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Comment by frockington1 | Hacker News Reader

Add NYC to that list as well. There's no reason to move to either of those cities in 2022.

Outside of the fact that if you like the city, the surrounding land and the people that live there. As well as many other great reasons to live in the cities.

Just because you guys don't like them doesn't mean many other people love those areas, please stop unnecessarily dumping on cities you don't like.

I love city energy. Just have to opt out of the pollution. The automotive exhaust alone is rediculous (as a truck rolls coal in front of my house).

I like NYC. I moved here in 2017 though. But after the pandemic I moved to Central Queens where my rent is much cheaper (2400/mo) and the apartment is bigger (1,000sqft ish) in a doorman building. 30m subway to Central Park and the best Chinese, Thai, Indian, Vietnamese, and Korean restaurants in NY are the next neighborhoods over.

The coffee and pastries nearby aren't as fun as Brooklyn though.

Oops, just moved to NYC last year! :)

Can you elaborate on reasons for the move? I am facing a similar realization regarding another one of your child comments about not clicking as much with west coast culture but am concerned about a drop in tech opportunities

not OP, but been in NYC for over 5 years and there's no shortage of interesting opportunities in tech

Many reasons. But after 10 years on the west coast, I had many dozens of friends but almost none that I wanted to spend holidays with (i.e. felt like family, neither friends nor partners). I decided that it wasn't for a lack of trying or giving it time.

The west coast felt judgmental and divisive. I couldn't always express myself for fear of alienation. I do not have strong views and I (used to?) consider myself liberal (I'm not American).

I really enjoy how conversationally adept the average New Yorker is. It's simply more fun to be with people. And the diversity is refreshing. I'm a software dev more by circumstance, not temperament. I used to only talk to ~30 y/o tech men/women. Now my day includes a sweet 75 year old lady, academics, health workers, and plenty of ~30 y/o folks who are living interesting lives without a mold.

I kept my job and moved here, taking a 10% haircut thanks to taxes. Oh well. All the big tech firms have a physical presence in NYC (FB, GOOG, AMZN..). There's less kool-aid drinking startups, but I'm ok with that. It's a big city, you can have your pick. I think as a tech worker, you have the breathing room to give up the top 10% opportunities in the field and still be a top 1% earner in the larger society (with more job satisfaction).

Not the person you are responding to - what about NYC made you get in touch with non-tech people that wasn't possible on the west coast? Is there something different about NYC's culture that helps in mingling with more people?

Hm.. It might be largely a numbers thing: higher density (more interactions), and more diversity. But can't ignore the general willingness to connect (ex: going to a bar solo in NYC yields me a lengthy convo 50% of the time, and I almost never initiate.).

> There's no reason to move to either of those cities in 2022

Hm, and here I was, thinking that different people like living in different places for different reasons!

We detached this subthread from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30164267 and marked it off topic.

I can understand the Bay Area, but it's a little bit crazy to think there's no reason to live in NYC.

"No" reason is probably an overstatement. But it's certainly a different lifestyle than e.g. living in a suburban / rural area and working remotely. Many of us would consider it a step backwards unless the net increase in income was life-changing.

Step backwards in take home pay and square footage. Step forwards in social life, romantic life, culture (if you weren't getting it elsewhere).

If you're married with kids, NYC doesn't make sense. If you're single with passions outside work - it's great.

That's about how I figure it. Even if you try to split the difference by living in the suburbs of NYC, my impression is that housing is still pretty expensive and you have a time-consuming commute.

What if my passion is goat husbandry?

i grew up in a big city. great place to grow up. so glad my parents didn't move out to the suburbs. One size doesn't fit all

What are you talking about? The Bay Area has one of the greatest weather of the world, lot of job opportunities, beaches near by as as mountain. Lot to like also.

West coast of USA is easy-mode life. I don't fault anyone for living there and loving it. It just wasn't for me socially.

NYC makes me feel more human and connected, even if that means higher taxes, smaller apartment, and generally more discomfort on a daily basis.

I only spent couple days in NYC, but the experience was pretty awful: the city is crowded, it stinks, and is full of weirdos (for example some random girl I asked for directions turned out to be a prostitute, some guy started to yell at me for no reason, etc.). I also almost got killed by an SUV when trying to cross the street, and my hotel room turned out to be the size of an average walk-in closet.

But I guess NYC can grow on you in time?

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