Go East, Young Person! 

At a recent happy hour a Haight-Ashbury bar was crowded with middle-aged folks sporting close cut haircuts illustrated with silver and grey strands. The men were largely attired in San Francisco 49ers jerseys. The women mostly wore blue jeans, practical shoes, and Kate Spade handbags. BMWs and Tesla’s were parked outside. 

Where have all the young people gone? Many to New York City.

During the COVID-19 quarantine, people streamed out of the San Francisco Bay Area to Las Vegas, Houston, Miami, and Phoenix. Retail spaces were vacated; many remain empty. Residential rental rates and home prices stabilized or declined. Traffic subsided, as did demand for public transportation, especially Bay Area Rapid Transit. 

The pandemic-induced exodus was led by mid-career couples and families in search of quiet suburbs and comfortable, lower cost, homes. More recently it’s people just starting their careers or pursuing college who are exiting San Francisco. 

From April 2020 to June 2022, the population of San Franciscans aged 25 to 29 fell by 21 percent, according to U.S. Census data, a loss of 20,000 individuals, the steepest decline across all age groups. Over the two-year period about 130,000 people left San Francisco, roughly 3,350 of whom moved to Manhattan, the most popular municipal destination.

Shelby Liles grew up in Potrero Hill. She moved to New York City almost two years ago to study politics and sociology at New York University after spending a year abroad in Florence, Italy. 

“We had family friends who were out here, and we visited many times at various ages,” she explained. “At first, we didn’t like it. It was cold and overwhelming for how little we were.”

As she matured Manhattan became more alluring. Restaurants, music, theater, art are all within walking distance, with the extra allure of being able to readily wander to different, culturally distinct, neighborhoods.

“I applied to a lot of colleges and my decisions came down to Berkeley or NYC. I felt like I would get a lot more personal growth and a better experience in New York rather than being close to home,” she said. “I definitely want to stay post-grad or even go to grad school out here. Or get a job a couple years before considering moving away.” 

A Smart Asset analysis revealed that of all states California experienced the biggest exodus of high-income Millennials – those born between 1981 and 1996 – and Gen Zers – 1997 and 2012 – losing a net total of 9,181 households. The study by the financial planning and investing consulting firm, based on 2021and 2022 tax return data, found that while California attracted 14,139 Millennials during the period, the state had a net loss of 23,320 of that demographic group.

Last year, the San Francisco Chronicle reported a spike in the outflow of Millennial and Gen-Zers from the San Francisco Bay Area, particularly from the tech industry. The reasons cited for the move included better career opportunities and a healthier dating pool. 

“I grew up in San Francisco and I went to Berkeley for undergrad. I have always lived in the Bay Area. I wanted to experience something different, that’s one thing,” said 24-year-old Nick Dolce, a consultant who plans to move from North Beach to New York this month and work remotely.

San Francisco and New York have similar challenges, including expensive rents and encounters with open-air drug dealing, and individuals without permanent shelter.  But New York is presently winning the cool-place-to-live factor. 

“A majority of my friends from growing up are living in New York. I’d say about 80 percent,” Dolce said, who spent his early years on De Haro Street. “Some are in grad school, some are working, some were from the East Coast and just wanted to go back. There is definitely a mass migration, I would say.”

Jasper Liles has been living in New York City for about a year and a half. He migrated after visiting his sister, Shelby. 

“It just sort of feels like the central place, like the center of so many different components of the world and the country. There are so many different cultures, places to go, things to do,” he said. “If you are interested in living in cities, you should live here at some point.”

Jasper, who lives with a college friend in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Bedford-Stuyvesant, pointed at ample opportunities for young people early in their careers to find jobs.

“Cost of living-wise… both [are] quite steep. NYC, there’s a bunch of additional concerns you have to worry about in the winter heating bill, in the summer electric bill for cooling,” Liles said.  “When I moved it was still in the last wave of inflation; buying groceries was certainly as difficult [in San Francisco] as it was [in New York].” 

