Quote:
Originally Posted by austlar1
I know two different high-earning professional friends (in their late 40s or early 50s) who hold partnership status in "Big Law" firms with offices in Manhattan. Both own beautiful homes upstate, one in Woodstock and the other in Columbia county. They (and their spouses) started living full time upstate at the start of the covid crisis. Each couple has now decided to give up apartment homes in Manhattan with plans to work full time from their country homes.
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I call BS.
First, as someone well-acquainted with BigLaw firms, there is no such permanent remote movement. Law is a relationship business, and the BigLaw firms are itching to get back, as there's no way to cultivate the transactional relationships remotely. And NY BigLaw firms are finance-oriented, and finance is already partially back in-office.
Second, no one with kids is permanently moving to rural areas due to subpar schools. They aren't going from the best schools in the country to poor schools. There is nothing more important to these parents than their children's education, and the idea they're gonna abandon Dalton and Collegiate to go to a rural high school with backwoods kids, and kiss the Ivy track goodbye, is pretty outlandish.
Third, there has been no indication of heightened sales activity in prime parts of NYC. If people were serious about permanently moving to the woods, there would be more listings. Where are these homes for sale?
Fourth, weekend homes and environments were never designed for permanent living. They're on well-septic systems, on dirt roads, far from amenities, spotty electricity and internet, often snowed-in during storms. The idea that there's this whole class of people who, three months ago, preferred urban living, restaurants and culture, but now want to permanently live in the woods, far from anything, reliant on generators and satellite internet, is absurd. I could see a handful moving to Scarsdale or Greenwich, but no BigLaw partner is permanently moving to Woodstock.