Another possibility is living in Brooklyn and commuting to Manhattan. What do NYers think of the subway in terms of speed, reliability, etc.?
Brooklyn has now achieved the distinction of surpassing San Francisco as having the highest ratio of housing prices to personal income levels in the nation. Yes, SF housing is more expensive then Brooklyn, but then so are income levels by a even greater factor. That is one reason that Brooklynites are now moving in large numbers to the Hudson Valley. It seems as if maybe half of the newbies in Hudson, NY are from Brooklyn these days. Hudson itself seems to be approaching housing bubble levels. It seems that housing prices have close to doubled (up 50% at least) in the 4 year period that Hudson has been on my radar screen.