Recently travelled in NYC for a week around thanksgiving, and enjoyed it a lot. It really reminded me of how much I enjoy a mega city life after living in Seattle for 4 years. Apparently I enjoyed enough to think about what it'll be like to live there. Considering that thought still hasn't left me after a month, figured I should put some thought into it rather than dismissing it preemptively. I went through a handful of sources to detail my thoughts to compare what I'm gaining/losing from moving, and wanna see if any of these sound out of touch. Things are sorted from the biggest upside to the biggest downside. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) Culture Absolutely mind-boggling. There is everything everywhere. The diversity is insane. Sometimes it felt like I was in a whole new country in some neighborhoods. It felt like I could find anything within the city if I tried. And then the art. The broadway musical was breathtaking. I've never realized how much I can enjoy some museums and/or gallery. I actually got so inspired that I started put more interest in it after returning to Seattle. People seemed to be more friendly in NYC, but can't quite tell from just a week of stay. There were some freakouts in the subway, but definitely saw worse things in Seattle. No-brainer, the biggest upside. 2) Food Incredibly diverse cuisine with good quality. Every food I ate in NYC beats 80th percentile in Seattle, and most is equivalent of top-tier (or better) of Seattle. I had many authentic experiences in numerous restaurants. Better than most cities I've visited, outside from Montreal and Seoul. A big, big upside. 3) Dating/Fashion? I'm gonna loosely clump these two, since they're not important enough individually and I had the same sentiment for both. New Yorkers care much, much more than Seattlites about aesthetics. I do put some interest in fashion, and was so happy that I didn't feel out of place in NYC whenever I dressed nicely and walk around the town or take a subway. I also ran a dating app to get some help for tour and to spend time with locals, and definitely was impressed with how friendly and good-looking people were. A considerable upside. 4) Transportation Sure, MTA is dirty, but it was hella functional. Seattle has a mediocre public transport, and some neighborhoods are a pain to reach without a car. I don't own a car, and I prefer public transportation. Both cities seem to have several neighborhoods that are good to walk around, but in different regards. I think NYC comes out slightly better in that regards. A considerable upside. 5) Nature I don't think many states can beat WA in terms of nature's wonder. Multiple national parks with green temperate rainforest providing hundreds of good trails to hike, and multitude of lakes and sounds for water sports. While I do enjoy hiking, I only do it casually. I also don't do a whole lot of nature-y stuff, so not the worst. A bit of a downside. 6) Career I'm a software dev, which tends to have the most opportunity in the west coast. With that said, east coast still has a decent amount of tech presence, and I have also embraced the life of a full remote as well. Definitely losing some career potential as I am moving myself further away from many of giant tech companies' headquarters, but not necessarily the worst. A notable downside. 7) Money Seattle is very HCOL, but it seems that NYC is even worse. Especially bad for me since my rent takes over half of my monthly spending here, and it's only gonna get worse. Very roughly it seems like rent in NYC is ~50% more expensive than in Seattle. Then there's the state income tax (which Seattle lacks), which practically reduces my take home by approximately 10% based on my current tax bracket. Probably a considerable setback on the plan to buy a first house in 1-2 years, but I'm not overly fixated on the idea of home ownership (outside of financial aspect) anyways. Probably financially unwise to move, but I'm young and am willing to explore. Bottom line, I'll be financially stable one way or another. A noticeable downside, but not a dealbreaker. 8) Weather People love to bash on Seattle's cloudy & drizzly winter, but I beg to differ. I'm from Canada, and I absolutely hate snow. I know how miserable it can get shivering in -20'C (or -4'F in freedom degree) shoveling 2 feet of snow overnight. Also AFAIK NYC has a hot humid summer, which I have a hard time with. A considerable downside. 9) Friendship I have a decent number of friends in Seattle, but hardly any of them share hobbies that can be done remotely with me. I'm afraid I'll grow distant from most of them and will have to start mostly fresh, and I'm pretty shy with strangers. For an introvert like me, perhaps the biggest downside. ----------------------------------------------------------------- I definitely need more research for more concrete numbers, but these are my thoughts so far. Do these sound like a reasonable sentiment, or am I biased based on the travelling experience? YoE: 4 TC: 360k #newyork #nyc
NYC is the place to be these days. You won't regret your decision. If you have any questions or want more NYC guidance, send me a dm
I moved from sf to nyc. Your mileage may vary but I agree with most everything you’ve said.
This is an incredibly subjective decision that strangers on the internet are not equipped to help you with.
I almost wrote the same comment. But OP is wanting to hear others subjective thoughts. So it is a good amd productive discussion.
Thank you @Amazon, that was my intention. I agree it is a decision I must bear, but I wanted to reach the hive mind to see if I am misinformed our out of tune.
I dunno, after visiting actual other world-class cities (London, Singapore, Tokyo, Zurich and so on) NYC seems so chaotic and gross. How old are you? Sentimentality about NYC’s criminal mismanagement and vulgarity just doesn’t sit well after about age 25
NYC is safe bro, get out of here with your fud
Right but none of them are New York City.
One thing to watch out for is wherever new place we go, we feel stimulated and have a memorable experience. Remember the first time you visited Seattle? How did it feel? Until we become locals the new place feels novel, better, and exciting. You need to ask yourself, if you moved to NYC, would you feel the same in a year's time?
Definitely a good point, although I don't think I necessarily had a magical moment when I moved into Seattle :p If I feel inclined enough, I am considering to do more research and try to "live" there for 1 month before making a commitment down the line. Obviously that's not enough to live like a local, but it'll be a better sampling than 1 week of travelling.
Been here 10 years. Most of the above is accurate, but if you want the whole truth: NYC will amaze you and inspire you and 10x your career but it will also crush you, and grind you, and if you manage to stay you will come out the other end a different person. Not better nor worse, just a different individual. A taxi driver once told me this: NYC is like a leather jacket. It's rugged, and rough, and stinks, but it's fucking cool and you'll wear it with pride for the rest of your life.
I disagree with the considerable downside comment w.r.t. career. Every big tech firm (maybe except MSFT?) has a large presence in the city, so you should have no problem moving if you have a job elsewhere. NYC also has plenty of startups and midsized companies related to finance, ad tech and others. So what are you losing out by moving to NYC?
I'm not very bright on the tech scene in NYC, and I could be very wrong. I just know that many big tech's HQs reside in the west coast, and companies who enforce RTO will provide a smaller pool of jobs away from their HQs.
Google, Meta, Amazon, LinkedIn etc have a significant presence with thousands of R&D employees. Even in Uber, I thought the Uber Eats and a few other teams are based in NYC.
New York looks great if you don’t have to work or pay for living there. Once you are in the grinder though you hate it and everyone just has shared misery ptsd about the experience. Everyone is there to get theirs and get out. It’s dirty, it’s superficial and if you’re not spending money you can kick rocks. Move there for a couple years, get your bucket list checked off and then look for a global city that ranks in the top 20 for happiness. You’ll be amazed.
Best city on earth (for rich ppl)
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Do it. Totally worth it. Speaking from experience.