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NYC native here. I think it depends on what you want long term. NYC is amazing and I never take my lifestyle here for granted, especially after living in other cities. I would think about how responsibly you could afford a lifestyle here that would make you happy. The absurd cost of living here means it’s a very transient place, which can be difficult. I’ve watched friend after friend be priced out (as will also eventually happen to me). Its easy to find community but difficult to find any type of permanence.
Chief
I’ve lived in both places. Grew up in Chicago and tried living there as a couple years as an adult. I say move and don’t look back. New York is better than Chicago in just about every way, save that it costs more and isn’t as clean (summers here are also brutal compared to Chicago, but winters are way better).
From an arts/culture, entertainment, food, and general activities standpoint, New York eats Chicago’s lunch. It has both more and better of everything. It’s more diverse and more integrated. The public transit is more robust. And the people are generally cooler, by which I mean there’s none of the passive aggression or pressure to conform that you might find in Chicago: everyone’s too busy to care what you’re doing, as long as you’re not hurting anyone.
Chicago’s a fine place with a lot to do, but New York makes you appreciate how regional of a city it is. New York is global.
Pro
Your quality of life will not improve in any way. Whoever is saying that is simply lying to you for some reason. You sacrifice quality of living for access to a world class city
You decide if that trade off is worth it or not
New York is not expensive if you know how to be a smart consumer
Completely depends on your income level. My spouse and I moved from Texas with our same jobs (~$500k HHI). Our city/state taxes are more than our entire rent was there. So even though we live outside Manhattan and split a 1br, we pay over $40k more in just taxes plus ~$40k in annual rent vs our ~$20k in Texas, meaning just to live here we have about $60k more in expenses before factoring in anything else (we kept our 1 car which is paid off but only had 1 there). It’s worth it to us right now but really sucks looking at the true numbers.
NYC is great - the social, cultural and professional opportunities here are all incredible compared to any other place in the US. It also costs a lot of money and has some inconveniences related to crowding, which all pale in comparison if you are making the most of those opportunities above. If you aren’t (and many people don’t anymore once they are married with kids), then the costs and inconveniences are no longer worth it.
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