Moving to New York

It’s summer, and you know what that means: big life change blog post!

This one isn’t quite as big. I love the work I’m doing at Mozilla and not looking to make a change there. But I am moving across the country. Again.

In July, a week after the Mozilla Summit, I’ll be picking up and making the move to New York.

I will miss the Mozilla office. As I deliberated and thought about this decision, that was the colossal “pro” for staying in the Bay Area. I’ve made a number of friends here, even though I haven’t done a good enough job of getting to know people. Feel free to think back on your favorite, relevant Bilbo Baggins quote.

I’ll also miss the fantastic working environment Mozilla HQ offers. I joked about having 20 people in the same room talking to each other on IRC, but the truth is it’s a wonderfully collaborative environment, and having people nearby to talk through a problem will be hard to replace.

Seriously, it’s awesome.

But the East Coast, and New York in particular, has my family. And my family can take Mozilla HQ in a fight.

It’s not just about family, but family by itself is enough to sway me. It’s family and a bucket of little-to-medium things. The more I thought about it, the more of those piled up on the New York side—weather and climate, time zone, culture, music, night life, urban personality, getting rid of my car, and so on—all the little things to add up to quality of life.

(“Weather and climate?” I hear you inquire. Yes, weather. I’m a northerner. I grew up with 4 seasons—they weren’t all 3 months but they were all there—and they mark time for me. And frankly, I miss weather. The Valley has a climate, but it doesn’t really have “weather,” not in the sense I know.)

I don’t know exactly where I’ll be yet. Definitely Manhattan or Brooklyn, but I’m looking at a number of different neighborhoods, from the Upper West Side to Murray Hill to Fort Greene.

Fortunately—obviously, I suppose—I have family I can stay with for a bit while I find a place. If anyone has realtor recommendations, I’m very interested!

New York is home. It’s where I was born. It’s where my father was born. It’s the best city in the world—Paris is a surprisingly close second—and it’s where I want to be.

See the form below?

Where’s home for you?