The homeless people have probably moved to Florida, where they won't freeze to death in the winter. I bet alot of crime isn't reported in NYC, plus the city doesn't want to scare away the tourists with high crime rates. Sure NYC has alot of fun to offer, but if you live there, how can you enjoy it when you have to work 70-80 hours/week just to afford to live there. It's the tourists that have all the fun. I used to live in NJ, near NYC, but I'm in the Atlanta area now. There is alot to do around Atlanta and the homes are 1/4 of the price, which leaves me with more money to travel around Europe every summer.
hey, does that mean i need to find my passport? florida is only good for cheesy family vacations (guilty), boating(guilty), fishing (guilty), and things like that. for trading, business advancement, etc any good northern city will do. at 19, you can try it anyway and figure out what we already know.
Southern California and Florida dont have much else going for them except the weather and some attractive young ladies running around. The business climate in both those places SUCK and there are not too many intellectuals running around either place. Most folks in those places live check to check. The few wealthy soles in Florida and SoCal are usually those who made it in NYC or SF. San Francisco and NYC are the places where you really want to be people-wise. In NYC, there is so much intellect floating around the financial district that you could form a small corporation just from the persons coming to happy hour. In Moutain View, you could do the same at any of the Starbucks during lunch-time. If your going to Florida for the ladies, I say dont waste your time. Make your money in NYC or SF and then fly to Columbia or Brazil on your time off, pay some chica 100 bucks and take care of business. Seattle and Boston are two great alternatives to SF and NYC where piles of cash can be made easily. I vote to stay in NYC or go to SF.
Good post. As Atticus told me one time, "Get out of that place, Matt. Florida is an intellectual wasteland." He's absolutely right, critical thinkers are few and far between. It is nearly impossible to build a mastermind group. I feel that I am entering a critical time in my life right now and I need to surround myself with the best people possible. My target is CHI, NY, or California. The ladies in FL are used to being in an environment where guys out number them 3:1, they have been humped and dumped ad infinitum and are bitter as hell. If you come down here whatever you do, and I mean this, do NOT sustain a real conversation with ANY girl down here. Answer their questions with more questions and take every opportunity to bust on them. They're easy after that. Good luck!
I dont think the people in Florida or SoCal are an intellectual wasteland. I believe its their priorities that are the question though. If you sit in a Starbucks or NYC diner one afternoon, you constantly overhear folks strategizing and talking about the next step in life. If you sit on a corner in Manhattan and just watch what is going on around you, then you see a bunch of people hurrying off to work and trying to make something of themselves. In Florida and SoCal, my observation is that the same hustle does not exist and there are some folks there who have given up. The question comes down to is what are your priorities. Your best to surround yourself with folks who have the same priorities as yourself and that is the key to success in life. Ask the question what did you do today. Did you do anything constructive? Did you strategize and plan for the next step in your financial life? If you did, then your best to stay in a place where others are doing the same thing. Dont worry about the issues of taxes and such. Worry about where you feel you will be most effective and most happy in life...you can't put a price on that. Obviously your on a website where the subject matter always revolves around a profit. Therefore, I feel the best place for you is to network around some successful people and the best odds of finding them are to live in NYC. Actually, try out San Francisco. That has a good mix of everything... If you want chicks, hop on a plane at JFK and head towards Brazil or Columbia. Sip some margaritas on a beach and pay some chica a ben franklin for a night of fun.
They are hurrying off to work because they don't want to get fired. Dealing with the traffic on the bus ride to Manhattan slows your commute down. Dealing with missed trains slows your commute down. So of course people have to hurry to work so that they're not late. God fordbid you are fired nowadays in NY. Very tough to find a job, especially in the financial field. Many people around the NY area have huge mortgages to pay and huge property tax bills as well. I know that rat race NY life very well from personal experience. Living now in the Atlanta area where homes are so much more cheaper, better weather, and where life is alot less hectic has made my family, as well as myself, alot happier. NYC is a great place to visit for the restaurants, shows, and museums, but when you live there, you barely have time to do all that, since you spend so much time working and all that does get expensive after awhile.
You lived in NJ, not NYC . I've lived in Manhattan, Brooklyn Heights , and Westchester while working in Manhattan, and commuting from the burbs sucks. My life was much more enjoyable while I lived in Brooklyn and had a 10 minute commute to lower Manhattan. I worked a good amount, but when I was younger I was out almost every night. When I moved to the suburbs my enjoyment of the city went down considerably, because it added an hour onto the lateness of my night, so I more often went home after work. Living in the city as a young person is amazing. Nothing beats being able to walk out your door and having 10 restaurants and bars within a block of you. I also made alot more money there than I could have almost anywhere else. Going out with people from work and clients was part of the job, but shit, eating out at the best restaurants , holding parties, and going to the World Series and the Super Bowl most years is pretty fun work in my book. I have done well enough that I retired from working for someone else at age 35 and sit on my ass trading and , of course posting on message boards . I'm sorry life didn't work out for you here, but for alot of people, it does.