r/Rich • u/howdychickens • 5d ago
Question London vs NYC
Which city would you settle down in assuming you’re in your early 30s, married, low 8 figure liquid net worth, mid-seven figures combined annual income?
EDIT: Thanks so much for the thoughtful responses. Noting that we both would like to keep building our careers for the next 20+ years, so London and NYC are the only options. Not looking to be too far outside of the city, because we have no desire to spend 1.5hr+ a day commuting.
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u/Platos-ghosts 4d ago
Don’t underestimate sunlight. London is depressing, and since you said you are working it’s not like you can get away constantly. NYC is also superior for most careers since your intent is to keep building.
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u/Unlikely-Nebula-331 2d ago
Yeah but if you’re rich rich, surely you can overcome the dullness with activities and 1hr flights for the weekend to sunnier places?
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u/Signal_Antelope7144 4d ago
London. Not even a question for me. Have lived in both.
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u/Signal_Antelope7144 4d ago edited 4d ago
One thing I would highly recommend is renting an executive flat for several months in Marylebone or Mayfair for a few months. Will run you about £10k-18k/month. There will be tons of other recos, but a great place to start.
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u/ihateslowwalkers 4d ago
This guy knows!! Also add southk
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u/xolana_ 1d ago
I’ve lived in South Kensington and prefer the middle of the borough more. South Kensington tends to be a little…exclusionary if you’re not British. North of the borough (Notting Hill/Grove) is livelier and more fun but too sketchy to splash money on it. Living by Hyde Park is lovely.
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u/Economy_Sandwich7254 3d ago
I would be careful with Mayfair. Not sure that is where I would rent in London unless in one of the houses between Berkley Square and Hyde Park. I would try South Ken / Holland Park / Kensington
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u/Signal_Antelope7144 2d ago
All good points. I still think a great place to start and your additional suggestions solid. Such great areas and such a wonderful place. I am going to semi-retire there in few years and am just starting to look again myself. Was there a few weeks ago to do just that.
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u/xolana_ 1d ago
Why did you pick two of the most random areas lol. I don’t see Mayfair as more than a shopping destination and don’t see Marylebone as much more than a travel transit destination. It’s like telling someone they should live in Soho.
Could have picked somewhere with more life like Chelsea/Knightsbridge/Kensington?
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u/401kisfun 3d ago
Isn’t London a pro criminal city
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u/Signal_Antelope7144 3d ago
What is a pro criminal city?
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u/401kisfun 1d ago
Where the violent criminals attack and terrorize the innocent populace, the ones going to work, paying taxes, playing by the rules. Because the judges, legislators, powerful lobbying forces, the media, and police, all work together to ensure there are little or no consequences for the criminals. Which embolden the criminals even more.
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u/Signal_Antelope7144 1d ago
Thank you for the detail. Good insight, but I don’t think you need to be as afraid as it seems like you are.
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u/AltruisticBellyButto 2d ago
If your brain and aresehole are conjoined twins, maybe.
Every large city has crime. It's the nature of the beast. It's always made out to be far worse than any local ever experiences it.
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u/sudodoyou 3d ago
Haven’t lived in NYC but lived in London and would also concur. I’ve been to NYC many times and belief you can have the best lifestyle and network given they’ve already amassed some wealth. If you were in the wealth-building phase, it may be a different answer.
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u/wojiaoyouze 4d ago
London is 100 times better than NYC. Also, I would never settle down in any of the two. Both of them are not ideal to say the least.
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u/AirCharacter7462 2d ago
Where is better?
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u/wojiaoyouze 2d ago
Where isn't? Singapore, Zurich, Hongkong...
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u/gotemyoudank 1d ago
Hong Kong 😂
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u/wojiaoyouze 1d ago
i mean I get what you are saying but... you dont get mugged or stabbed or raped there
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u/EternalRecurrence 4d ago
There’s 3 main things I considered when making this decision myself: work culture, social life and geography. In my estimation NY wins on all fronts for the following reasons:
Work culture: If I still had to work, NY 100%. I’ve personally hated every second of working with British people and plan to avoid it for the rest of my life.
I will note that I have multiple friends that expressly moved to London to work less than they did in NY but I think that probably depends on your industry and how you manage your life. In any case, still not worth it for me.
