Why I Chose New York • Hacker News Board

Re: Why I Chose New York

#121

Post by ashishgandhi » Sat, Mar 31, 2012, 12:32 AM UTC

jnsquire wrote: post #114

ashishgandhi wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of the one bedroom units here in Stuyvesant Town is listed as $2820 ( http://www.stuytown.com/view-availability.aspx ). And if you've been to Stuyvesant Town you know the units are HUGE. And most people convert one bedroom to a two bedroom, two to a three, etc. Stuyvesant Town may be the biggest real-estate default in American history but it is really really nice. We have our own reading rooms, movie shows, ice-s…

Another Stuy Town dweller here. It's also a pretty good options for those of us with families. We have a nice park with play area outside our door. It's fairly quiet. And don't forget free heat, water, and electricity!

We should meet up.

Re: Why I Chose New York

#122

Post by svdad » Sat, Mar 31, 2012, 12:32 AM UTC

jballanc wrote: post #87

dev_jim wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I live in Manhattan (formerly in the Village and now in TriBeCa) and I think you are exaggerating/cherry picking the lack of costs in NYC. Sure, you can find a few $2,000 1BRs here and there in Manhattan, but they are rare, tiny, and not all that nice. The average 1BR in the neighborhoods surrounding your office is more than 3k. New construction is more than $4k. In the nice areas of Brooklyn you are paying almost as…

Since I am moving out of the city (and the country) at the end of this month, I have no qualms sharing a little secret for anyone looking for a place in Manhattan... There's an area of about 6 city blocks bordered by Columbia University on the south, 125th St. on the north, Broadway to the east, and Grant's Tomb on the west...and rent is ridiculously cheap! 2BR for $2700 or less (we're paying much less) are not unusu…

Isn't that Morningside Heights? The southern boundary depends on who you talk to... can go down to 110th or so. I grew up on 119th and Riverside. LOVE that area, even thirty-odd years ago. Harlem doesn't start until 125th on the west side.

Anyway, the west side of Harlem, the other side of Morningside Park, has gentrified significantly in the last 20 years and is also by all accounts a pretty nice place to live nowadays.

Washington Heights is also "up-and-coming", up north of there.

Re: Why I Chose New York

#123

Post by bretthoerner » Sat, Mar 31, 2012, 12:32 AM UTC

maratd wrote: post #103

jballanc wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Since I am moving out of the city (and the country) at the end of this month, I have no qualms sharing a little secret for anyone looking for a place in Manhattan... There's an area of about 6 city blocks bordered by Columbia University on the south, 125th St. on the north, Broadway to the east, and Grant's Tomb on the west...and rent is ridiculously cheap! 2BR for $2700 or less (we're paying much less) are not unusu…

> If you are going to move to New York, your best bet is to talk to someone who knows New York So talk to me. I grew up and live here. And your best bet is actually NJ. Hoboken or Jersey City. They're on the PATH. Your commute to Manhattan will be 15 minutes and a ticket costs $2. Less if you buy in bulk or get a pass. Also, you pay less in taxes (income and sales tax) since you're in NJ.

> Also, you pay less in taxes (income and sales tax) since you're in NJ.

If you live in NJ but work in NY don't you pay NY taxes? And even if you want to get around that somehow, won't any normal employer payroll withhold for NY before you even see it?

Re: Why I Chose New York

#124

Post by wyclif » Sat, Mar 31, 2012, 12:37 AM UTC

vinayan3 wrote: post #112

blissofbeing wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I second that the OP should look more into staying in Austin. Austin has plenty of women, and you don't need to have a car here if you don't want too. I have been living here a year without a car and do fine, plus your money goes farther here in Austin. I have lived in the Bay and LA, and while the weather is the best in SoCal (best in the US?) I love everything Austin has to offer and will be here a while.

It is hot as hell in Austin in the Summer. The humidity sometimes kicks in too.

Austin is the only place I can imagine living in Texas. But it's still Texas, after all.

Re: Why I Chose New York

#125

Post by fjabre » Sat, Mar 31, 2012, 12:56 AM UTC

mahyarm wrote: post #105

fjabre wrote: post #72

Why don't more hackers consider Los Angeles? Cheaper and easier to find housing than the bay or NYC hands down, better weather, and plenty of single women who jump at the chance to date guys that aren't actors and/or yoga instructors! Given, the tech scene in LA isn't great but it's not that far from SF and there are definitely some hackers around UCLA and the Westside. I love New Yorkers but New York City is a zoo.…

The Traffic, the Driving, the Sprawl. LA has a reputation of being a 24hr traffic jam.

Traffic isn't as bad as everyone thinks. The sprawl is desirable if you want to live in a big city but still be able to afford a place with a yard and driveway.

Re: Why I Chose New York

#126

Post by otrofimo » Sat, Mar 31, 2012, 1:43 AM UTC

Michael, it is very interesting that you chose New York and I wish you all the best. I say that it is interesting because I chose to move from New York to San Francisco at the end of last year. One of the main reasons is the attitude of each respective city.

