Member-only story
It’s a mistake to accept where fate has placed you if you have choices.
In 1991, my wife and I moved to Philadelphia. Everyone said we were crazy to move out of New York City. Hey, everyone in the world, it seems, wants to move TO New Your City. We weren’t being evicted from our home town. But it didn’t suit us.
Although NYC and most urban areas in America weren’t looking their best at that time — city services were cut and crime was up as urban areas struggled — New York was STILL New York. The best of everything — theatre, music, restaurants. And the jobs that paid BIG MONEY were in New York.
For many people, then as today, if you wanted to do and be something important, New York City was the place to be…or at least one of the few such places.
What Kind of Life Do You Want?
For us, the theory of New York City didn’t match the reality. My wife and I couldn’t afford to live in Manhattan — where the action was. We lived in Queens and Brooklyn. And not the more vibrant parts.
We had long commutes and jobs insufficient to live comfortably in NYC. Many of our jobs were unpleasant. A few were okay jobs at nice companies, but usually at the bottom of the ladder.
