Why we moved to NYC from San Francisco: To support our daughter undergoing breast cancer treatment

[ad_1] After their daughter was recognized with breast most cancers, Bob and Lynn Pearson left their household house of a number of many years to reside nearer to her in Brooklyn. Now renters, they found they like it to proudly owning. Right here’s their story as advised to Kelly Kreth.

I used to be born in Kansas however grew up in Northern California, primarily in Santa Rosa, the place I met and married my husband, Bob. Most not too long ago, we have been dwelling in San Francisco, the place we raised our two youngsters.

Our house was Edwardian-style, which is widespread within the space. We purchased it in 1988 for just below $300,000. It was initially 900 sq. ft with two bedrooms and one bathtub on a big lot. We added two flooring and expanded it to three,700 sq. ft with 5 bedrooms and three baths 10 years after we purchased it. It had a yard and backyard.

Our neighborhood, Mission Terrace, may be very quaint and we knew all our neighbors. We have been inside strolling distance of a swimming pool that we used daily to get our train. I cherished the hills, the views, and the gentle climate in San Francisco; being near the Pacific Ocean and the bay was wonderful.

[Editor's note: Brick Underground's series The Newcomers features first-person accounts about why a renter or buyer decided to take a chance on NYC.]

The neighborhood is full of nice ethnic eating places—great taquerias like Guadalajara and El Farolito. And naturally there are many nice Chinese language, Vietnamese, and Thai eating places. A few of our favorites have been Beijing Restaurant, Pho Day, Chase Luck Bakery, Jo Jo’s, Beep’s Burgers. We regularly met up with buddies at a wine place referred to as The Test-In Lounge. We cherished our Italian deli Calabria Brothers and the native sandwich store Roxie Market.

However after all, San Francisco is thought for nice eating places so was simple to take BART [Bay Area Rapid Transit] downtown if we wished fancier eating choices.

There was a Safeway and Complete Meals inside strolling distance and we shopped each Saturday on the Alemany Farmer’s Market. We purchased recent bread at Arizmendi Valencia Bakery on Valencia St. and recent fish at Solar Fats on Mission Road.

I’m retired from a profession in promoting. Bob can also be retired. He was a software and die maker, an occupation with which most Individuals are unfamiliar. It’s like a machinist however extra extremely expert.

We had a automotive, however we have been additionally close to the BART, the Muni streetcar, and a number of bus traces.

We get pleasure from babysitting our granddaughters, Alina, three years previous, and Inez, 16 months. My husband and I like museums; I take piano classes and I'm concerned in numerous Italian language teams, together with a guide membership and a dialog class, each carried out in Italian.

Why they determined to maneuver We determined to maneuver to Brooklyn to be nearer to my daughter after she was recognized with breast most cancers.

We knew we wished no less than two bedrooms, two baths, a patio, fitness center, and pool if doable. We did not actually have a price range. We wished house since we're used to dwelling in a big home.

All of it occurred in a short time. We solely noticed one property. Our daughter lives in Carroll Gardens so after I noticed the condo at 499 President St. in close by Gowanus, it was good. I walked in off the road and we did the applying later on-line.

What they like about their new place Our new place is a big, two-bedroom unit with two baths, a big dwelling and eating room with a contemporary kitchen. We've in-unit laundry machines and a big patio. We've nice views and plenty of pure mild. Our lease is $7,364.

We love that the condo has numerous mild, a pool, huge fitness center and delightful out of doors house.

We've nice facilities and workers manage nice tenant occasions. There may be a tremendous backyard on the ninth ground. We lower herbs and greens to make use of in our meal prep. Since my husband and I are avid swimmers, having a pool has been tremendous. The lifeguards are tremendous pleasant and so is the workers.

We're so completely happy we discovered this constructing. The tenants we meet within the fitness center or on the pool or within the elevator are actually candy too—so not like what we assumed NYC dwelling could be like. We anticipated New Yorkers to be extra excited by their very own factor and too busy to say hiya or chat. We have been so improper. Actually, we have already got had get-togethers with neighbors on our ground.

As a result of we saved our San Francisco house, we moved right here with simply our clothes; we needed to furnish the condo from scratch.

What they consider the neighborhood Gowanus may be very vibrant, arty, and a mixture of fashionable and industrial. It has working-class allure mixed with younger tech vitality and hip eating places and bars.

The grocery and eating decisions are nice! We’ve tried many locations. We love Claro BK, Siempre, Kiosko 787, Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, PDA Pizza, Mercado Central for tinned fish, and the bodega at Fourth Avenue and Union. We stroll to eating places and shops on Smith and Courtroom streets, go to Prospect Park and frequent locations on Fifth Avenue. There may be a lot to do.

We discover dwelling in NYC to be simpler and quicker, and extra environment friendly than California!

Our lease is for 2 years, after that, we’ll see. Shifting right here was the proper resolution. We at all times assumed we’d purchase an condo in NYC when our daughter married and had youngsters.

Nevertheless, after renting at 499 President St., it opened our eyes to having a 24-hour concierge, porters, handymen and delightful grounds and facilities that we don’t have to take care of ourselves. We're so completely happy we simply may proceed to lease.