Reply to NYC law partner w/ kids: "$850K gross is not enough to live on"

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Reply to "NYC law partner w/ kids: "$850K gross is not enough to live on""

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Main Line and Westchester are not much comparison. Philadelphia is a very poor city. It has so much history and good food but the people are so provincial and often don't leave the state ever. The politics of the state are ridiculous and stuck in the 1800s. [/quote]

yep. Not at all the density of high-powered legal jobs as NYC. so it’s not really a comparison for most NYC partners, except in that if they believe they are “poor” in NYC then yes, maybe they need to trade some of the prestige and money of NYC for something slower paced. I went to law school in NYC and practiced in Philly at the beginning of my career and the cool thing is that most of my cohort went on to do a broad variety of interesting stuff in/around Philly (small firms, legal aid, DA, AG, opened own non-law businesses) specifically because Philly is so much more affordable and you are not locked into the law firm track the way you are in NYC. [/quote]

Exactly. No one is arguing Philly is more exciting or even overall better. [b]But it is better not to live in a shoebox and shoehorning three kids into a tiny space so you can brag about being a New Yorker[/b]. Go look at Rittenhouse if you want an urban neighborhood in Philly. [/quote]

+10000. The people who insist on doing this are insufferable.

They also are typically lifelong renters. [/quote]

Yep. You need to have family money, be in finance, or be an entrepreneur to live the life the redditor wants. Being a non-rainmaker partner doesn’t cut it and their NW will be a fraction of what it would be if they lived in the suburbs or a lower cost of living metro. [/quote]

Again - the density of law and finance jobs cannot be paralleled in other cities. People move to NYC because they want the NYC lifestyle- which yes, includes less square footage [b]but much much more to do outside of the home [/b]and higher power work. If you don’t want that then don’t move there, but don’t delude yourself into thinking New Yorkers are crying themselves to sleep over your McMansion. [/quote]

This is debatable, especially when you have kids. Whenever I’m in NYC visiting family/friends I’m struck by how the only thing to do is go out to eat or to a playground.  If you’re actually wealthy with multiple nannies then maybe you’re living a fabulous NY lifestyle. But the average $800k lawyer is hardly living it up. They aren’t doing anything you can’t do in any metro area in the US. They are just doing it with less square footage and less disposable income.

[/quote]

Correct. They have 2-3 regular neighborhood restaurants (not Le Bernadin) like they would in Scarsdale or Bethesda and they take advantage of NYC's artistic offerings to a similar degree (almost never).

No one is jealous of or impressed by your living in NYC, unless you have a 30+mm net worth, big apartment, weekend house, and place in Florida or Aspen for the winter. Then yes, lord it over us.[/quote]

+1000. For all but the impossibly wealthy, living in NYC with children is exhausting. [/quote]

Did you live in NYC with children? I’m not so sure what’s exhausting about having your kids’ elementary school two blocks away; multiple playgrounds, parks, libraries and museums within walking distance; delicious (affordable and fast) food options on every block; then when they turn 13 they can get themselves wherever they need to go on the subway?

Totally fine if that is not for you but you just sound like a rube when you make those kinds of statements. [/quote]

You can say all of this about any major city in the U.S. (trade the subway for the L or an okay bus system). There’s nothing special on this list at all [/quote]

NYC actually is much more dense and walkable than any other US city but you knew this. It’s fine if you prefer a quieter life style but dumb to pretend everyone in NYC is miserable and unable to cope. [/quote]

How far are you walking? Plenty of people in Chicago, DC, San Francisco, and even LA can wake up, walk to school, work, recreation, and dinner. Many cities are neighborhood based. It’s not a novelty in NYC.

Not everyone is miserable in NYC. Those who have careers they can’t do anywhere else (Broadway) or are actually rich (tens of millions) like it. Yet not many cities have people making 850k working 80 hour weeks posting about how difficult it is to establish themselves and provide for their families in a way that is considered the norm in 99% of white collar America (everyone has their own room, decent education). It’s masochistic.  [/quote]

Way to miss the point. The Reddit OP is a lying whiner because she is not disclosing all the income she has; and for some reason she believes she is too good for any number of lovely homes in the $1.5 mil range in Westchester.

As for comparing NYC to other cities, you’re just wrong. I get that it is not for everyone, but in terms of density and walkability and transit, it stands alone in the US. [/quote]

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