Benefits of starting in NYC? Forum

[Anonymous User]

Hi all, looking for some clarity here. I am corporate-focused and, though I've struck out on my target West Coast firms, have in hand a couple of v10 and v20 offers from NYC and Houston, respectively. Right now, I am not sure where I want to end up aside from maybe California or the PNW, but I would like to avoid being stuck anywhere in the near term (I'm not planning on buying a house in Houston, for example).

For context, I am at a T20 with good-not-great grades and have minimal debt.

For someone focused on corporate work and with few ties anywhere but with some interest in moving later, is it worth it to start in NYC?

[Anonymous User]

I hate NYC, but I would still probably work there for maximum flexibility (both for geographic exit options and corporate practice groups) if you are trying to get back to Cali/PNW. That being said, I would much rather live and work in Houston.

[FedFan123]

New York is the greatest city in the world, so that’s the obvious benefit of starting here. I can’t for the life of me understand why anyone would rather live in Houston unless you’re a rancher

[aegor]

New York is the greatest city in the world, so that’s the obvious benefit of starting here. I can’t for the life of me understand why anyone would rather live in Houston unless you’re a rancher

Because a lot of people are well-traveled enough to know that NYC is a pretty shit placed to live compared to most other places, and you can just visit NYC as needed to enjoy an evening at Daniel and Ariadne auf Naxos at the Met. I will never understand the people who think that anything 30 minutes out of NYC is a complete wasteland.

[Anonymous User]

As a mid level associate at an NYC V10, I would suggest you only come to NYC if you like NYC. I think this idea that you get incomparable training in NYC is a bit overhyped. Sure, you’ll probably work on bigger deals/clients compared with the work you would do in Houston, but you’ll also be paying state and even city income tax in addition to perhaps the highest cost of living in the country. I’m not one of those people who thinks you should just blindly avoid NYC at all costs — I had offers in LA and SF, for example, and still chose to come to NYC. But that’s because I love NYC and, in my opinion, life is too short to live somewhere you hate, even if you’d be financially better off doing so. So if I were in your shoes and truly indifferent, I’d pick Houston.

I will say that it might be *slightly* harder to lateral from Texas to California because Texas is a bit parochial already and I could see it being a bit harder to sell since it isn’t a logical move on the surface. But frankly if the lateral market is even a fraction as hot 5 years from now as it is today, it shouldn’t be a big concern.

[Anonymous User]

And there it is folks—we’ve already killed the thread in record time with the classic “NY is the best/worst place in the world” derail

[FedFan123]

New York is the greatest city in the world, so that’s the obvious benefit of starting here. I can’t for the life of me understand why anyone would rather live in Houston unless you’re a rancher

Because a lot of people are well-traveled enough to know that NYC is a pretty shit placed to live compared to most other places, and you can just visit NYC as needed to enjoy an evening at Daniel and Ariadne auf Naxos at the Met. I will never understand the people who think that anything 30 minutes out of NYC is a complete wasteland.

I mean the fact that these are the examples you cited to for NYC tells me everything I need to know about why you don’t get NYC’s greatness. Enjoy #farmlife

[Anonymous User]

I mean the fact that these are the examples you cited to for NYC tells me everything I need to know about why you don’t get NYC’s greatness. Enjoy #farmlife

Or that "greatness" is subjective in the context of where to live because different individuals have different preferences or needs. Which perhaps suggests that you should offer OP objective information about NYC instead of cattily belittling other users.