Yeah, I mean it's easy to forget about places in NY with low costs of living like Binghamton.

Even in the city, it's easy to forget that most people don't live in Manhattan/the expensive parts of Queens and Brooklyn. A sizable minority, sure, but not most.

Brooklyn is expensive in general because it's most populous borough in NYC.

Ehhh not expensive if you go out to, say, Brownsville. Brooklyn is much, much more than just Williamsburg and Park Slope.

Never tried Williamsburg or Park Slope, but finding a good apartment for decent price is very hard no matter where. Of course prices drop if subway is harder to get to.

I mean, I'm not sure what your price range is but this is literally the top result on Craigslist right now:

https://newyork.craigslist.org/brk/abo/d/fantastic-1-bdr-apt...

Granted it's Craigslist so who knows how legit it is, but if you're willing to share with roommates/etc. I don't feel like it's super hard to find a great apartment if you're willing to live further out.

This listing is 100% Fake

That's OK price for 1 bedroom, but won't cut it for me, since I'd need a much bigger one :)