So my Co asked me if I was willing to go to NY (from London), and I said I was potentially interested bu I'd need to think it through. Can anyone tell their experience with a move from a very practical/life perspective? I mean, the Co will secure my job and arrange for the Visa, but what else? How do people go about finding a place to live? Would the Co do that, given some rough guidelines? Or would they like pay for a hotel so I can find some place? Or what??? Also, in NY I've read there are some strict requirements for renting, like salary at least 45x the monthly rent, three months of pay stubs and good credit score. The salary aspect should be fine, but what's with the rest? Have non of that in the US!I've never done such move, so whilst job wise I see no particular problems, I'm kinda clueless about the "other" stuff. Any suggestion/comment appreciated. Also, any good areas to live in and commute to central Manhattan anyone could recommend?

http://newportnj.com/ just 10 minutes to wall st. mostly Indians and Chinese live here.

If you've survived in London, you will survive in NY. NY is alike London but still more friendly. If you've got the visa, you have practically no problems.

I second Gamal, NYC is much friendlier than London, and bizarrely feels much safer! It gets very hot in the summer and v cold in the winter, and it can get windy, and when it rains it really rains. So like London but everything is more extreme!It doesn't answer your questions though, I will leave that to others.P

Couple of other considerations: In the US you get less holiday, if the firm has his Head Office in NY it is probably worth going.

QuoteOriginally posted by: rmaxCouple of other considerations: In the US you get less holiday.That't the main downside

I've been in the same situation recently and totally agree with Paul.Regarding renting requirements and opening a bank account, I found it much more difficult in London than here. In my case, my firm paid for a place to stay for the first month while I found some place to move in.It just took a couple of weeks and was quite easy as most of the renting offfices in the building are open till late (my firms allowed me to leave earlier while finding a new place) and weekends .Feel free to ask whatever you wantPS: I would not get back to London after living in NYC

Try to get an apartment which is within a couple of blocks from Central Park. You will enjoy your life much more.

QuoteOriginally posted by: rmaxCouple of other considerations: In the US you get less holiday, if the firm has his Head Office in NY it is probably worth going.that sounds like a comment from a French.

Pros: NYC smells nice. (Seriously!) Some paperwork such as bank accounts much easier. Cons: NYC women have, "like," annoying, "like," squeeky voices, "literally" they are mice. Some paperwork, such as buying a co-op, unbelievably tedious.The apparent rudeness usually isn't.P

QuoteOriginally posted by: traderjoe1976Try to get an apartment which is within a couple of blocks from Central Park. You will enjoy your life much more....also, try to get a penthouse in "15 Central Park West" condo and you will enjoy your life even more.

Thanks for the responses! Im not so concerned about "surviving NY", I'm sure I can do that. Question was more like how to manage the transition. QuoteOriginally posted by: AloneInTheDarkI've been in the same situation recently and totally agree with Paul.Regarding renting requirements and opening a bank account, I found it much more difficult in London than here. In my case, my firm paid for a place to stay for the first month while I found some place to move in.It just took a couple of weeks and was quite easy as most of the renting offfices in the building are open till late (my firms allowed me to leave earlier while finding a new place) and weekends .Feel free to ask whatever you wantPS: I would not get back to London after living in NYC :-)OK, so I'll ask for a place to stay till I get a flat. How are you finding the working hours, similar to London or much longer? And hols? Is there a standard hol allowance? I know it depends on the Co and so on but still helps for negotiation. QuoteOriginally posted by: ThinkDifferentQuoteOriginally posted by: traderjoe1976Try to get an apartment which is within a couple of blocks from Central Park. You will enjoy your life much more....also, try to get a penthouse in "15 Central Park West" condo and you will enjoy your life even more.Second that... would be nice indeed, but I had a quick look for rental prices, and although I don't expect many problems finding an affordable flat, I don't wanna end up spending my whole salary on the rent. Suggestions about less expensive areas? QuoteOriginally posted by: lexingtonhttp://newportnj.com/ just 10 minutes to wall st. mostly Indians and Chinese live here.Might have a look, though I'm neither Chinese nor Indian... do only Chinese and Indians accept to be relocated???

Working hours are pretty much the same that in London and holidays, at least in my firm, are equal for both London and NY (Same number of days)...Regarding areas to Live in...it depends what you are looking for..I'm an Upper west sider and love it...for prices information http://www.zillow.com/ is a good resource...Some of the best things of NY vs London (for me) are:-Usually less commuting time (my experience)-Maybe you cannot afford living at 15 central Park west, but you might be able to afford an aprtment in the next block...with this I mean, that you can find all range of prices in almost every neighborhood...while in London there were areas that were really "forbidden" for "normal" people

QuoteOriginally posted by: edouardQuoteOriginally posted by: rmaxCouple of other considerations: In the US you get less holiday, if the firm has his Head Office in NY it is probably worth going.that sounds like a comment from a French.Americans like holidays as well, it's just a pose if they pretend otherwise.

For housing during the transition: my company offered me a rental apt for 2 months + paid for a real estate agent for searching an apartment. Having used one, I now would have preferred cash over the latter. Holiday allowance: in general I'm not sure, getting none at where I work. For the apartment we found, since I didn't have a credit history, our rental company accepted a statement from my company that I worked there in combination with a 2 month rent upfront. In most cases you pay 1 at the very least anyway, so that wasn't too bad.In general, do read up a little on how to get a good credit score as quickly as possible that does help with a lot of things. I'd offer tips, but this stuff is pretty easily to find on the internet anyway.Working hours are shorter in my experience (didn't work in london but did work in Amsterdam). That's mainly b/c I'm trading and when you're in London there is always a market that's open, whereas here in NYC, when the market closes, there really is noth much going on anymore. However, for client facing roles or investment banking, things will probably be different.From one of your comments it looks like you're office is in midtown. Personally I wouldn't want to live there; it's not a residential area (which means relatively little nice entertainment around) and way too many tourists. I guess if you move towards hell's kitchen (midtown west) then things do get better, but there isn't too much public transportation there and I personnaly don't like the area that much. Upper east & west side are nice and quiet (of the two, the UES is quieter and has less entertainment) and close to the park; compared to downtown you won't find a lot of entertainment though. The nice downtown areas are very expensive though. The not so nice downtown areas have bad public transportation, but are still good in terms of available entertainment. People commuting do so, either from places like Rye or Greenwich (suburbia), NJ (depending on where that could still be city life or suburbia as well) or from Brooklyn (which used to be hip but has gentrified a lot already). I currently live in the UES, if I'd be moving elsewhere, I'd probably go to Rye or something like that.