Is living in NYC worth it for somebody who does not care for nightlife?
Hi, I am a senior in college and am on track to work in finance. I have had two internships with bulge brackets. I had initially planned to work and live in NYC, but now I am unsure if it is worth it. A major appeal of the City is its nightlife, clubbing, etc. I'm teetotal and usually go to bed around 9 - 10 p.m. So nightlife is irrelevant to me.
Considering this, is there anything I would get out of NYC that I wouldn't get from Chicago or Boston?
NYC is a lot more than nightlife. What do you enjoy/what are you looking for? The beautiful thing about NYC (to me at least) is that you can find anything you want, and a lot of it.
The restaurants, art scene (including broadway, etc), museums, events and courses (I.e., cooking classes, comedy nights, etc) are all a lot of fun.
I think it would help to understand what you value though. As an example, if you want a large apartment with nice upgrades, that’ll be hard. If you enjoy spending time hiking, you’ll be able to find it on the weekends but it’s no Colorado, etc.
Agreed. I love living in NYC and Ive never even been to an actual “club”. That stuff is way far down on my priority list. So many other benefits
I'm not a big party guy either, but here is why I think NYC is worth it:
1. The food - Nowhere else can I draw a 3 block radius and have food from literally any culture. I have a go-to Indian place, Moroccan place, Middle Eastern Place, Mexican Place, Italian Place, and 3-4 go-to pizza places within a 10 min walk. I literally never go to a large chain place (Starbucks, chipotle). And then I can literally take a subway out to Flushing to have authentic Chinese food. Ride up to Arthur Ave for top-notch Italian. Or go to the Queens night market and be surrounded by cuisine of all cultures. Then to to Koreatown and have some amazing Korean BBQ.
2. The price - Hot take but NYC isn't that expensive... I can get literally anywhere in the city for $2.90 subway ticket. Yes rent is a lot, but Boston isn't cheap either, and you'll save so much by not having a car. You can always live in Queens or Brooklyn to save money if you need.
3. Things to do - no explanation needed. Broadway, sports games, comedy shows, museums,...
4. So many people - you can find people of any background here. Religion, race, political opinion, country of origin,...
.
I don't drink though.
What kind of lunches are you getting? I rarely spend more than $13 for lunch these days...
Isn’t that expensive? Are you stupid or have you never had to pay for things by yourself?
I mean compared to other large cities. I went to college in another big city and the prices of food were very similar to NYC. Plus there are plenty of cheap food options (You can easily grab a slice of pizza for less than $5), and you don't have to go out to eat every day. I maybe eat a >$15 meal 2-3x/week at most.
I live in NYC (among other places) and I don't drink, never have. I do go clubbing or to lounges/bars, but it's for the company and meeting new people.
you can totally live in NYC as a teetotal professional - what are your interests and hobbies?
Living in NYC is a major cultural experience.
I'm curious about this as well. Have been thinking about making the jump but am not at all into the drinking scene anymore.
420 > Alcohol
I am from Africa and studying in USA. Living in NYC is worth for people coming to here for working. It is a better alternative than working at home for many people. Whether you are from Africa, Canada or many of the united states you probably find better quality life in nyc
I am not a big party person, but plan on going back to NYC in the future. There are many other aspects of the city besides the party scene - professional, cultural, foods, and being located in the NE, you get all four seasons.
You get 7 months of winter, 3 months of summer, 1 month of autumn and spring.
Would be nice to reside out of Fl for the winter months when older
Depends where the other locations and opportunities are. If you have a good position here, then it's probably worth staying and enjoying what the city has to offer. If you find a good opportunity in another city you like that pays well then you can go there. It's not super common for people to have the luxury of choosing between a great nyc role vs a great non-nyc role.
What does being on track mean? Do you have an offer or not? If you don’t enjoy Manhattan, you can always living in an outer borough or a place like Cos Cob, but quite arrogant to just assume you’re going to land a high finance job lol.
Instead of telling us what you don't like, what do you like? Personally I think NYC has more variety and depth of things to do than any other city in the country. Fine, you don't like to drink - but this forum is a bad place to get the advice of "NYC is all about clubbing". NYC has world class museums, it has Broadway, it has green space, it has every cultural event you could possibly hope to find. There are beaches within the city, there are multiple restaurants of every cuisine known to mankind.
Not drinking is fine, but it's hard to recommend a place if we don't know what to recommend! If you love hiking and camping, maybe NYC isn't for you... but neither is any major metro area.
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