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For some weird reason (in my experience) Amazon employees all seem to want to move to NYC. Like, constantly. Go on Blind and they'll talk about it all day with

For some weird reason (in my experience) Amazon employees all seem to want to move to NYC. Like, constantly. Go on Blind and they'll talk about it all day with dubious reasoning. I don't get it myself (I had a few NYC offers but chose Amazon in Boston instead), but NYC has become "the place" elite for software-focused undergrads these days. Everyone wants to get into FB/Instagram NY or Google NYC.

ghaff 8y ago
NYC is more attractive than it used to be, to be fair. But, especially the parts of NYC young tech workers are actually interested in is still urbanization on steroids. I can tolerate and even revel in it for a week or so but it takes a lot of adjusting from most places, even other large cities.
- max76 8y ago
  NYC is very urban, but it isn't even the largest or most dense city in North America. I think you just have a bias against heavy urban areas. Lots of people are comfortable living in large dense cities. Hundreds of millions, if not more, live in cities with similar levels of urbanization as NYC.
  - cddotdotslash 8y ago
    It's the second largest and the second densest behind Mexico City. Somehow I don't think Mexico City was in the running for HQ2.
    - jganetsk 8y ago
      Mexico City density: 6,000/km2 New York City density: 11,000/km2 Wikipedia
  - ghaff 8y ago
    I think you're misinterpreting me. I'm literally sitting in NYC at the moment. I enjoy visiting it. I've lived here (briefly). I also travel throughout the US and elsewhere. I don't know how anyone else could seriously suggest that the sheer volume of blaring horns and crush of humanity is not at least somewhat unique in North America. In my experience, Chicago comes closest. LA is quite different. I totally appreciate people are comfortable living in cities like this. I probably wouldn't be. But, if you are, more power to you. (Personally I live in the country.)
  - cimmanom 8y ago
    To be fair, NYC density statistics are skewed by Staten Island, which is large, suburban (by NYC metro region standards) in development patterns, and peripheral to the city in many ways. If you stick to the other four boroughs, my understanding is that it’s far and away the densest in the hemisphere.
jumelles 8y ago
New York is "the place" for just about every industry.
- bobsil1 8y ago
  Banking, ads, modeling. Not tech. No Fry’s.
  - akhilcacharya 8y ago
    They have Microcenter and B&H, what more could you need?
    - jkaplowitz 8y ago
      Also 269 Canal Street. Not just another Chinatown jewelry shop. https://makezine.com/2008/03/01/269-electronics-canal-str/ https://makezine.com/2008/03/01/269-electronics-canal-str/ I hope they're still there, that link is a decade old. Once I went there and bought a cable or adapter (I forget) - the guy tested it with a multimeter before selling it to me to confirm it worked. Loved that.
      - bobsil1 8y ago
        Once went to a Chinatown repair shop for drive mounting rails and screws. Guy shrugged and gave 'em to me free.
dangwu 8y ago
It’s not that hard to imagine why someone would want to move from a mid-size tech city where you are often hated for where you work, to NYC.
- Latteland 8y ago
  People in Seattle don't hate amazon employees. I think engineers in Seattle feel sorry for them a little bit - it used to be a thing that no one knew anyone who had worked there more than 2 years (when the initial hire on bonus to cover the lower salary ran out and ended the clawbacks). Seattle has its pluses and minuses but it's got some serious differences than nyc.
  - metildaa 8y ago
    Have you been into a Fred Meyer or QFC wearing Amazon branded attire? There are many people who would gleefully help kill Amazon in Seattle, especially those who are seeing their jobs ripped away from them and replaced with non-unionized work for lower pay in an abusive environment.
jowiar 8y ago
One of the great parts of being in NYC is having friends who aren’t “in tech”. Tech is an industry here, and there’s a massive network where you’re not tying yourself to one company though your move, but it doesn’t define the culture of the city.
- jakevoytko 8y ago
  I don't think this can be understated. My friends and I don't even TALK about tech because not all of my friends are in tech. I have friends that are in completely different industries, like media, theater, urban planning, education, finance, journalism, etc. You meet people who are making it as artists or going for their PhD. There's a vibrant Meetup scene. And if you live near a friend, you can literally just walk to their apartment and hang out.
  - akhilcacharya 8y ago
    I always thought that was such a strange reason. Never really got the obsession with having friends in other industries, which isn’t that hard to have in Seattle or Boston or Raleigh either.
    - jakevoytko 8y ago
      You end up chewing on ideas you never would have considered, learning about industries you don't work in, and going places you never would have thought to go. It adds a nice splash of unexpectedness that life wouldn't have otherwise.
pratik661 8y ago
I was one of those people. I moved to NYC in May. In a lot of adult sports leagues I'm meeting a surprisingly high number of developers who moved from the Bay Area to NYC. All for similar reasons. Its way more fun to spend your 20s in NY than it is in SF. Within my social circle, many more are planning on moving from SF to NY. This might be anecdata, but Google and Amazon might have recruiting data about candidates' location preferences.
- akhilcacharya 8y ago
  “Fun” must be a bizarre elite perspective I’ve never understood either. The same stuff is available in Seattle as it is in NYC or Boston, just with an order of magnitude more people. Whenever I ask people about this they just talk about nightlife or something that I can’t relate to at all. I don’t know, maybe it’s because I didn’t hobnob with the well connected in college or “have fun” in college either.
  - withhighprod 8y ago
    NYC has much much more girls and boys, I know tons of male developer from west coast moving to NYC just to find their partner. And the anecdote is they mostly find one within weeks
  - pratik661 8y ago
    Seattle is a tech monoculture. Chances are, all your friends will be working in Tech. By comparison, NYC is much more diverse professionally. If you have esoteric hobbies, orders of magnitude matter.
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
  - sincerely 8y ago
    What makes you think its elitist?
    - akhilcacharya 8y ago
artursapek 8y ago
NYC is a very fun place to live. Recent grads who are making a good income have every reason to want to live there.

