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No. Only the most educated or connected benefit in some of these cities. Bachelors required, Master's or higher preferred should be at the entryway for the DC region. But for those who have that education, the career opportunities are significant, and substantially different. DC has entire careers that only exist here. As such I will be flat out honest, not everybody should move to a high COL city. Some people are not right for it at all. A less high profile city is often the better choice. It doesn't have to be small either. On the east coast you may not be able to cut it in DC, NYC, or Boston, but Philly, Charlotte, or Atlanta is not so bad and you may be able to do well there. The west coast likely has a similar scenario.
The point being is yes the coastal elites are nice in many ways, but not the be all, end all.
For example, there aren't really any places where you can land a Wall Street job outside of New York City.
San Francisco, Chicago, and Charlotte. Though Boston is growing fast and the fact that many of the individuals in charge of the Bank of America are increasingly headquartered in the NE may change Charlotte's future drastically.
You're missing out on the smug feeling of dismissing everyone in lesser cities who should feel privileged when ever you happen to flyover them on your way to do something important in your awesome life.
On the other hand, life is what you make it no matter where you live.
As has been hinted at in this thread, what those who dismiss people who live in big major cities as "smug elitists" are missing is that following one's dreams often REQUIRES one to live in a big major city because that's the only place where those jobs are found. It doesn't matter if you'd like to live somewhere that's "more affordable," this is what you have to do in order to achieve what you want. Want to be an actor in TV or movies? With very few exceptions you need to live in LA or New York, at least at first to establish yourself. Want to be the next Bob Woodward and be a journalist who uncovers the next White House or Congressional scandal? You need to live in DC. Want to build the next Google or Twitter? You need to be in San Francisco or Silicon Valley or a handful of other tech hubs. Want to be the next great fashion designer? New York or maybe LA. There are exceptions to this of course but this is basically true.
What is smug and elitist about wanting to pursue one's dream? Sure 99% of people who attempt these goals fail, but at least some will succeed. I'll take the risk of failure and being called a smug elitist anyday. Worst that happens is I fail, move to a cheaper, slower-paced area, use my experience to get a more normal job, and have the satisfaction of knowing at least I tried to achieve my dream.
San Francisco, Chicago, and Charlotte. Though Boston is growing fast and the fact that many of the individuals in charge of the Bank of America are increasingly headquartered in the NE may change Charlotte's future drastically.
Nope. None of these cities have Wall Street jobs. They have banks, of course, but they don't have the investment banking, hedge fund and private equity fund concentrations.
Regular commercial/consumer banking has almost nothing to do with Wall Street. In fact very little such banking occurs in Manhattan.
The only place outside of NYC where there are "Wall Street jobs" in any abundance is London.
This is completely possible in most older small cities and towns, especially those with a college or university.
I can't think of even one "older small city" in the U.S. where you could get such an experience. What college town looks and feels remotely like Manhattan?
You're missing out on the smug feeling of dismissing everyone in lesser cities who should feel privileged when ever you happen to flyover them on your way to do something important in your awesome life.
On the other hand, life is what you make it no matter where you live.
Location: Watching half my country turn into Gilead
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bluecarebear
This is completely possible in most older small cities and towns, especially those with a college or university.
Quote:
Originally Posted by NOLA101
I can't think of even one "older small city" in the U.S. where you could get such an experience. What college town looks and feels remotely like Manhattan?
He was talking about the amenities, public transportation, housing styles and employment opportunities available in certain small cities/towns when compared to typical suburbia, not their similarity to Manhattan. And yes, all of those things can be found in certain small cities/college towns--I'm living in one myself. It's just obviously not at the scale of the big boys, but you also wouldn't mistake my workplace or place of residence for typical American suburbia, nor would you with some of the surrounding cities in my region. Nowhere else in this country remotely feels anything like Manhattan, not even some of the other so-called world class cities.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bluecarebear
It used to be that the big cities were the only trendy places to live. Many have discovered that the satellite towns and cities surrounding the majors offer the same amenities at higher standards and lower cost.
This right here. While many booming cities are legit filling in, many are seeing a lot of growth in their satellite cities, too. And a lot of booming Sunbelt cities are blessed with large municipal boundaries, where population growth there would be considered growth in separate municipalities in the older Northeast/Midwest cities.
Nowhere else in this country remotely feels anything like Manhattan, not even some of the other so-called world class cities.
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Manhattan has been described as "super urban", and is the only place in the USA to be so designated. I think that Chicago would be the closest to that status.
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