Submitted by trin2424 t3_znycnn in StamfordCT
Hi,
I will be fresh out of college and new to the workforce. I am from CT and deciding whether to live in Stamford or Boston for a job. What is there to do in Stamford? Why is it nice to live there? Thank you
Thank you for the response
I am stuck between deciding what office to work at in the consulting branch in Deloitte. I know that Boston has a higher cost of living than Stamford. I was thinking about possibly living at home for about 6 months (home is in CT) and then getting a place eventually when I meet people in the Stamford office. This would help me save money. But I did an internship in the Boston office for Deloitte and did enjoy it there. I'm just undecided on what to do.
I also know from interning that Deloitte is allowing people to work remotely, but being new to the work force I feel that it is important to go into the office and meet new people. I am just not sure how many people will start being in person as well. I also want to make sure that either decision will not hinder my professional development.
Community: I would like a good night life/being around people my age (early 20s). I do enjoy playing and watching sports so any pick up games would also be nice to get to meet people. I also enjoy exercising and when looking at apartments in Stamford a lot of places have gyms within buildings which I would not be able to afford in Boston.
Rent: Rents a bit tricky, I would pay about 2,000 max with another roommate in Boston - in Stamford once I find a roomate it goes down to about 1,500 I saw but with 3 roomates it would be 1,000. In Boston this is not the case and the prices just kept going up no matter how many roomates I would have.
Great info, thanks!
To start, just wanted to add my perspective on starting your career in this new pandemic environment. I started my career in STEM in 2019. I was a few months in when the pandemic hit. I was in my mid-20s and married however, I did want to say that it took a lot of time establishing myself in my role and being visible in a virtual environment. It took a year to truly even know my team and partners. As a consultant, think about how important visibility is to you and what your job defines that as. For me, it’s going in 1-2x a week but for others, 1-2x a month. You could easily commute to Boston if their in-office requirements aren’t too demanding and you can establish virtual ways of working to keep yourself engaged. Just something to think about. You can also see if HR or a buddy can provide guidance on what other new hires are doing and if there are any in-person events for training or onboarding. Is there any groups you could join to stay in the loop? We used Yammer and Teams at my job.
Anyway, it looks like you may be leaning toward Stamford for cost of living purposes. I think it’s fine but it’s pricier than I would like though better than Boston. Rents are high and places to live are limited but I’m hoping things improve in the new year. It’s very competitive.
I don’t have a night life but I do know younger people who have a fun one here. It can just be limited. Downtown is kind of quiet and the pandemic didn’t seem to help. You can certainly hit up NYC easily on the weekends, we even go during the week. I personally enjoy Norwalk but it depends on who you are and where you’re from. If you can tour your areas of interest, I recommend doing so.
Boston is easily 10x better than Stamford in terms of…. EVERYTHING.
It’s also DRASTICALLY easier to live outside Boston and commute in than it is to live outside Stamford and commute in.
If you do well at the company, figure in 3-5 years you’ll be able to at least think about either living by yourself, or even buying.
Personally, I would try extremely hard to stay in Boston, it’s just a much better area IMO. I guess if you take proximity to NYC into account Stamford evens out, but I find Boston and the surrounding areas to be a lot less stress inducing than CT/NYC… and has in general a much nicer and more friendly population.
I like the NYC area and grew up here, but it’s drastically more high intensity and people are way more up their own asses in CT/NY.
I would reply to OP directly than me so they’re notified of your reply. :) good perspective from someone who’s lived in Boston.
Thanks for the reply I thought I had hit reply to OP!
I’m speculating but I’d imagine the upward mobility out of a Boston office would be better than Stamford, assuming this is a long(ish) term gig.
Boston is easily 10x better than Stamford in terms of…. EVERYTHING.
It’s also DRASTICALLY easier to live outside Boston and commute in than it is to live outside Stamford and commute in.
If you do well at the company, figure in 3-5 years you’ll be able to at least think about either living by yourself, or even buying.
Personally, I would try extremely hard to stay in Boston, it’s just a much better area IMO. I guess if you take proximity to NYC into account Stamford evens out, but I find Boston and the surrounding areas to be a lot less stress inducing than CT/NYC… and has in general a much nicer and more friendly population.
I like the NYC area and grew up here, but it’s drastically more high intensity and people are way more up their own asses in CT/NY.
I'd pick Boston over Stamford. Yes, Boston is more expensive, but it's a much cooler city. Stamford doesn't have good public transportation and the night life scene is...well pretty shit to be honest. Boston has public transportation and since it's a bigger city has a better variety of things to do.
Boston is more expensive than stamford by a bit (think 10% give or take), but boston has more to do.
I lived in Boston for my 20s and early 30s and moved to stamford a few years ago. Id rather have kids here and be 35 i suppose. But i have no regrets of being 25 in Boston.
For reference, boston has 48 sq miles of land, stamford is 37 sq miles of land. Boston has 650k people and stamford has 130k people. (5x the people on 1.3x the land).
If you want urban life its boston, if you want suburban life its stamford. Its a nice suburb but doesn't feel like a city really.
If you have the money to afford it, live in Boston. The amount of young people your age, tons of activities and sporting events, its no comparison to Stamford. You can always move to stamford if you get tired of Boston
As someone from Boston currently in Stamford who loves both, I'd lean towards Boston area for you.
When it comes to dating, career opportunities, even just going out to bars, you are going to get more and a greater variety of opportunities in Boston. You will probably get better projects in the Boston office, and if things don't work out with Deloitte you'll have a greater selection of other opportunities that don't require you to move.
Also, if you are a consultant, flying out of Logan is waaaay easier than fighting your way over to JFK or Laguardia. I'm sure your compensation will be enough to get by. Make sure you get the full match on any company retirement benefits (i.e. 401k) but don't stress too much about saving tons right away.
Look in Cambridge, Somerville, Allston, Brighton, Southie for housing. Anywhere on the red line or green line.
I played flag football for many years with BSSC and they do tons of other sports as well, very well run intramural sports org.
Don't get me wrong. Stamford is awesome, I absolutely love it. But I think it is a better spot for young couples and NYC commuters. Another option for you could be to live in NYC and reverse commute to Stamford.
To me, Stamford is like a moon that orbits New York. Boston is its own planet. In your situation, you want to be on a planet, not a moon.
This is a good way to explain it, and good work on the orbiting reference at the end of your comment.
I think there's more to do in Boston, but Stamford it also closer to NYC. Not sure what's more expensive. Boston gets more snow...during the school year, Boston has like 3 Million college students running around, if that's your think.
Stamford food is better, except seafood.
Totally depends on what your interests are. Any more info?
At your age, go where you can advance your career the most effectively. I would guess Boston would be better in this regard, but proximity to NYC might matter if you are in finance or something similar.
I grew up in the Boston area and now live in Stamford.
Boston beats Stamford by every possible metric. Better opportunities, better housing, better neighborhoods, better community, better culture, better parks, better pay, and better quality of life.
The only reason you wouldn't move to Boston is 1) you hate Boston sports teams or 2) you really can't stand another few degrees of cold in the winter 3) you want to be closer to home.
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if you are young Boston will be way more fun
depends what industry you are going into. life sciences, consulting = Boston hedge funds = NY Metro
eternalbettywhite t1_j0k2ai9 wrote
Your post is very vague without more info on who you are and what you want post-grad.
I don’t have to answer these questions but something to think about:
Lots of things to think about. There are a lot of people here with various backgrounds and reasons for living in this area. I would do some work on your own, if you haven’t already, and come ready with more specific questions.