ghaff 8y ago

NYC is more attractive than it used to be, to be fair. But, especially the parts of NYC young tech workers are actually interested in is still urbanization on steroids. I can tolerate and even revel in it for a week or so but it takes a lot of adjusting from most places, even other large cities.

max76 8y ago
NYC is very urban, but it isn't even the largest or most dense city in North America. I think you just have a bias against heavy urban areas. Lots of people are comfortable living in large dense cities. Hundreds of millions, if not more, live in cities with similar levels of urbanization as NYC.
- cddotdotslash 8y ago
  It's the second largest and the second densest behind Mexico City. Somehow I don't think Mexico City was in the running for HQ2.
  - jganetsk 8y ago
    Mexico City density: 6,000/km2 New York City density: 11,000/km2 Wikipedia
- ghaff 8y ago
  I think you're misinterpreting me. I'm literally sitting in NYC at the moment. I enjoy visiting it. I've lived here (briefly). I also travel throughout the US and elsewhere. I don't know how anyone else could seriously suggest that the sheer volume of blaring horns and crush of humanity is not at least somewhat unique in North America. In my experience, Chicago comes closest. LA is quite different. I totally appreciate people are comfortable living in cities like this. I probably wouldn't be. But, if you are, more power to you. (Personally I live in the country.)
- cimmanom 8y ago
  To be fair, NYC density statistics are skewed by Staten Island, which is large, suburban (by NYC metro region standards) in development patterns, and peripheral to the city in many ways. If you stick to the other four boroughs, my understanding is that it’s far and away the densest in the hemisphere.

jumelles 8y ago

New York is "the place" for just about every industry.

bobsil1 8y ago
Banking, ads, modeling. Not tech. No Fry’s.
- akhilcacharya 8y ago
  They have Microcenter and B&H, what more could you need?
  - jkaplowitz 8y ago
    Also 269 Canal Street. Not just another Chinatown jewelry shop. https://makezine.com/2008/03/01/269-electronics-canal-str/ https://makezine.com/2008/03/01/269-electronics-canal-str/ I hope they're still there, that link is a decade old. Once I went there and bought a cable or adapter (I forget) - the guy tested it with a multimeter before selling it to me to confirm it worked. Loved that.
    - bobsil1 8y ago
      Once went to a Chinatown repair shop for drive mounting rails and screws. Guy shrugged and gave 'em to me free.

dangwu 8y ago

It’s not that hard to imagine why someone would want to move from a mid-size tech city where you are often hated for where you work, to NYC.

Latteland 8y ago
People in Seattle don't hate amazon employees. I think engineers in Seattle feel sorry for them a little bit - it used to be a thing that no one knew anyone who had worked there more than 2 years (when the initial hire on bonus to cover the lower salary ran out and ended the clawbacks). Seattle has its pluses and minuses but it's got some serious differences than nyc.
- metildaa 8y ago
  Have you been into a Fred Meyer or QFC wearing Amazon branded attire? There are many people who would gleefully help kill Amazon in Seattle, especially those who are seeing their jobs ripped away from them and replaced with non-unionized work for lower pay in an abusive environment.

jowiar 8y ago

One of the great parts of being in NYC is having friends who aren’t “in tech”. Tech is an industry here, and there’s a massive network where you’re not tying yourself to one company though your move, but it doesn’t define the culture of the city.

jakevoytko 8y ago
I don't think this can be understated. My friends and I don't even TALK about tech because not all of my friends are in tech. I have friends that are in completely different industries, like media, theater, urban planning, education, finance, journalism, etc. You meet people who are making it as artists or going for their PhD. There's a vibrant Meetup scene. And if you live near a friend, you can literally just walk to their apartment and hang out.
- akhilcacharya 8y ago
  I always thought that was such a strange reason. Never really got the obsession with having friends in other industries, which isn’t that hard to have in Seattle or Boston or Raleigh either.
  - jakevoytko 8y ago
    You end up chewing on ideas you never would have considered, learning about industries you don't work in, and going places you never would have thought to go. It adds a nice splash of unexpectedness that life wouldn't have otherwise.

pratik661 8y ago

I was one of those people. I moved to NYC in May. In a lot of adult sports leagues I'm meeting a surprisingly high number of developers who moved from the Bay Area to NYC. All for similar reasons. Its way more fun to spend your 20s in NY than it is in SF. Within my social circle, many more are planning on moving from SF to NY. This might be anecdata, but Google and Amazon might have recruiting data about candidates' location preferences.

akhilcacharya 8y ago
“Fun” must be a bizarre elite perspective I’ve never understood either. The same stuff is available in Seattle as it is in NYC or Boston, just with an order of magnitude more people. Whenever I ask people about this they just talk about nightlife or something that I can’t relate to at all. I don’t know, maybe it’s because I didn’t hobnob with the well connected in college or “have fun” in college either.
- withhighprod 8y ago
  NYC has much much more girls and boys, I know tons of male developer from west coast moving to NYC just to find their partner. And the anecdote is they mostly find one within weeks
- pratik661 8y ago
  Seattle is a tech monoculture. Chances are, all your friends will be working in Tech. By comparison, NYC is much more diverse professionally. If you have esoteric hobbies, orders of magnitude matter.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- sincerely 8y ago
  What makes you think its elitist?
  - akhilcacharya 8y ago

artursapek 8y ago

NYC is a very fun place to live. Recent grads who are making a good income have every reason to want to live there.