Chicago, New York, Silicon Valley

[amberpi]

Is that the InterContinental Park Lane? I stayed there last year, I loved the property and the location. Ate at the Italian restaurant in the hotel which was delicious.

NYC is nice to visit, I would never live there. Not really walkable, have to uber or subway everywhere. Not really my cup of tea.

Silicon Valley seems rather boring although beautiful.

Cities I really love in the U.S. are Denver, Scottsdale, Austin, and San Diego. Let me know if any of those intrigue you.

Yep - the Park Lane property - not a bad place to live for a bit on a big bank's dime, right? I'm definitely going to start looking in London for jobs, a few of the banks I've worked for/with there are are struggling with cultural normative stuff which is something I'm intrigued by, and do really well in terms of building internal coalitions, so that's pretty appealing.

NYC pulls to me the most out of all those. Silicon Valley has a couple of very interesting companies in terms of what I do. Think of the major online payment giant that's there, and the Bitcoin stuff which is fascinating in terms of AML issues. If I landed in SV, it would 100% be for a job that was just crazy interesting.

I love Austin and San Diego, but there are less jobs opportunities for me. I would LOVE to live in San Diego, I mean, when I become super rich I'd love to live in La Jolla, but that's crazy money right there, but unfortunately, there just aren't too many opportunities in that part of the world. There is one company in SD that would be really interesting, and I'm definitely going to see what's happening there, but it's not a ton.

I basically am just starting to look and consider where I want to land, but all of this stuff is good food for thought as I move forward.

 

[amberpi]

I guess. But wouldn't that be the case in any city unless you lived right in the middle of a small downtown? Personally I'd rather have to utilize public transit in a larger city than living in a smaller one just to be able to walk most places.

From my last apartment, I could walk to Central Park, the museums on either side, Times Square... I usually chose to take a bus around or subway to save time, but it's doable. And the little daily errands were within a few blocks.

Being able to walk to a museum every week or even doing the subway would be a dream for me. When I did that stint in London, I hit the British museum weekly if not more...the Met is much the same - plus so many more world class offerings. All without walking through people mowing/blowing/weed eating, etc. grass.

 

[rlk]

Being able to walk to a museum every week or even doing the subway would be a dream for me. When I did that stint in London, I hit the British museum weekly is not more...the Met is much the same - plus so many more world class offerings. All without walking through people mowing/blowing/weed eating, etc. grass.

When my kids were in middle school, there was an elective offered called Drawing at the Met. They would walk from school with their teacher once a week to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. One of the things I love about the city.

 

[amberpi]

When my kids were in middle school, there was an elective offered called Drawing at the Met. They would walk from school with their teacher once a week to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. One of the things I love about the city.

That's amazing. Period. Wish they had such for adults getting off work

 

[minnieralyks]

NOOOOOOO! Not Denver!!!!

I say that mainly for selfish reasons! lol We're from one of the 'burbs off Denver and it seems like everyone and their brother is moving there (I'm sure you can guess one of the reasons as to why). Traffic has gotten much worse than it was 5 years ago (the main interstate can get pretty bad during normal rush hours, especially heading north - not so bad during weekends). Real estate is booming, tons of new construction happening. But it is a beautiful state with a lot to do. From an allergy standpoint, the main city is I'm sure a lot better than the burbs. The altitude doesn't take too much to get used to. The first couple of days will probably not be fun getting used to it, but it will get better over time. I know there's a light rail that runs through the city, but don't have any experience because we rarely head to the city. The airport is fun and easy to travel through!

What industry are you in, OP?

 

[amberpi]

What industry are you in, OP?

Finance - specifically due diligence/M&A as related to AML and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act which tend (at a high level) to have a lot of overlap. I'm looking at EVP/VP/Practice leader positions for large multinationals/high finance firms type work.

...and that was super nerdy.

 

[amberpi]

NOOOOOOO! Not Denver!!!!

I say that mainly for selfish reasons! lol We're from one of the 'burbs off Denver and it seems like everyone and their brother is moving there ?

I'm from Nashville, I get the whole "please god, no more locusts" thing. Denver would be great in terms of health, but limited for jobs. There are definitely SOME though that could be interesting.

Interesting job opportunities are very high on my list.

 

[minnieralyks]

kjjlk,

 

[BrinkofSunshine]

Amberpi, have you looked at Washington DC or Boston? Both of these would be great for walkability/public transit, cultural amenities, and I can only guess that they would have finance jobs.

