I Want to be Part of It, New York, New York

New York still retains its allure (Chron photo).

Back in my day every MBA who majored in finance dreamt of going to New York, the financial capital of the world. The big banks and the investment banks were all headquartered there, and the latter paid by far the highest salaries, double and triple what other employers were offering. The sights, sounds, and cultural attractions were an added bonus, and the only major drawback was the high income that was required to live in NYC.

50 years later technology has eclipsed finance as the largest and most glamorous industry. Silicon Valley is the Mecca for techies, but after a few years of enduring the high cost of housing, traffic, and California taxes, many of them are leaving for other hubs that are far more amenable to buying a house and raising a family.

It may come as a surprise that a sizable contingent of Bay Area tech workers are leaving for a city that's even more expensive than San Francisco. Yes, NYC still appeals to young dreamers. [bold added]

many early career Silicon Valley professionals have migrated east despite a higher cost of living there. A recent study found that tech workers who leave the Bay Area are most likely to move to New York, where apartment rents have reached record levels, meals out are among the country’s most expensive, and the average income is lower than in San Francisco.

Until now, New York hasn’t figured as highly in the tech exodus narrative. Austin, where there are no state income taxes and four-bedroom houses often have mortgages the same as a one-bedroom apartment rental in San Francisco, was touted as a hot destination for Silicon Valley expats during the pandemic. For a bit, Miami was also talked up as a relocation option.

Now flush with wealthy investors, companies big and small, and thousands of Bay Area defectors, New York has cemented itself as the nation’s No. 2 tech hub. Its $29.5 billion in venture-capital investment in 2022 ranked second only to Silicon Valley’s $74.9 billion.

...With offices shuttered throughout the country during the pandemic, reports surfaced about Silicon Valley tech workers fleeing to Austin, Denver, Atlanta, even Puerto Rico — anywhere their money could stretch further. Why, then, would more tech employees leaving the Bay Area now choose New York over any other city?

...Aaron Sines — director of technical recruiting for Edison & Black, a New York IT consulting firm — has seen a surprising amount of tech people who can work remotely, yet still choose to move to New York. Not so shocking: Almost all those employees are in their 20s.

“A lot of it is just the overall idea of wanting to live in New York,” Sines said. “A lot of people just want that experience before they get married and have kids.”

It's not one of my major regrets, but we had our chances to move to or nearby NYC before settling down. That door has long since closed, but sometimes I wonder....