Relocating and Working Remote

Like everyone, COVID has me reevaluating my situation. Little background - I relocated to SF almost a year ago to work for a MM REPE firm ($5-10B AUM). I love everything about the job (work, people, comp, potential to advance)... but I relocated for the job, not SF. Our investment team runs incredibly lean, and now that we all know we don't need to be in the office together to be productive, I'm planning to request a move, and work remote full-time.

Three possibilities:

• NY (most desired): where to wanted to go in my last job search, but the right opps weren't there

  • Pros: 1. our hedge fund is in NY, so I will have an office to go to; 2: NYC lifestyle
  • Cons: 1. I focus mainly on west coast acquisitions, so time difference will be an objection from bosses (if anyone has experience working PST on the east coast, how big of a pain in the ass will this really be?); 2. I'll be 26 soon, 27 if/when I move likely. Will I have missed prime NYC years?

• LA (most likely to be approved, I think):

  • Pros: 1. down coast, close to many of my markets, same time-zone, etc.; 2: SoCal lifestyle
  • Cons: 1. driving - haven't had a car since college and I love it; 2: SoCal lifestyle (i.e. annoying, image-obssessed thots and douchebags)

• Denver (fallback):

  • Pros: 1. hometown; 2: we're big in the market; 3: lower cost of living
  • Cons: 1. hometown; 2: I love the big city life and being by the water

Thank you if you've made it this far. Any honest, thoughtful feedback is really appreciated.