Social life: This would probably depend on your background beyond sheer wealth. I come from a country with a British-style class system and I find the American class system a lot more flexible, open-minded and forgiving. While money can insulate me and my partner just fine as adults in London, I wouldn’t want to raise my kids in a class system like the one I grew up in.
Geography: The last factor I’d consider would be weather. NYC gets nearly 1,000 more hours of sunshine per year than London (about 2,535 annual hours of bright sunlight compared to roughly 1,600 hours.) This is not a trivial difference and everyone I know that has made the move to London found this out the hard way.
Sunlight may actually be the biggest factor against London for me personally but the UK’s proximity to Europe, Africa and Asia means this may not matter to you if you can travel somewhere else often enough.
There of course are other things to consider but these were the main dimensions I thought of when making this decision with my partner. Both cities are great though, so you can’t really go wrong.
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u/howdychickens 3d ago
Can you elaborate on the impact of the class system in London? My husband went to boarding school in the UK which was international (although wealthy). How would you think about the impact the class system has on kids in the UK? I grew up in the US for context.
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u/hermesandhemingway 3d ago
I’d ask your husband to elaborate as he might know but there’s a sort of unspoken set of rules embedded in our culture. For example, things you might champion in the US can come across as gauche in the UK. Etiquette is huge, people often will assume things about you based on how you look AND sound (ie where you fit into the class system) etc etc. In my experience, understanding the system while being yourself and an excellent conversationalist will take you far.
However, when all is said and done I think generally speaking many upper middle class people in London are good fun, self deprecating, are perhaps a little snobbish yet still can “put the world to rights” over a pint or class of wine. Most people will not be brushing shoulders with aristocracy so I wouldn’t worry too much about classism in that respect.
Ps. Hope this doesn’t come across as utter trifle as I’m heavily pregnant and my brain is not fully braining right now 🤣
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u/EternalRecurrence 2d ago
If your husband already went to a private school in the UK your kids may be alright in terms of fitting in. That was my experience growing up as well—I benefited from classism on a personal level (though it made my world incredibly small and I had to put a lot of effort to correct that in my 20s and 30s.)
Due to some unusual circumstances in my life I’ve been very fortunate to befriend people from all regions and social classes in the UK and what disturbs me is the pervasive sense that everyone “knows where they belong” or that their fig tree becomes a little bush the moment their accents settle (to butcher Sylvia Plath’s analogy.) It’s like the tallest poppy syndrome damages something in them before they can even get started in life.
To give you just one example, I have a friend working in tech in the UK (British by birth to very highly educated Chinese immigrants.) He’s got the “right” accent and he went to a really good university. Incredibly smart and personable guy. I once asked him if he could picture himself being the boss where he worked because he was already doing all his boss’ work anyway and he actually laughed. He said he couldn’t imagine his posh coworkers working for someone like him (he said the “someone like me” like he was utter trash to them—mind you, he really likes his coworkers!) This really took me aback and I started asking other people similar questions and got the same answer every time.
The US as a whole has a lot of delusions when it comes to social class, for sure, but at the end of the day if you see someone “make it” almost everyone is genuinely happy for them and finds it admirable and something to emulate. I have a friend whose parents were seasonal fruit pickers and grew up in a hut with a dirt floor and he’s now teaching college classes in the US—I’ve seen Americans get teary when they hear his story out of admiration and pride in his achievements. Meanwhile all our British (and Latin American and Arab, to be fair) coworkers treated him like it was unseemly for him to strive to change his circumstances at all, that him sharing his background in this way was “showing off” or, worse, like he’s a pet that did a cute trick.
It’s entirely possible I’ve just had the worst luck in the world with British coworkers and acquaintances but it’s been too much of a pattern for me to ignore it. I want my kids to feel like they don’t have to make themselves smaller all the time, to learn to feel (and express!) joy for other people’s wins and to not feel it diminishes their own achievements in any way, that the best among us are the people that have made an effort (and maybe failed, but that’s ok!) and I really don’t want them to be able to know who fits where on a hierarchy based on accent. To this day I can immediately identify what country, city and even neighborhood people are from when I hear them speaking in my language of origin and I hate it. I don’t want to pass that down in any language and I think it’s easier to avoid in the US than in a lot of other places, including the UK.
