Reverse Commute From NYC- doable lifestyle?
Hi All:
I recently accepted an offer to work in finance in Greenwich, CT, following my impending graduation. One concern I had about this particular situation was that the firm is very small and employs only a small handful of people my age. I will have to relocate, at it seems to me that moving to such an uber-wealthy, older demographic suburb with few contacts would make life outside of work kind of lonely and boring. It was suggested to me by a current employee that a better alternative would be to live in NYC and commute via train out to Greenwich, which would allow me to hang with the many people I know starting work in the city.
My real concern is that the train ride from Grand Central to Greenwich is ~50 minutes express and ~60 minutes normal, in addition to whatever time I'd have to spend getting to GC. Wondering if anyone has done anything similar and can speak to whether it is feasible? Or lived somewhere like Greenwich/Stamford? Job looks to require in the 60-65 hour per week range... is this long of a commute suicide?
Thanks,
No\\//a
Hi,
This wouldn't be Bridgewater, would it? Anyway, I think a large part of answering this question requires a few more key things in order to get a thoughtful response; in particular, how sociable of a person you are, and how long you are looking to keep this job, matters.
I think that if this is a standard 2 year job, it might be a good idea to you to simply suck it up and just live in Stamford, as it's not that long. However, I would do the commute. Honestly, it's not that long of a commute, esp if your work ours are really only 60-65. In addition, each year you wait, in my experience, makes it harder to make friends. If you're worried about missing out, and are a very sociable person, I would try to find something on the east side around 45th street, in order to minimize your commute as much as possible.
Another option is living somewhere that is in the middle of the two cities. This might sound inefficient, but could be a good idea, since you may only be going into the city on weekends. Plus, some of the in between towns may have more young people than Stamford will. Have you looked into Broxnville, or Scarsdale?
That said, there are lots of entry level positions at companies based in Stamford, so I'm sure if you choose to live there, your outlook won't be as bleak as you make it out to be.
PM if you'd like to talk more.
I knew some guys who lived in nyc and commuted to UBS in Stamford and a few who commuted to purchase for MS. They all drove, usually carpooling with co-workers, but complained about it pretty often. Commuting that long on top of work gets old real fast, always showing up late to any after work plans and in your case relying on metro north.
I'd honestly look at living in Stamford, it's no nyc but has a pretty young social scene and a bunch of places to enjoy.
I agree with Bobb That weekday commute will instantly get old and I couldn't imagine having to get on an hour long train on a Saturday morning to go into the office or alternatively having a car in NYC. It's one thing to commute into a city to save money, live in a bigger place due to family (not your situation but someday it could be) or whatever other reasons, but to pay Manhattan prices then commute for 2.5+ hours per day would make me question my sanity. Things can sound good and easy in theory but once you start doing them they can suck.
I'd also say it would be different if you were already established in the city with friends and a life then got a job in Greenwich and wanted to keep that life going but it'll be difficult to establish a life in NYC when you're commuting that much. And Stamford really isn't that bad.
Thanks so much for the great responses. Matayo- not Bridgewater, it's a small firm called SkyWorks Capital. I agree, on the surface it seems crazy to pay the premium to live in the city just to schlep 25 miles or whatever on the train every day... at the same time, I've had people at the firm tell me the lifestyle is way better, and what trade off wouldn't be worth it for that? Thanks again
Just keep in mind first train out of Grand Central is at 5:30am and gets you in at around 6:25am so unless you have a car, getting to work on time may be an issue. I would definitely look for a place closer to work i.e., Stamford or White Plains.
Live close to work and commute to NYC during your downtime.
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