Question for New York, Connecticut, New York people

[Smittie61984]

*EDIT* I mean NEW JERSEY too.

My girlfriend is about to graduate college and has 3 potential jobs. 1 is in Atlanta, one in Chicago and one in New York. I'll be moving with her if she goes to Chicago or New York but I know little about the cities. She is from Chicago so I'm covered there. New York is the one I'm curious about.

She'll be working in the Financial Disctrict in south NYC. She recently was flown up to NYC for her 2nd round job interview so there is a good chance she'll get the job. I'm not sure how much she'll make but I'm guessing roughly $50-80k (though I'm not sure how different cost of living is than ATL and how it affects pay). We'd also only be there for 1.5-2years before moving to Chicago. I'll be continuing school full time for another year and a half so I'll bring in little income.

Okay so that's the basic info. Here are my questions/issues/curiosities
- What are good areas to live (in NY, NJ, CT)
- We've considered CT but would be in Stamford area. Is that area just too expensive of an area and how hard would it be for her to get to work
- Does NJ really suck that much worse than NY?
- Is NYC easily accessed from New Jersey
- I'll have guns
- Dog friendly areas?
- any good mountain (street motorcycle and off-road bicycle) riding nearbye?
- What are the areas to avoid at all costs
- Good suburban areas
- avg cost of 2bed apt rental
- I'll have a truck and motorcycle along iwth her having a car

I'm sure I'll think of more later. Appreciate any info