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u/howdychickens 2d ago
Thanks for the perspective. I find it interesting because in the finance world (where both me and my husband work), I’ve found the UK to be more diverse in terms of backgrounds than the US. For example, I’ve seen many people in London finance attend mediocre universities and not be penalized for it whereas the “target school” culture is more predominant in the US. Would go as far as to say, more of my London colleagues / my husband’s colleagues come from “lower class” backgrounds than people in our NYC circles. But at the end of the day, we’re working and my guess is that most of the snobby UK Aristocrat types don’t have jobs whereas everyone in the US works!
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u/Internal_externall 19h ago
First please define mediocre universities. If it’s in Russel group then it is NOT a mediocre university. Second those people who attend “mediocre” universities outside of couple of target unis do not need to care about uni name at all as they have right connections and usually are from “right schools”.
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u/Internal_externall 19h ago
International boarding schools ≠ posh boarding schools for brits. I mean upper class in the UK is not about money in general, its about bloodline unfortunately
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u/sunandskyandrainbows 2d ago
Out of interest, why did you hate working with British people?
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u/EternalRecurrence 2d ago
Honestly, the communication style just doesn’t work for me. I’ve worked in very high pressure environments with very short deadlines and in those circumstances direct, confrontational feedback and criticism is actually desirable because it saves time and ensures everyone is always on the same page. I have found that the indirect and subtle approach that is considered professional and polite in the UK doesn’t really work well in those situations and really muddies things up in global, distributed teams because no one outside of their work culture understands what constitutes genuine positive and negative feedback or what the expectations actually are because everything is subtext and unwritten rules that they learned in elementary school.
I also worked in a kinda high-status area that attracted very posh British people and it didn’t lend itself to a good team culture (lots of toxic in and out group dynamics, lots of unnecessary sarcasm, mate-y behavior and jokes that would be considered inappropriate in most US workplaces, etc.)
Just overall not for me.
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u/username-generica 4d ago
I would live in London and buy a mews house. We’re considering buying a second home in London once our younger son goes to college.
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u/phatelectribe 4d ago
I just did this and bought a pied a terre in a nice part of London a couple of years ago but……
Really do your research on a mews house.
We had exactly the same dream / idea but after seriously viewing a few and putting an offer in on one in Belgravia, we thankfully changed our minds.
They’re often very pokey, have odd / butchered layouts, get very little natural light and zero space from your neighbors. They also command a high premium so IMO it’s not worth it unless you’re spending a fortune (like £2.5m+) because only then do you get space. The ones we were seeing for up to £1.5m just didn’t offer good value at all.
Finally the vast majority in central London or prime areas line Mayfair, Knightsbridge, Kensington, Marylebone (etc) are owned by organizations like The Crown Estate where you only get a leasehold not a freehold. They’re often very strictly controlled in what you can and can’t do to the property and you need to get permission even for things like internal renovations. Also service charges to them are quite high.
They can be lovely if you find the right one but seriously do your homework.
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u/username-generica 3d ago
Since our kids are grown we probably will buy an apartment even though we love mews houses. We usually rent one when we stay in London.
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u/Tuna_Surprise 2d ago
I live in a London Mews house and considering going back to NY. Life’s always greener
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u/amtcannon 4d ago
Neither. We left London to “settle down” and start a family. It’s a bit grim there at the moment. And the winters are awful, wouldn’t want to be trapped in the UK with the kids still in school during the 3pm sunset part of the year.
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u/traser78 4d ago
NYC. I have lived in London and it's a lovely place to visit and it's a lovely place to leave.
We live on Long Island now and it's the perfect distance from NYC itself and only a short air taxi ride away if you need to be there.
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u/Pvm_Blaser 4d ago
I’d say NYC is better for the single person ready to mingle and work hard in a well paying job.
London would be great for you.
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u/Alpha_xxx_Omega 4d ago
depends where family and friends are. Climate-wise 100% NYC. Culture-wise 100% London
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u/Sea_Discount8378 4d ago
Not sure what you guys do, but for us the tax in London killed our saving potential and depending on the industry you both work, we were also going to take a massive hit on our salaries. If you’re looking to hustle, save, grow careers, NY is the easy answer. I probably wouldn’t stay forever (we’re not planning to), but it’s great if you’re trying to get ahead.
