The 'proximity breeds socialization' observation is spot on. Apparently, two things help build friendship equity: time and proximity. Having close friends that don't live nearby, I can attest to the inertia that sets in with people who can't be bothered to get together if it's a hassle.
- do you play a tournament or a cash game at your weekly Wednesday poker? if tournament, what's the buy-in? if cash, what are the blinds?
- the way you described NYC, it feels like it's a bliss. is there anything you dislike? you've established that high rent and high prices in general are a feature, not a bug, so needs be something else. :)
How do you afford all this? The travel prior, but also the new restaurants every night while attending business school? That seems atypical to put it mildly. One thing not mentioned is the NYC cost of living being one of the highest in the country, especially Manhattan.
I loved reading this piece! It's probably one of my favorite articles from you. I traveled to New York for the first time in June 2023, and I can relate to everything you mentioned. Two experiences during my five-day trip really stood out. The first was when I was coming out of the subway, and someone ran up to compliment my outfit. They even asked where I got it and snapped a picture!
The second was when a woman asked me to take a picture with her just to make her boyfriend jealous. And for some reason, visiting Central Park and watching everyone jog in the afternoon had this oddly captivating effect on me. Oh, and yes, there were so many beautiful women. New York is truly one of a kind!
Great article. I can't say I've lived in New York (or anywhere in the US) but I've visited a bunch of times and really enjoyed much of what you've talked about here.
The closest equivalent for me as an Aussie was moving to London, which is pretty similar in a lot of ways to New York but even more dominant in terms of the UK. I had so many friends visit from Australia or around the world and it has similar opportunities to do whatever you want.
One of the two truly global cities in my experience.
Currently living in Japan I am curious to visit NY. I read recently in NY Times “subway riders are now just about as frightened in the subway during the day as they were riding at night in 2017”. Is that true?
Tokyo’s metro system is 100x cleaner than New York’s, but the “NYC subway is dangerous” dialogue is grossly over exaggerated. I wouldn’t take it at 2 AM, but never had issues during the day.
You know I am always intimidated by New York when I go there (for work), but you've made me see it more as a place of opportunity and novelty. It's such an endless pile of noise, but I have to admit it's exciting. And absolutely loaded to the brim with ambition.
I make dunking on liberal areas like NYC and the Bay area into a sport and this article made even me made me want to be a New Yorker. I love how you described the energy of NYC. I got a little taste of that in college during my day trips down West Point to the city. As much as I love living in the North Carolina now, we just dont have that type of energy here in suburbia.
Also, what you said about friends really rings true. Now I'm 34 with two kids and one on the way. As much as I love my family, living in the suburbs away from a big city means seeing friends is nearly impossible. Everything has to be planned weeks in advance and everything is a 30 minute drive away. The way our communities are built really isn't conducive to building community or having serendipitous encounter. Love my kids, but wish I had more friends close by. Life wasn't meant to be lived in isolation.
Great piece. A lot of the subjects you bring up seems centers on themes of urbanism: walkability, density, car-independence, zoning laws. An interesting book on the subject is Walkable Cities by Jeff Speck. He captures a lot of the built environment concepts you speak positively about NYC in a structured way and explains how they can be applied to other towns/cities of the country at smaller scale.
Awesome piece. My wife and I live in Seattle (suburbs), and now I have a remote job we're dreaming of living in different cities for 3-6 months a year. Manhattan is top of the list, and we're pretty sure we'll do that several times there. L.A., Miami, San Diego, Boulder, CO, Honolulu, Montreal are all on the list as well. This article gets me fired up to do Manhattan sooner rather than later!
These feelings are sooo relatable!! I had some similar travel stints a few years ago (months-long solo road trip across the US) but now that I've been settled back in my apartment for the past couple years, really found a community in NYC outside of high school friends (I'm from the area), I really can't imagine where else I would live. Traveling to other cities is boring--I really only like to travel now to nature (the one thing we don't get much of here, besides Central Park) like Alaska and Maine
The 'proximity breeds socialization' observation is spot on. Apparently, two things help build friendship equity: time and proximity. Having close friends that don't live nearby, I can attest to the inertia that sets in with people who can't be bothered to get together if it's a hassle.
Jack, I really enjoyed this piece. 2 questions:
- do you play a tournament or a cash game at your weekly Wednesday poker? if tournament, what's the buy-in? if cash, what are the blinds?