 

[Runnergal]

I live in NYC and love it here. Life is so easy. I walk or take the subway pretty much everywhere. We have a car but mainly use it for kids sports stuff on the weekend and getting away during the summer. I love that I can get anything I need any time of day. Tons to do. Awesome restaurants. Winter stinks, but I don't mind snow because living in an apartment building means I don't have to shovel it. Dh works in Queens and it is 2 stops on the subway. Laundry-if you are lucky your apartment will have a washer/dryer but most buildings have laundry rooms. Our coop didn't allow them in individual units for years; they finally changed the rules last year but I still haven't gotten around to getting one because I love the huge machines in the laundry room. Only thing that is tough is dating- I am married but my sister is single and it is really tough to meet someone looking to settle down. Still, it is a great place to live. Good luck with your decision!

 

[Pacolovestacos]

Amber, look at Amsterdam too. That might not stand out as a huge job market but there are a ton of proprietary trading firms/hedge funds over there. I see job listings all the time.

 

[amberpi]

Amberpi, have you looked at Washington DC or Boston? Both of these would be great for walkability/public transit, cultural amenities, and I can only guess that they would have finance jobs.

Boston is on the list. I've done work in DC. I don't love it, and it has the pollen issue. My personal politics would get in my way in DC, and it doesn't have a city "pulse" the way other places do. I could work for a pe firm in Boston though, for sure. Adore Boston! Boston would totally feed my need for down to earth and authentic and fancy pants cuisine, also, the history of the city #faints

 

[amberpi]

Amber, look at Amsterdam too. That might not stand out as a huge job market but there are a ton of proprietary trading firms/hedge funds over there. I see job listings all the time.

Great observation! Thanks!

 

[Pacolovestacos]

Yep - the Park Lane property - not a bad place to live for a bit on a big bank's dime, right?

Well I've never had an employer send me there. If they did, they would have put me up at the Motel 6, not the IHG Park Lane, lol. But I cashed in some of my hotel points to stay there, I wasn't disappointed.

 

[amberpi]

I live in NYC and love it here. Life is so easy. I walk or take the subway pretty much everywhere. We have a car but mainly use it for kids sports stuff on the weekend and getting away during the summer. I love that I can get anything I need any time of day. Tons to do. Awesome restaurants. Winter stinks, but I don't mind snow because living in an apartment building means I don't have to shovel it. Dh works in Queens and it is 2 stops on the subway. Laundry-if you are lucky your apartment will have a washer/dryer but most buildings have laundry rooms. Our coop didn't allow them in individual units for years; they finally changed the rules last year but I still haven't gotten around to getting one because I love the huge machines in the laundry room. Only thing that is tough is dating- I am married but my sister is single and it is really tough to meet someone looking to settle down. Still, it is a great place to live. Good luck with your decision!

Thank you!

I've spent literally, if you added it up, years in NYC, so I *think* I get a lot of the challenges. Dating sucks doesn't matter whereever you are. I'm done looking for a good while. I have loads of friends there. Its going to be a matter of interesting jobs I think. And some heavy equations on my part from a personal POV.

 

[amberpi]

Well I've never had an employer send me there. If they did, they would have put me up at the Motel 6, not the IHG Park Lane, lol. But I cashed in some of my hotel points to stay there, I wasn't disappointed.

Banks don't figure consultant fees in capex so its all funny money to them.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Boston is home to me, that would be my choice! It sounds like it has everything you are looking for, yet it still has sort of a small town feel. I've heard it compared to San Francisco and having been there, I'd agree. (Have also been to Chicago this year and NYC lots of times.)

 

[marthachick]

I'm ok overall, until the grass starts up. I'm betting Charlotte wouldn't be much better than Nashville in that regard, huh?

Probably not. I'm pretty sure Charlotte would have more green space and grass than the other places mentioned.

 

[bigbabyblues]

Of the three, I have only been to NYC once, and I liked it, but I wouldn't want to live there. There were so many things to do, which I loved, but that was about it for me. I think I am just not a city person. Too many people, too crowded, dealing with public transportation--just not for me.

You have mentioned before that you have a good-sized house of your own. If you move, will you still be able to have that (obviously not the same house)? Having to live in an apartment would be an absolute deal breaker for me. We lived in a townhouse for the first year of our marriage, and that was enough for me. I need my own space, plenty of it, and not share walls, ceilings or floors with anyone else's space.

I don't mean to be negative, just something I wondered about.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

I don't have enough information. Like, do I have to live in Manhattan if I pick New York? Can I live in a suburb?

No way am I living in Chicago. Silicon Valley is interesting because I am a software engineer. But I'm not a big fan of California. So, if I were forced to move to one of those three places, I'd take New York City. But like Queens or something.