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So I'm thinking of moving back. I was born in NYC and left as a teen. After college I moved to DC in 2010 and I've been here since. I'm on the fence about moving back to New York though. Its just such a great city.
The main thing keeping me in DC is I love my job here and I have lots of friends and family here. While DC is no New York, it still has a lot to offer and lots to do. However, sometimes I wonder if I should shake things up and move back to New York.
Have any of you been in a similar situation? How did you make your decision? Is it worth the trouble to make a move just to shake things up if you're comfortable otherwise?
Just became someone was born somewhere and lived there until they were a teen doesn't mean they should return to that place to live. One's life experience in a place prior to adulthood is quite different than living in a place as an adult. So unless the OP has a job in NYC or family or a network of friends in NYC, I would suggest just visiting NYC rather than moving here.
The people that have families in NYC eventually will want out because there is no family events in NYC.
Then you're living in the wrong neighborhoods. I have no problem finding tons of family events all year round in queens and NYC is very central so westchester / jersey / LI are all within easy day trip distance
Not according to all the threads of people leaving NYC to start a family. There's ton of those types in LI and NJ threads. The people that have families in NYC eventually will want out because there is no family events in NYC.
Every weekend all I see are NYC families in NJ malls and theme parks. You go to any NJ beaches there are tons of NYC families here to escape NYC overcrowding.
Heroin is not a suburb problem only, plenty of NYC folks die of it and mostly well to do folks that could afford addiction and high cost of living here.
I don't think NYC is as diverse as it used to be, it's a lot less diverse today than decades ago when many cultures have good representation here. Today there certain cultures well represented here because of their economic status but not so much of many poorer cultures
I see a lot of what I presume are non-NYC families in NYC museums, parks, restaurants, neighborhoods, stores, the theme park/mall that is Times Square etc. every weekend so I think there's a bit of give and take here.
I think Manhattan residents are less diverse than in past decades, but I think the outer boroughs are as diverse or more so than before.
I stand by everything I said in that thread about NYC. Its all true. Notice I never said I disliked NYC. Its just overrated. But overrated and "bad" are not the same thing. I think Chipotle is overrated too, but its still delicious food and I still eat there.
NYC is awesome. DC is also awesome in a different way. But I've been in DC for eight years now and thinking it might be time for a change. Still not sure though.
Philly.. I'm not interested. Other than great Cheesesteaks and more pizza options (maybe) it doesn't have anything DC doesn't have and it lacks a lot of the things DC has. So it would actually be a downgrade in my eyes. I either want to move to an equal or better city than DC or stay put. Philly is a beta city. I'm only interest in cosmopolitan Alpha cities.
Do you have the ability to line up a job that'd make the cost of living increase in NYC worthwhile? I think NYC makes sense if you find the right opportunity aside from just shaking things up. It doesn't hurt to look, but it can hurt to move and be materially in worse shape than you are now in DC.
If you don't find an opportunity in NYC, you can still shake things up simply by moving to a different part of DC and putting different things into your routine.
Philadelphia almost certainly has far more great pizza options than DC. Philadelphia might be a "beta" city in terms of global importance, but it still feels like a significantly larger and more bustling city than DC does to me and has a lot less of the stick up the butt-ness that you aren't in favor of.
There are families everywhere in NYC. Rich White hipsters that can afford 2 million dollar single family brownstones are even raising their kids in bed-stuy and crown heights. And anybody that was here 10 years ago would have never seen that happening.
Philly is nothing like NYC as a whole and I like philly. It's more like a wanna be soho in some areas but still doesn't come close to that. It's really a small area of redevelopment and gentrification. Center city, old city. Fishtown is seeing some development. But everywhere else literally poverty. It's even more of a bubble than NYC
Just became someone was born somewhere and lived there until they were a teen doesn't mean they should return to that place to live. One's life experience in a place prior to adulthood is quite different than living in a place as an adult. So unless the OP has a job in NYC or family or a network of friends in NYC, I would suggest just visiting NYC rather than moving here.
I agree with this. While coming back may be perfectly fine for the OP, it doesn't always work out that way. There's a reason I left Florida and never returned. So if I was the OP I'd decide very carefully.
Do you have the ability to line up a job that'd make the cost of living increase in NYC worthwhile? I think NYC makes sense if you find the right opportunity aside from just shaking things up. It doesn't hurt to look, but it can hurt to move and be materially in worse shape than you are now in DC.
If you don't find an opportunity in NYC, you can still shake things up simply by moving to a different part of DC and putting different things into your routine.
Philadelphia almost certainly has far more great pizza options than DC. Philadelphia might be a "beta" city in terms of global importance, but it still feels like a significantly larger and more bustling city than DC does to me and has a lot less of the stick up the butt-ness that you aren't in favor of.
I don't have to get a job in NYC to move there. I can keep my current job and work remote. If I wanted to get a job in NYC I could. I've already gotten interview offers from companies in NYC. COL in NYC is pretty much the same as DC. NYC rents are higher, while food and subway rides are generally higher in DC. Location matters too.
Philly does feel larger than DC, but not more "bustling". Philly doesn't even seem to have a rush hour. Foot traffic is never as intense as in DC. Have you been to DC?
Philly feels like a larger Baltimore to me with less crime. As for the pizza, I always get cheesesteaks when I visit Philly so I can't really comment. Got pizza there once and it was decent. Honestly, Philly is cool, but it just doesn't excite me.
Explain to us how this city can be so great, yet overrated at the same time to you. It really doesn't make sense.
NYC is a 9 out of 10.
If you believe the hype you would think NYC was a 15 out of 10. Does that make sense?
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