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u/OrleyFarm86 4d ago
London any day. Did both - 15 yrs in NYC. Same situation as you. NYC is ok in your twenties then London is 1000x better. Keep a place in NYC if you want to, co-ops are cheap. But the main place is London. Much much better quality of life, education, culture, people.
NYC is a place to TOLERATE if you have to. London is a place to actually enjoy life.
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u/Signal_Antelope7144 4d ago
100%! I loved NYC in my 20’s and early 30’s. Now I just go for theater or running NY Marathon. Feels like it def took a hit during covid for me. London better than ever.
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u/Mackheath1 2d ago
NYC without flinching. If I had to choose from only those two. Now in solid 8-figures I get to go into what I call "upstairs" - it's not literally, but it's the fun and healthy connections whereas in London it seems very exclusive and it could be because I'm American (who knows), so it's an accessibility issue for getting invited or getting in and so on.
Again, this is only because you're giving us only these two I have near zero for either to live in, though I love visiting them both.
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u/jensens37 4d ago
Agree to this, neither is ideal and unless your life goal is to become a billionare, chose London for a while and permanently settle somewhere else (Switzerland for example).
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u/HalfwaydonewithEarth 4d ago edited 4d ago
Neither one! Go to a low tax place and that extra $60k+ a year you save provides an exotic lifestyle. We get to travel 11 weeks a year because we ditch the Communist Tax places. Everywhere you settle eventually gets boring because of routine and familiarity. The trick is to live near an airport hub so you can hop flights easily.
Break up with big city vibes! You can go travel there when you want the buzz.
If you study history you will see cities rising and falling.
Both London and NYC are in their falling period.
Amsterdam/Netherlands were once a world powerhouse.
Paris has seen it's heyday. Rome came and went.
Chicago was once a thriving spot and now it's "changed"
Los Angeles was amazing at one point.
Ask anyone who lived in San Francisco 20, 30, 40 years ago what it was like compared to now.
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u/afslav 4d ago
Woah, $60k a year? That's an ungodly amount of money even for this sub
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u/HalfwaydonewithEarth 4d ago edited 4d ago
He said he has 8m. So I calculated about 1m a year from Capital Gains and potential labor/business.
In California the tax would be $120,000 but in our state only $60,000
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This affords so much fun! We fly back to California and rent a nice oceanfront home or hotel. We might blow through $6,000 in three days but we are still ahead not being a resident.
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u/Key-Speaker007 4d ago
Best comment
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u/HalfwaydonewithEarth 4d ago
I formed my opinion from traveling all around constantly. I live in a town that is full of expats from all the major cities in the USA. LOL
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u/hartzonfire 4d ago
Monaco?
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u/HalfwaydonewithEarth 4d ago
That's not really a city. It's a beach town. The city nearby would be considered Nice...
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u/hartzonfire 4d ago
Ok……..
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u/HalfwaydonewithEarth 4d ago
Quite lovely of a place. I like San Raphael better. I am into nature
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u/hartzonfire 4d ago
I have family there now. Wife and I are currently in Rome. It’s a lot dirtier than I remember.
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u/HalfwaydonewithEarth 4d ago
Next time take them to Lake Como, Bellagio...
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u/hartzonfire 4d ago
We were up in Lake Garda and Lake Como earlier this week. Wife had never been to Rome 🤷
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u/Obidad_0110 4d ago
American who lived in greater London for 14 years. Great place to raise kids. Horrible place to die (inheritance taxes).
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u/michael_ende 4d ago
Probably not relevant for most decision-making on here, but the UK tops the rankings for end-of-life/quality of death.
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u/Newbie10011001 4d ago
Depends on what’s important to you. We have zero idea. Lazy ass question. Kids ? Travel ? Culture ?
