Why we moved to NYC from Toronto: A job promotion gave us the chance to start over
- The family sold a four-bedroom house and now rent a 1,000-square-foot two bedroom for $6,000
- 'Long Island City feels like a suburb within the city and we're only one stop from Grand Central'
My family enjoys Long Island City's waterfront parks and the sports fields at Gantry Plaza State Park, which has a view of the Manhattan skyline, Elle said.
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When her husband got a promotion that involves relocating, Elle embarked on a search for a relatively affordable rental near a top-rated school for their two sons. They landed in Long Island City, where they are enjoying waterfront living and a sense of community. Here’s her story as told to Kelly Kreth.
I was born and raised in Toronto. Most recently my husband and I and our two sons were living in a house in the suburbs just outside of city.
We owned a roughly 2,500-square-foot house with four bedrooms and four bathrooms. We had a lot of space, including a yard. We bought it for 1.25 million CDN (about 893,000 in U.S. dollars).
I loved the amount of space we had, both inside and outdoors. There were huge fields nearby where my two boys, who are now 10 and 8, would play.
[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 downside was that we had to drive to get almost anywhere, like the grocery store, Walmart, or other errands. My husband's commute to work could be more than two hours.
I was a teacher. I'm working on getting certified again in New York so I can return to teaching, ideally seventh or eighth grades.
Why they decided to move
In March 2025, my husband received a promotion to work with his company’s U.S. team. I'd always wanted to live in the U.S., but we never really imagined that at nearly 40 years old we'd leave Toronto and start over somewhere completely new.
We hunted for apartments from March to May, staying in hotels in NYC while we looked.
My priority was getting our kids into a good school in a good community. I looked at school rankings to help narrow down neighborhoods.
We needed at least two bedrooms and two bathrooms, and I wanted enough space that the transition from our 2,500-square-foot house wouldn't feel impossible. Having good amenities was also important because they could essentially extend our living space.
Location was another major factor. My husband works near Bryant Park, so we wanted his commute to be easy. That's one reason we didn't seriously consider Brooklyn.
What their search was like
We saw too many apartments in NYC to count. We originally looked at Manhattan, including the Upper West Side, but the rent was so expensive. We were seeing more than $8,000 a month for a two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment, which put Manhattan out of reach.
One of my husband's coworkers suggested Long Island City and told us it was a great, kid-friendly neighborhood. Over Easter weekend, I found an Easter egg event and we went. I loved how family-friendly the neighborhood seemed, and the waterfront was beautiful.
We didn't use an agent. I reached out to agents but often didn't get responses, which made the process of moving from another country even more stressful. It wasn't always easy to get appointments to see places.
Manhattan in particular didn't feel very newcomer-friendly. We were navigating our visa situation and it seemed like landlords were more comfortable with people who were already citizens or had their visas and U.S. paperwork in place. There were moments when I worried if we'd be able to find somewhere to live.
About a month later, I came back to Long Island City on my own and walked the entire waterfront, going into leasing offices along the way. A new development, Malt Drive, was the very last building I visited. It was the newest place I'd seen and I liked the aesthetics and amenities more than anywhere else. There was a school we liked about a two-minute walk from the building, which was also huge for us.
Our house sold in May, so in a very short time, we sold, packed everything up, and moved with two kids. We officially moved to NYC in June and our stuff arrived via a moving van.
What she likes about her new place
Our rental is roughly 1,000 square feet, with two bedrooms and two baths apartment. We pay about $6,000 a month.
We have a terrace and incredible views of Manhattan. From our living room, we can see the Empire State Building and Chrysler Building. The building has many amenities: a landscaped rooftop terrace with barbecue grills, a fitness center, co-working space, and children's playroom.
What she likes about the area
LIC feels like a suburb within the city, which is a big part of why it works so well for us. At the same time, we're only one stop from Grand Central. It also feels very centrally located between the boroughs, and we're only about 10 minutes from the airport. We go back to Toronto often to visit family, so that's a huge benefit.
The community feel has been one of my favorite things. Friends who live in Manhattan have told me it can be hard to build connections, but in LIC we see the same parents at school drop-off, kids' activities and around the neighborhood. There are so many opportunities to keep running into people, which makes it easier to build real relationships.
I love that our kids can have a very active life here. My 10-year-old can play sports and hang out with friends. They can go to Hunter's Point South Park along the waterfront and the sports fields at Gantry Plaza State Park. One plays travel soccer with a local community club. Unfortunately, their school only has a small outdoor area that's mostly concrete.
For groceries, we go to Dumbo Market. At first I went to Trader Joe's in Court Square, but I like Dumbo Market because there's more variety, and I'm pretty picky about our groceries.
We've also been to Steep Stone for coffee and Greats of Craft on Center Boulevard. I love the croissants at Sundays, and Cannelle for sourdough bread and Parisian breakfast items. Takumen has Japanese food and a matcha-vanilla twist soft serve that we like.
For drinks and dinner, we'll often go into Manhattan because there's just so much great food in the city.
We've also been attending Church of the City since last summer and usually go to the evening service. My husband's parents are pastors in Toronto, so when we moved here it was nice to choose a church for ourselves. We really love the worship and the pastor. We also joined a small group for married couples with kids and have been part of that for about a year.
We got rid of our car. My husband's commute is now only about 10–15 minutes. I don't mind driving, but now that we live in New York, I've realized how nice it is to be able to walk places and not rely on a car.
My husband and I go for walks together a lot. We have this recurring conversation where we look around and say, "we're so lucky to be here." At first, we thought the promotion and move might only be temporary. We're here on a visa for the next two to three years, but now we really feel like we're building a life here.
The bottom line is I never want to leave the city. Maybe one day we'll even become U.S. citizens.
The biggest thing I miss is having more space. We may want a bigger apartment in the future, but I think this stage of life is the perfect fit for city living. Once our boys get to high school and eventually college, I think we'll enjoy living here even more.
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