Moving to New York

[neilorangepeel]

Allow me to chew your ear off for a moment.

A move to America NYC is on the cards for me, as I’m saving up for a ring for my now girlfriend-she hopefully doesn’t read these forums. I’m UK based at the moment.

I wanted to get do plenty of research in the the web dev sence there, or even better anyone else who has moved from the UK to NYC. Any pitfalls, challenges that sort of thing.

I’ve heard from big fish in the industry that’s its fantastic place, but I also imagine is super competitve for someone starting out or starting a fresh in a new city. Not that that would stop me but its good to be prepared. Cheers.

[Jonathand_d]

Hi I’m English and I settled in the West coast i.e. Reno NV about 7 years ago, which is about a 5 hour drive from SF. It is going to be bloody difficult to establish yourself in NYC there are loads of work and jobs there. However, the competition is very intense. You really do need to specialize in one particular areas of the industry and get really, really good at it. I personally made the big mistake of becoming a generalist which is so easy if you dealing with small to medium type clients.

Also remember that the recession over the past 5 years has been terrible in the USA. I know that the web industry has been slightly sheltered from this however it has still been effected by the general downturn and if you are still planning to come to NYC you do need to have at least 6 months of living expense in reserve see NYC is a very expensive city!

[neilorangepeel]

@Jonathand_d thanks, yeah my girlfriend has been living there for 3 years originally from VA. I do have a few clients already in NewYork. We have a bit of saving but for sure not six months worth.

[Jonathand_d]

You will need a good reserve it’s a very, very expensive part of the USA

[Alen]

I’ve graduated from UMASS in 2008 and soon after got a job working for small non-profit in Boston. In 2010 I was let go due to budget issues. During recession, it was very difficult to find a job that pays up to the level of your expertise. Because, you have people that were making $20+/hr looking for jobs that pay way less. And people that were starting out and making less are now being offered $10/hr +. On top of that many positions are just contract.

If you decide to move to NY, be prepared to pay top $$$ for everything. I would recommend to start looking for jobs right now. Even if it’s not in web industry. Good luck.

[TheDoc]

Where in the UK are you moving from? If you’re already in London, you shouldn’t see too much of a difference in cost. If you’re not, however, you’re in for a real treat (and by treat I mean the opposite).

There are cheaper places to live while not being too far away from the City, though. Good luck with your journey!

The next step is trying to convince her to move out West. Once you go through your first winter you’ll know what I mean ;)

[neilorangepeel]

I lived in London for a good 5 years. I am pretty good at living cheaply. I have spent a good amount of time in NYC sometimes months at a time so I kind of have a sence of cost of living when it comes to food and that type of thing. Ingrid (girlfriend) lives in Astoria, Queens and rent is cheaper there than say manhattan.

I have a performing arts background and when I lived in London it was dog eat dog when it came to other performers and jobs.

One thing I love about the web dev industry is the amount of resources and people willing to help out another designer or developer. Is this the case in NYC? I imagine there’s a lot more meet ups etc.

[Anonymous]

If your moving from the UK all the way to NY for a job. make sure your unbelievably good. The average salary for web developers in NY is $115,000. And it would be tragic if you moved such a long distance and not being able to find work. I’m currently residing in New York and it’s a really good place to work, you get around pretty quickly. Iv’e never worked for a company in NY because i just started learning web development. But if you have confidence then you should do it.

[neilorangepeel]

@Jarolin Yeah I am unbelievably good* I too have been working for myself, I guess that’s one of the reason I want to connect with people and network before I arrive. Are you working freelance only? Or do you have another source of income? Obviously don’t need to answer these questions, but I appreciate your advice.

*please don’t take me seriously

[TheDoc]

> The average salary for web developers in NY is $115,000

There is absolutely no way that is the case.

[pvijeh]

Shameless plug – I started a website with plenty of articles about moving to NYC (how to find an apartment, what renter requirements landlords have, what neighborhoods are affordable / safe / fun) – check it out – [http://www.movingtonewyorkguide.com.](http://www.movingtonewyorkguide.com “moving to new york guide”) Feedback on the site is welcome.

[Anonymous]

@neilorangepeel i’m only 17 and am not paying bills yet. I also haven’t done any freelance work. Although i have built a few websites i still don’t feel like i’m good enough to begin working as a web developer. But once i do get all the necessary skills i plan on becoming a full time web developer.

@TheDoc according to [THIS](http://www.indeed.com/salary/q-Web-Developer-l-New-York,-NY.html “”) it is.

[CrocoDillon]

@Jarolin, I should have sticked with JAVA :P

[TheDoc]

And *that* is utter garbage. It also says that a **junior** developer gets $94K in Atlanta, c’mon.

[theacefes]

sr. front end devs can get around 110-115k over here in LA.

Source: my dev colleagues like to share their salaries. ;)

[Author]

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