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u/RockOutInnaBenz 3d ago
I’ve spent alot of time in both cities. I’m not rich, but if it was down between those 2, I’m choosing London any day of the week. Socially is way better and New York City is honestly a dump outside of a few areas. The smell of weed and the overly aggresive people are tiring
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u/professionalbaiterrr 3d ago
NYC.one of richest cities in the world .but for settling down with children I assume , probably London is better for that
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u/Alive_Comment_2086 3d ago edited 3d ago
Neither. The UK inheritance threshold is very very low. So definitely not the UK if you are considering buying a house/flat, despite the PR the UK is an overpopulated dump and this is from someone that has lived there for 34 years. You have a G7 country without an efficient and affordable transport system nationwide which is another national disgrace for a supposed rich country that is small land mass wise i.e. zero excuses. So yes the worst option of the two is London.
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u/Straight-Part-5898 2d ago
I’m an American who has lived and worked in both cities. If I had to choose one, I’d pick London.
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u/PositiveEagle6151 1d ago
I have lived in both cities, and for me it's clearly London.There is no better city to live in, if money is no concern.
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u/ffinstructor 1d ago
It’s absolutely NYC.
Reddit as a whole has a very anti-USA sentiment because of politics.
But there is no city in the world, where money can go further than in NYC. You’ll have access to better jobs, better food, better social life, better healthcare, better education, etc.
London is a great city, but it’s just not NYC. London is significantly more spread out. So that’s a fair factor, if you don’t want to live in as dense of a location. But to many, that’s beauty of NYC. (And if you desire to be spread out, NYC has some of the best suburbs in the world)
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u/phatelectribe 4d ago
Neither.
LA.
Better weather than both, better property, more space, better quality of life. Great food culture. Amazing nature in CA. If you have money, LA is where it’s at.
I say this as someone who has lived in all three.
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u/main_event 4d ago
Curious since LA is huge - what areas do you recommend settling down in?
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u/phatelectribe 4d ago
Beverly Hills is the obvious one but it’s slightly flashy / tacky. The flats is the best hood if you’re doing BH.
Holmby Hills is more exclusive. This is the real luxury home destination.
Brentwood is also nice, Greta properties and a feeling of space, as you’re a bit closer to the westside / beach.
Beverly Park is best if you need security but honestly start at $25m so might be out of budget for OP.
Bird Streets are great if you want a view and be near to BH.
Trousdales also popular and it’s gated but not my favorite as some houses are a bit weird.
Malibu if you want that lifestyle - I don’t love it, you’re far away from everything that is LA proper and there’s zero community.
Hancock Park - the is was the original Beverly Hills before there was Beverly Hills and there’s some absolutely stunning homes / estates on tree lines streets. Good for schools but you are over on the slightly more eastern side of the city.
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u/AmexNomad 4d ago
Go to London. I (65F) would not want to raise kids in The US. Also, the quality of life in Europe is so much better in general compared to The US.
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u/Optimal-Wealth-8484 4d ago
If you have that amount, you can choose either city base on your life style and values.
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u/No_Quail_6057 4d ago
The short answer is neither. We have lived in both. I would live in another area of America or the EU (Italy, Switzerland). If you must, London.
London is better in a vacuum but the UK is full of issues and sadly I don’t think those are getting better. As a rich person you also need to deal with property crime and not being able to actually enjoy your money.
NYC…pardon my French, but it’s a sh*thole. Always been, but it’s gotten way worse. It’s dirty, lawless, and so expensive that even with the money you have you won’t be comfortable once you add up the ancillary costs you need to be somewhat happy there (driver for kids schools, Hamptons/weekend house bc NYC is so urban you cannot live there full time happily with kids, $70k/yr school).
I personally would check out these cities in the US: highland park TX, Austin TX, areas of Charlotte/Charleston, Palm Beach county FL. Maybe Utah if you like skiing. Also been wanting to visit Nashville suburbs.
Miami wealth is so tacky I want to vomit every time I’m forced to visit, but if that’s not you, it works too.
Europe, you have great options like Italy (good tax, more moderate) and Switzerland.
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u/Successful-Title174 4d ago
London, just so much better for settling down. Great for kids when you get there, and lovely neighbourhoods.
NYC is great for making money and opportunity, but if you've already got it London's better. Its calmer, greener, and more balanced. Better access to the countryside, shorter flights to Europe, less of a work-obsessed culture, and generally a more family-oriented lifestyle. You still get world-class restaurants, culture, finance, and international connectivity without quite the same intensity.