bad decisions with more bad decisions

Car payment, plus gas and maintenance can get high quick. I had to pay $1600 to repair my car once. It’s like adding $130 a month to my yearly transportation budget.

If anyone is paying 15% of their annual salary on transportation, something is wrong.

Considering all living costs are up, that rent % allocation (ideally) needs to go down.

$1500 for an individual on 60k is absolutely insane imho. I understand that market prices have made this far more commonplace for individuals, but it doesn't make it a good decision.

Focus on investing your money and making work for you long term versus paying more now for a sweet apartment. Some day you'll have to retire and your 'retirement age' you will thank you far more than the current you

Yes last time I saw I believe the foundations are about 80 to 90 percent done maybe more since it was about 2 weeks ago but foundations should be finished early January to mid January and we should see the tower start to rise in February. Topping off sometime in early 2023 and finishing later that year to open in 2024. I think it’s best we take less pics of the progress so we can see the difference bc with 777 we were posting it non stop

The 30% should be considered only if you’re paying 15% or so in transportation. If your transportation costs are less, you can shift that to housing. Here’s a good resource on thinking behind that: https://htaindex.cnt.org/

Take home on 60k after taxes is 50k.

1500 x 12 = 18k

18k = 37% of your take home. That's too much. Should be <30%

Also need to consider how often you are paid. Bi weekly? That's ~1900 bi weekly. Aay goodbye to 1500 + utilities from your first check every month. Can you survive the two weeks on $400? Phone bill, cable/internet, food, transportation, entertainment?

What happens if you run into a tricky spot and need cash immediately - rent this high will bleed you dry and a sudden incident/accident could leave you in a world of financial pain.

Find a roommate or boyfriend/girlfriend and lower your expenses. Or find a better job.

You also have to factor in location.

Where is this apartment?

Spot on

Amazon already knew where they were going. Companies follow tech talent, not the other way around.

Source/: did Recruiting at Audible in Newark

I think that Amazon always intended to go to NY and DC unless some absolutely ridiculous deal they couldn't refuse showed up at the 11th hour but wanted to bring some competition into the fold for incentives/tax breaks.

Good news for Newark is that the city still benefited from that competition regardless since they were one of the top 10 "finalists" announced by Amazon. Reps for the city said they received a noticeable increase in developers/companies inquiring about potential projects/relocations into the city following that announcement.

If they could touch up the park a bit, between that, these new developments, and the Symphony Hall renovation, that could really spruce up another gateway into downtown, and have Lincoln Park serve as an anchor to connect other developments going on in downtown.

Just have connect the area to the new developments at the Rock/Four Corners/Mulberry Commons area, maybe 1-2 more major buildings near City Hall, and you could see a rejuvenated development area stretching from the Broad Street Station/Branch Brook Park all the way down to Lincoln Park.

Also really hope the city/NJ try to have the Port Authority add that South Street PATH Station too. that would be huge for the area.

Sequins for everyone!

Don’t settle for less, go make the money

To qualify to rent an apartment you generally need a gross income of 3x the rent. $1,500 x 3 x 12 months give you an annual salary of $54k. Qualifying for it does not mean you can actually afford it though, depending entirely on you other debts and your spending habits.

[deleted]

The obvious solution is that we need a better dressed homeless population /s

If you don't have alot of debt, 60K. I've made nearly that much with a 26K student loan and if you include utilities I could only afford at most a $1300 "shoebox" studio that I found in a new building.

Newark should have gotten Amazon HQ2

But now that the whole, deadly global pandemic thing happened.. it’s probably for the best it didn’t happen

But then a person who appears unhoused might sit for 5 minutes scare off would be gentrifiers.

I make 62k and am affording a $1580 apartment

Rule of thumb is to multiply the Monthly rent by 40 to calculate what is affordable at your annual salary. HUD defines it as being affordable at 30% of your salary and multiplying by 40 makes the math easy

Housing and transportation should make up no more than 40%-45% of your take home after tax income. You can put more of your budget to an apartment if your transportation costs are lower.

And like, you can pay more but things will be tighter. Somewhere in the 60k range before tax should work I think assuming you have no other major mandatory expenses. (Like is your student loan bill really high?)

I had a landlady who wanted to see our pay stubs so she could confirm we made three times the rent and wouldn’t have a problem paying.

Lincoln Park also needs benches.

For 9 years, I worked at the Apple Store in the Willowbrook Mall, where I interacted with many thousands of people from every corner of New Jersey, and the world. I helped nuns, convicted felons, celebrities, pro athletes, and even a Real Housewife of NJ or two. And I can say, without any hesitation, that my favorite customers were Black customers from Newark. Funny, friendly, and chill.

Newark has, as you point out, so much going for it. And contrary to what so many people inside and outside of NJ think, Newark’s people are the top asset.