Rebecca

Transitions columns often chronicle New Yorkers' migration from Manhattan to the (somewhat) more affordable and family friendly outerboroughs, but this week's subjects --Rebecca and Frederick -- have done the reverse-move.

In December we moved from South Park Slope/Greenwood Heights, where we shared a $2,400 per month 2-bedroom with one other couple, to Fred’s childhood apartment on Greenwich Street in TriBeCa.

When my boyfriend and I decided to move in together, I was living in a one-bedroom rent-stabilized apartment on the Upper West Side. Except for the years I was away at college and graduate school, I had lived my entire life on the Upper West Side.  I didn't want to leave Manhattan but knew it would be impossible for us to afford a larger space in my old neighborhood. 

I lived in a one-bedroom rental on 13th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues for five years. When I got pregnant, my husband and I decided to move to the Upper West Side.

We wanted more space and wanted to be closer to my family, who live up here, so we wound up a renting a classic-six in a prewar building in the West 80s between Broadway and Amsterdam.