Reading about the endless hamster wheel of Silicon Valley made me reflect on this effect in NYC.

New York has the same effect espoused in this article- to endlessly drive you to ever higher echelons of wealth. But the effect is less-pronounced due to other factors, at least from my experience.

While the very wealthy are always close by in New York, there is still great diversity of income. Sitting in my grungy office in Tribeca I am surrounded by the multi-million dollar lofts of hedge fund managers and the like. But I can’t walk to my office without passing the deathly-thin homeless lady with a cat who spends her days outside of the NY Dolls strip club.

For me this helps to give me perspective of how well off I really am. In Palo Alto you gain perspective by going out kite-boarding, in New York, you just walk down the street.

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