Greenwich, CT: Reverse Commute
Signed an offer to work in the Greenwich office of a fund I am really interested in. For many reasons, I’m going to continue to live in NYC, but I’m definitely getting nervous for the commute the closer I get to my start date.
Obviously the metro north is the most efficient / cost effective option, but if I want to live downtown is getting a car the better option?
Also, do Greenwich offices have relatively less hours / FaceTime culture considering the commute?
Thanks for all responses in advance!
I grew up in that area and have multiple friends doing this commute
I would absolutely not live downtown. That is a great way to hate your life... downtown will be minimum 90 min commute on just about any transit method or car. Live uptown and go downtown on weekends.
Also it's like $600/month to have your car in a garage, guessing you're aware already being in NYC but something to factor in. The monthly unlimited MetroNorth is only like $300, really hard to justify paying $1000+ a month for a car between garage, gas, maintenance etc when it won't really save you commute time.
Two common options:
1) Live right near Grand Central and take the ~60 min train. Most firms are near Greenwich Ave so hopefully your office is walkable from there (imo, better option. work or chill on the train)
2) Live as far up the UWS or UES as you're willing... call it 70s-80s block-wise. Get a car and drive to work - even being a "reverse commute" there is still quite a bit of traffic both ways and I'd expect it to take an hour most days (everyone I know who does this hates it. 95 is not fun to drive on and the traffic sucks)
At some of the Greenwich offices all of the associates split a Greenwich apartment so people can stay there if they have late nights, early meetings etc
It absolutely doesn’t take 55 minutes. I do this same commute by car every day in 35-40 minutes from the UES. You’ll have your days where traffic is bad but on a day to day basis traffic is light given the reverse commute. I would not worry about the commute and you’ll 100% save time vs metro north + time to get to grand central.
agree with the above on not living downtown. That will add 20-30 minutes to your commute driving or metro north.
is it for stone point capital?
Could be for SVP Global.
I did the reverse commute to Westchester with about a 1:00-1:15 door to door travel time. I'll be honest, it wore on me, but generally speaking, people are understanding of the commute assuming that's the norm for associates. Driving is definitely more comfortable but have heard traffic has gotten much worse now that people are returning to office. Metro North is pretty reliable, clean, and comfortable enough that you can crank out work if need be, but you have to live close by, otherwise you're going to be miserable.
I did this commute many years ago for about a couple of years and I hated my fucking life. I never got used to it and promised to never do that again. I lived downtown which didn’t help but still, it was brutal
Did you take the train or drive? How long was your commute / when did you wake up
I lived in downtown Manhattan then so I had to take the F to Union sq then the 4/5/6 to grand central. There was an express train that got you from GC to Greenwich in I think like 35 minutes. From there I took a shuttle to the office. Door-to-door this was easily 1:15 each way which was really tough for me. Granted I was younger and hadn’t yet developed great habits, also it would’ve been much easier if I lived more uptown.
I don’t remember what time I woke up. Maybe 630 or so which isn’t a problem but the hours spent every week commuting were tough.
Do you plan on eventually moving to the suburbs? While you may want to be in NYC for a few years, the benefit of working in Greenwich is that you can move to the suburbs and have a minimal commute, while all your peers are living in Greenwich and commuting into NYC...
So it may suck for a few years, but if you have a long term path at the company, it could work out great in the long run.
Did this commute for two years, vowed never to do it again. Highly recommend living near Grand Central, either in Midtown East or UES. You will absolutely hate your life if you live downtown, and the traffic makes driving insane. I can guarantee you from personal experience after grinding all day you will not want to drive an hour plus in terrible traffic at night on I-95 every day for the foreseeable future. Frankly, long term you will have to move to CT or Westchester to make it sustainable once you are married and have kids, etc. The silver lining was, at least in my experience, it was expected that most people went home around 7pm to get an express train and work from home as needed. Also, the Metro North trains are generally pretty chill, safe, and efficient and it was nice to spend the mornings on them reading, catching up on emails (not really possible on a subway, or while driving).
My buddy did the commute for two years from NYC. It was fine during the aftermath of covid with a lot of places being 1-2 days in office flexibility. I would not be surprised if, depending on days in office required, you burn out and look for a new fund after a year or two.
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