I sublease for $1200 a month

There is less street filth and pedestrian congestion uptown, and the prices are cheaper psf. If I were very price sensitive and didn't mind uptown, I would buy a jumbo studio coop at Lincoln Towers for the low 300s. It's not hip, but its adjacent to Lincoln Center, good shopping, movie theaters, cheap garage parking, the Hudson River path and park, and eventually Riverside Center. Your after-tax cost of ownership is probably less than $1600/mo on a purchase price of $349k If you must be downtown, check the buildings addresses of listings by LOHO Realty in streeteasy. LOHO seems to carve out an affordable segment of the Lower East Village market.

I kind of do mind Upper East side. It is like Long Island. Oh wait I don't like Long Island either. Damn I'm screwed. I don't like anything. I think the thing to do would be get all this NYU BS out of downtown. This way prices there will be less than Upper West side like it's supposed to be. I am attracted tot he idea of cheap garage parking

If you don't mind giving up the alcove, this studio has more character than Lincoln Towers and lower maintenance. It's on one of the sweetest blocks of the UWS (museum block with no bus or through traffic). Near Central Park, Museum of Natural History, transit, Equinox, Fairway, Citarella, Trader Joe's, several car rental options.

http://streeteasy.com/nyc/sale/487011-coop-120-west-78th-street-upper-west-side-new-york

NYU is not moving and is expanding; prices downtown will remain at a premium.

If you know enough people and don't mind the uncertainty, you can probably find another sublet. Or keep your feelers out for a rent stabilized place.

Maybe take a look at a rental in Seward Park? Because theses co-ops are tragically unhip, you get a great LES location minus the college students and tourists. The balconies are great, and they tend to be very bright, with multiple exposures and (on the upper floors) some amazing views. There may be some studios available, but here's a one-bedroom as a point of reference:
http://streeteasy.com/nyc/rental/621764-coop-210-east-broadway-lower-east-side-new-york

Tina
(Brooklyn broker)

^these, not theses

I'd guess in the range of $400K. Here's a comparable place location-wise (7th & C), size-wise (this one 600 sq ft rather than 500 sq ft), and has a lot of outdoor space.