- the way you described NYC, it feels like it's a bliss. is there anything you dislike? you've established that high rent and high prices in general are a feature, not a bug, so needs be something else. :)
Having returned from NY in July 2024, I agree with you that it's beautiful and the people are nicely dressed and attractive.
How do you afford all this? The travel prior, but also the new restaurants every night while attending business school? That seems atypical to put it mildly. One thing not mentioned is the NYC cost of living being one of the highest in the country, especially Manhattan.
Travel: sold my car and worked remote. Costs were really low staying in hostels.
NYC: Was working the whole time in B school, but we definitely didn’t go out every night. I was just highlighting that you *could* if you wanted.
I loved reading this piece! It's probably one of my favorite articles from you. I traveled to New York for the first time in June 2023, and I can relate to everything you mentioned. Two experiences during my five-day trip really stood out. The first was when I was coming out of the subway, and someone ran up to compliment my outfit. They even asked where I got it and snapped a picture!
The second was when a woman asked me to take a picture with her just to make her boyfriend jealous. And for some reason, visiting Central Park and watching everyone jog in the afternoon had this oddly captivating effect on me. Oh, and yes, there were so many beautiful women. New York is truly one of a kind!
Great article. I can't say I've lived in New York (or anywhere in the US) but I've visited a bunch of times and really enjoyed much of what you've talked about here.
The closest equivalent for me as an Aussie was moving to London, which is pretty similar in a lot of ways to New York but even more dominant in terms of the UK. I had so many friends visit from Australia or around the world and it has similar opportunities to do whatever you want.
One of the two truly global cities in my experience.
It’s great to still have hair at age 54. I weep for the balding folks.
Currently living in Japan I am curious to visit NY. I read recently in NY Times “subway riders are now just about as frightened in the subway during the day as they were riding at night in 2017”. Is that true?
Tokyo’s metro system is 100x cleaner than New York’s, but the “NYC subway is dangerous” dialogue is grossly over exaggerated. I wouldn’t take it at 2 AM, but never had issues during the day.
Thank you
You know I am always intimidated by New York when I go there (for work), but you've made me see it more as a place of opportunity and novelty. It's such an endless pile of noise, but I have to admit it's exciting. And absolutely loaded to the brim with ambition.
I make dunking on liberal areas like NYC and the Bay area into a sport and this article made even me made me want to be a New Yorker. I love how you described the energy of NYC. I got a little taste of that in college during my day trips down West Point to the city. As much as I love living in the North Carolina now, we just dont have that type of energy here in suburbia.
Also, what you said about friends really rings true. Now I'm 34 with two kids and one on the way. As much as I love my family, living in the suburbs away from a big city means seeing friends is nearly impossible. Everything has to be planned weeks in advance and everything is a 30 minute drive away. The way our communities are built really isn't conducive to building community or having serendipitous encounter. Love my kids, but wish I had more friends close by. Life wasn't meant to be lived in isolation.
Love it!! I love living here in NY and have no desire or reason to ever live elsewhere…also very thankful…it gives me life!
"The direction of one’s life is dictated by 1) their experiences and 2) how they respond to those experiences" I smell some Hunter S Thompson here!
moving to new york in a few months and this reinforces in me that I'm making the correct decision haha
Great piece. A lot of the subjects you bring up seems centers on themes of urbanism: walkability, density, car-independence, zoning laws. An interesting book on the subject is Walkable Cities by Jeff Speck. He captures a lot of the built environment concepts you speak positively about NYC in a structured way and explains how they can be applied to other towns/cities of the country at smaller scale.
Awesome piece. My wife and I live in Seattle (suburbs), and now I have a remote job we're dreaming of living in different cities for 3-6 months a year. Manhattan is top of the list, and we're pretty sure we'll do that several times there. L.A., Miami, San Diego, Boulder, CO, Honolulu, Montreal are all on the list as well. This article gets me fired up to do Manhattan sooner rather than later!
These feelings are sooo relatable!! I had some similar travel stints a few years ago (months-long solo road trip across the US) but now that I've been settled back in my apartment for the past couple years, really found a community in NYC outside of high school friends (I'm from the area), I really can't imagine where else I would live. Traveling to other cities is boring--I really only like to travel now to nature (the one thing we don't get much of here, besides Central Park) like Alaska and Maine