New York City is a great place to live — once you get the hang of things.
There's a reason New York City is the most populous in America: It's full of great food, beautiful sights, and endless things to do.
But it's also a place of inflated prices, tiny apartments, and a less-than-perfect public-transportation system.
Take my word for it: Moving here is equal parts amazing and terrifying. So for anyone courageous (or foolish) enough to think about packing up and heading to the Big Apple, I asked my Business Insider colleagues to share what they wish they'd known before moving to New York.
"My advice is always to sign a short-term (three months or so) sublet. Use that time to find out which neighborhood you want to live and search for an apartment you'd want to spend more than a year in.
"People spend almost no time in their apartment. Unlike the towns I had previously lived in, the focus is outside your apartment. People work late, go out, and simply spend most of their time outside their apartment. I rented an apartment expecting to be in it far more than I was and I chose an apartment in the absolute wrong part of town.
"I wish I'd realized the prices aren't the only reason city life is so hard to afford!
"I lived in midtown Manhattan for five years, paying through the nose for rent on a lovely apartment where the windows didn't fully close in the winter and buying $7 tubs of yogurt with a pang of horror.
"You used to be able to drift around New York, making your own luck and disappearing into the city, and you could enjoy several different acts.
"When I first moved to NYC, I lived in FiDi (the Financial District) in lower Manhattan, and I wasn't very familiar with my neighborhood. As you might know, there are parts of FiDi and Battery Park City where the subway isn't an option.