Moving to New York City // Announcement
As some of you may already know, we moved to New York City! After years of considering the move, we finally took the plunge and moved earlier this year. A lot of people have asked us why, after 6 years of living in and loving SF, we’re moving, so here are our top 5 reasons.
1. New York is a world-class city
Michia and I have always been city people, and when we last visited New York City (back in 2017), M convinced me that this was one of the best cities in the world, filled with every type of experience one could ask for. Having been born here, I had always had an affinity for the city, and M helped me see that while there were dirty subways, constant traffic, and rude people, there were also musicians filling stations with jazz, iconic yellow cabs to take you anywhere you want to go, and incredible diversity in people, all hustling to fulfill their dreams.
The first weekend we got here, we looked up free things to do in New York City, and found Time Out NYC. The list was endless, and that was just for Manhattan. In SF, the list the same 3 comedy shows every week. And the food here is better—sorry SF.
We also felt like living in Manhattan is a quintessential experience, and one that is best had before having kids—we happen to fit that category of people.
2. We have a huge community here. And lots of visitors
One of our biggest reasons for staying in San Francisco for so long was its people. No one in SF just wound up there—they’re there for a reason, full of intention, pursuing a dream. These are curious, daring, optimistic souls who are generous with their talent, networks, and wisdom. We thought, for so long, that SF was the only city with people like this. But we were wrong: NYC has them, too.
Additionally, we had spent so much time building our community of friends and family in the Bay Area. But the pandemic really changed that. Many of our friends moved away, my sister got accepted to a medical school in Virginia, and some of our best friends moved from Singapore to Washington DC.
Even in our few months here, we have found that so many more of our friends are here than we originally thought, we’ve run into people we know almost every other week, and many of the people we most want to see in SF/the Bay have already visited the city, or will be visiting over the next two months.
And people in New York are significantly more social. This tweet perfectly sums it up:
“We should totally hang out sometime!”
NYC person: are you free in like 2 hours? we can grab drinks at this specific bar.
SF person: yeah! what does your availability look like on September 30th? I’ll send over a gcal invite. tho it may conflict with my team’s offsite in Tahoe.
3. SF is going through a (rough) moment
It feels like all the news around SF has been negative. Talent is leaving the city, crime is on the rise, and the dirtiness is at an all-time high. I remember when we first got back from Mexico City, we suddenly felt so unsafe walking around our neighborhood. The night we got back, we went to a nearby Trader Joe’s and witnessed a man robbing the TJ’s, as cops chased after him, running up the down escalator. Michia had to pull me into the elevator to avoid getting run over. A few days later, on an evening stroll, we witnessed a car chase, where someone ran several red lights in a row, and five or six police cars were dizzily chasing them. Every time we went out, we saw some crime being committed. I rarely went out alone, and when the Asian American hate crimes got worse, I stopped ever leaving the house without M.
Perhaps more frustrating than the crimes themselves were the politicians doing nothing about it, or, in some cases, actively allowing it to go on. We were fed up with the corruptness of SF’s government, the district attorney who refuses to prosecute serial criminals, and our tax dollars doing nothing to change the amount of human feces on our sidewalks.
We were just over it. The Bay is gorgeous and will always have a special place in our hearts, but we are tired of putting up with it.
4. My job is based in NYC, and Michia’s is remote-first
I started at Squarespace, a NYC-based company, in December of last year, and was working East Coast hours to match my team. But fully remote is not great for me—I really enjoy going into the office and meeting people face to face, if only to force my introverted self out of the house. I think moving to NY will be good for me socially and physically.
Michia’s company is also remote-first, so he can work anywhere. We spent a long time debating where in the country to move to—Austin, Miami, and Seattle were all contenders. But, at the end of the day, tax savings weren’t enough to draw us—we care far more for our quality of life than the additional 10% we can save in a no-income-tax state.
5. Bi-coastal living is in our DNA
I’ve always been bi-coastal. I was born in Flushing, Queens, then moved to the Bay Area when I was three. After growing up in San Jose, I went to school at Dartmouth, on the East Coast. Upon graduating, I moved back to the Bay, to start work. Now, I’m moving back to the East Coast, and it feels like a continuation of the cycle.
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After six years in San Francisco, and many more in the Bay, it’s surreal that I’m now a New York resident, living in the Upper West Side. It’s not all warm fuzzies: Manhattan rent prices truly are worse than those of SF, flies and mosquitos dominate the outdoors here, the humidity makes any attempt at hair styling worthless, the honking noise in high-traffic areas is incessant, and that’s not even comparing the frigid NY winters to SF’s mild ones. But we love a good adventure, and this is just that: a fun, new adventure.