New York will always have a special place in my heart as I grew up in lower part of brooklyn until I moved to Jersey in 7th grade. It was one of the greatest times of my life. I only returned to the city after I graduated college two years ago. Maybe it was a personal experience but after working in NYC(manhattan) I thought it was one of the coldest and most distant places I have ever experienced. It was the feeling of the city, for all the "if you can make it here you can make it anywhere" there is a lack of collaboration, it is selfish, it feels like people are only out for #1. There is this aura of being better than others, almost snobbishness, which is something I have yet to find in San Francisco.

San Fran is also incredible in terms of the level of intellectual curiosity that you see in most people. Individuals and groups are building,creating, innovating. I don't remember who said it(maybe it was Paul Graham in Hackers and Painters) but there was a comparison of modern day San Francisco to Florence during the Renaissance. I tried to look for resources in New York, but it felt like I was always meeting the same kind of people. I found that people were just living, going to restaurants, talking celebrity gossip. There was no ambition to better oneself, there was no ambition to learn. There is ambition to make money though.

Your point about groupthink is well noted. I would like to point out that artistically, culturally, and musically NYC and SF are not that different. SF is the city of free thinking and has spawned many radical movements (Summer of Love, Beatniks, LGBT social movement), and continues to be ripe with underground/subculture movements. I cannot say NYC doesn't have the Village, but it is a remnant of what it once was as it has undergone extensive gentrification.

Either way these I think are two of the more open cities in the United States and have an environment where one in theory can succeed. Personally I believe that San Fran simply has a different mindset which is embodied in the people.

You can be as successful as you want to be, just be wary of the environmental factors that may sway you into a lifestyle that makes you feel as if you are running in place

Re: Why I Chose New York

#127

Post by maratd » Sat, Mar 31, 2012, 2:03 AM UTC

bretthoerner wrote: post #123

maratd wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If you are going to move to New York, your best bet is to talk to someone who knows New York So talk to me. I grew up and live here. And your best bet is actually NJ. Hoboken or Jersey City. They're on the PATH. Your commute to Manhattan will be 15 minutes and a ticket costs $2. Less if you buy in bulk or get a pass. Also, you pay less in taxes (income and sales tax) since you're in NJ.

> Also, you pay less in taxes (income and sales tax) since you're in NJ. If you live in NJ but work in NY don't you pay NY taxes? And even if you want to get around that somehow, won't any normal employer payroll withhold for NY before you even see it?

New York State taxes, yes. However, New York City taxes are a different ball game. NYC levies an additional tax.

Re: Why I Chose New York

#128

Post by kurtvarner » Sat, Mar 31, 2012, 2:07 AM UTC

untog wrote: post #3

I hope this doesn't spark off another round of NYC vs. SV arguments[1]- there is no empirically "right" answer. Both have strengths and weaknesses, and the choice is all about what you want as a person, and what you want for your startup. Don't be fooled into thinking that SV will be the saviour of your dreams (the guy living out of his car comes to mind), but also don't think that NYC is an instant shortcut to makin…

I'm the guy living from his car. I never implied that Silicon Valley will make me a success (or be my savior). I simply said that there are a lot of advantages to being there. I don't think one can argue against that.

Re: Why I Chose New York

#129

Post by waterlesscloud » Sat, Mar 31, 2012, 2:23 AM UTC

fjabre wrote: post #125

mahyarm wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Traffic, the Driving, the Sprawl. LA has a reputation of being a 24hr traffic jam.

Traffic isn't as bad as everyone thinks. The sprawl is desirable if you want to live in a big city but still be able to afford a place with a yard and driveway.

11 years in LA here. The traffic is awful around rush hours, worst I've seen anywhere outside of DC. But off-peak can be fine. And, honestly, you just get used to it. You take it into account, everyone else takes it into account, that's how it is.

The sprawl isn't as much of a factor as some might imagine. You tend to stay within 10-15 miles of home anyway, so it doesn't matter that there's another 50-60 miles of sprawl beyond that. Besides, it's not like SV is sprawl-free.

LA is much bigger than SF, and that's mostly a benefit. More options for most everything.

As far as dating, just avoid anyone in any way connected to entertainment and it's fine. I'm sort of kidding. Sort of not.

It's cheaper than SV, for sure. Though the upper end can compete with the upper end of SF as well. It's a city where you can spend as much as you'd like, there's not really a ceiling.

Los Angeles gets a bad rap culturally, but in reality it's second only to New York in just about any cultural way you'd care to name. There's a LOT of creative people here in just about every creative arena.

One thing I really like about LA is that there's probably more people trying to live their wildest dreams than anywhere else on earth. I think that's admirable.

Biggest downside? Weather. I hate the lack of rain. Something I hear a lot from people who are from elsewhere. Summers are quite tedious.

Re: Why I Chose New York

#130

Post by jessriedel » Sat, Mar 31, 2012, 7:32 AM UTC

billpaetzke wrote: post #99

jessriedel wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did find more eligible women looking to get married in Wisconsin?

Yes, I grew up in Wisconsin and lived in Los Angeles for the past ten years. Many of my friends in WI have since married and possibly had kids. Few of my friends in L.A. have done either.

Right, but the question is whether the higher fraction of women who are marriage-minded overcomes the lower absolute number (and density). Have you felt like you've made more progress?

You don't have to answer this highly personal question, of course! It's just that it's likely I'm moving to NYC for my next job, and I'm interested in the prospects.