This was my dilemma when I graduated. I was offered a job in San Diego at a friends company for 90k a year. It sounded awesome but doing the math and cost of living, I didn’t want to live poor and struggle. I took the route to live in WNY making ~55k right out of college and getting perks like a work car and gas and saving city life until I can move with the expirence and skills to keep the same quality of living.
Buffalo is really good out of college IMO. You can live cheap. There is lots to do if you get involved year round. Its cheap and lots of free events.
def depends on the person but i say big city, only because i personally feel that there is just ALOT more to experience that just wny, visiting places does not count. and since i did wny for 19yrs i moved out, i dont plan to stay in SD forever either tho…
I don’t know if you actually mean big city or if you mean “expensive” place.
If you just mean expensive I would move to Truckee Ca.
If you don’t know what truckee is, yer a tard.
Goodnight and well bless.
I face a similar decision up in Ontario. stay in Hamilton or work / move to Toronto.
IMHO the pace of life, the lower cost of living, ease of travel, huge differential in real estate is work way more than $40k a year.
i would not move to NY or toronto for a $125k salary.
the only reason people move is lifestyle choices. my brothers and cousins live in the big city making alot less money than i do just because of the social aspect of it. living in the big city is like you ‘made it’ out of the small town. But renting an apt. and hanging out with friends until you’re 30 is taking high school a bit too far.
raising a family in the big city will mean you’ll need at least a $200k salary to get it done right. To have enough space for kids to run around in a decent neighbourhood, to park two+ cars, to have some room to escape and do man things (car stuff, power tools etc.)
In NYC you;re looking at $500,000 for a home like that with a 45 minute subway commute i would imagine. If you want to be in manhattan you’re pretty much fucked i would assume.
In Buffalo you can get a sick home for $200k and pay it off with ease with $60k - $75k a year.
This is a no brainer as far as i am concerned.
change the poll to $75k in buffalo vs. $200k in NYC and it gets very different.
I live comfortably on 60K/yr in WNY. I have a house with a big yard, 2 cars, and a few toys. This lifestyle would not be possible with the type of work I do in a metropolis. The job market also seems to be more cut throat in the populated areas because there are many people with the same skills that could replace you. Fellow employees were not willing to share their knowledge and be as helpful with the less experienced. While here there is such a lack of talent that companies hold on to the people they have because they can’t replace them and employees are more than willing to help the FNG. My talent and work ethic have also allowed me to advance quickly to a management position at a young age of 31 because of the lack of competition where in the big city I would still be a laborer. So WNY is the better choice for me.
This opinion is all based on the type of work I do (manufacturing/skilled labor). I have lived in a large city on the west coast (population 3.5 million) so I’m not just guessing. I know the job market here is not that diverse but I am fortunate enough to work for one of the fastest growing companies in the area. So I know I am one of the lucky few who can experience WNY in a positive way.
karma…but in all seriousness 60 - 75k in a place like buffalo you are living far more than comfortable. where as 100k in nyc your poor so if you ask me be poor or live comfortable well that isnt a very tough decision
Its all personal opinion. 100 people can give you good arguments for both.
I have friends who make $40k a year 30 min outside San Fancisco and are happy and I know people who make $21k a year in WNY and are happy.
Its all about what you want to do with your life and where you feel like you want to be. I stayed in Buffalo for personal reasons and such to start my career. Was debating going back to school and found a good job here. Someday I might move to a city and take a life there or maybe I meet some special girl and stay here.Its all personal opinion.
One question, who says buffalo is not a big city? To many people, aka people not living in metropolitan areas, rural NY, PA, and about 80% of the rest of the country, it is a big city. It used to have 580,000 at one point, and around 400,000 20 years ago, it has a downtown, 2 major sports teams, one minor, a metropolis, a pretty defined infrastructure, love it or hate it, and a well established history. It has a bigger downtown that San Antonio TX, which is supposedly a city of 1.1 mil, very close to the size of memphis downtown, about the same as Indys (700,000), although thats debatable. It has more of a city feel than any city in florida, including miami , which is all condos and hotels, and feels more like a city than many southwest cities of equal size, aka mesa, tuscon, many and almost all cities in Cali. There are other options than Buffalo or a Big city.
