Menlo Park 2021
I know there have been a few threads about this in the past, but wanted to get an updated one.
What are everyone's thoughts regarding MP: Housing, PE Recruiting, Work Environment?
Any info is helpful, thanks.
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Menlo Park is a really nice suburb, but it's still a suburb. Housing is expensive, but you're generally getting a bit more for you money than in San Francisco. From a work environment perspective, it's fine in that you'll mostly just be in the office anyways so the actual location doesn't matter that much. There are lots of trees and it's just generally much nice/cleaner/more pleasant than the city. However, you'll be pretty limited in lunch options that are within walking distance (depending on where the office is).
The main downside is that it's harder to do things after work or on the weekends if you're actually living in Menlo Park. There are a few bars in MP, and you can certainly drive over to downtown Palo Alto (~10 minutes) or up to San Francisco (40 - 60 min), but wrangling people to go out is just harder when you have to drive everywhere. As a result, it's pretty common for 2nd year analysts or buyside folks to live in the city and commute down for work.
There's really no difference in PE recruiting whether you're in Menlo Park or San Francisco. You'll likely talk to firms with headquarters in either place and many have offices in both cities. As an aside, most of the largest VCs (and some PE shops) are headquartered on Sand Hill Road in Menlo Park.
Thanks for your answe. Is the norm to walk to get food not just order it when you're working? And do people usually genuinely like staying long term (5+ years) in the area or do they transition to maybe LA or NYC?
I worked on Sand Hill rd last summer and the most junior analyst and intern (me) picked up food
Is this a smaller shop? I have a dumb question because I’ve never picked up food for an office before but: how hard is it to carry everyone’s food? And how easy is it to keep a list of what everyone wants?
I just mean that you probably won't have many options in walking distance vs. an office in the city. People mostly just grabbed something quick/nearby for lunch and ate at their desk. Dinner almost always delivered.
How long people stay is totally dependent on personal preference. Most just stay in the bay area given all the jobs, but not uncommon for people to pursue roles in other geographies, esp. if it's closer to family/friends.
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