“I feel that it’s a very artistic city, whether it’s music or visual arts, plays and theatre. I always feel like there’s more going on there when I go visit; more than what I find in San Francisco,” Dolce said.

Canada-born Nuri Amari, 25, arrived to the Mission District in 2022, drawn by a sophomore engineer job at Meta, but moved to New York City earlier this year. Originally from Eastern Kingston, near Toronto, he attended the University of Waterloo. While Amari enjoyed the Bay Area’s natural beauty and outdoor activities like skiing in Tahoe, he found the City a bit too quiet.

 “SF can be a bit sleepy sometimes, things close a little earlier,” he noted. 

Amari convinced his employer to let him transfer to Meta’s New York office. Now living alone in the Financial District, Amari is settling into his new life. 

“I wasn’t sure exactly what office I’d be in when I came to apartment hunt, but it’s kind of easy to get around from here,” he said. 

He’s enjoying New York’s vibrant restaurant scene and looking to form a soccer team. A fan of fashion, he wants to take sewing classes to learn how to tailor his own clothes. Though he acknowledged that living in Manhattan is expensive, he’s committed to “doing NY properly” for at least a year before reevaluating. 

“I don’t know if it’s sustainable forever, but we’ll see. I may end up moving back to California eventually,” he said

Amari takes the subway everywhere and appreciates that it runs all night, unlike BART. He’s noticed cultural differences, too; New Yorkers tend to work later, while San Franciscans are inclined to leave the office before sunset. Despite the colder winters, he’s embraced Manhattan’s energy and diversity. 

“It feels like NY is somewhere you have to move while you are relatively young,” he said. “So, you have to get it in while you can.” 

New York City isn’t the only East Coast landing point for young working people migrating from San Francisco. Ryan Findling, 24, spent the past year navigating career moves and coast-to-coast transitions. Originally from Michigan, he relocated to San Francisco after graduating from Babson College, drawn by a long-standing connection to the City through family and a high school internship. 

“I had been there a few times… I always dreamed of living in San Francisco, and at some time I would like to move back there,” he said. 

However, working remotely on East Coast hours—starting his days at 6 a.m.—left him craving more structure and social interaction. Now, he’s in Boston, where his job in medical device manufacturing is fully in-person. He feels more in sync with his professional and personal life. 

“I wanted to see [Boston] through for a few more years.”

Life in Boston proved to be a natural fit, Findling said. Having attended college in Wellesley, many of his friends were nearby. 

“A lot of my friends moved to Boston or were from Boston; most of my friends haven’t left,” he said. “The social scene is great. East Coast people are very different from West Coast people. I do kind of miss the Cali spirit and energy, but I grew up in the Midwest, so that’s also a different breed of people. Everyone said Boston winters are bad, but I still think in Michigan they are worse. There’s a comedy club I go to. Trivia night sometimes. There’s a place I go called Improv Asylum. It’s fun, depending on who you are with. One of my good friends got everyone into Mahjong, so we have Mahjong Mondays now.” 

While the scale may presently be tipped eastward for college students and graduates, San Francisco Standard recently reported an influx of entrepreneurial high school and college dropouts into San Francisco to help launch Artificial Intelligence companies. Incubators, like the startup accelerator company, Y Combinator, are reportedly hiring younger participants, some not even of legal drinking age. Many have settled into recently built apartments in Dogpatch.

According to Apartments.com, average rents for a one-bedroom apartment in New York City are from $3,888 and $4,990. The same site lists one-bedroom units in San Francisco as between $2,980 and $4,000, compared to a national average of $1,555.

“Right now, I have a beautiful apartment in a Victorian in North Beach. I love [the space and neighborhood]. It’s not a place I really explored as a kid,” said Dolce.

“I lived in the dorms last year and I didn’t know how to navigate finding an apartment. It was essentially a one-bedroom apartment with four girls. I was fortunate enough to be in the bedroom, so we had a door. It’s crazy how much you pay for living in the kitchen,” said Shelby Liles.

She recently moved to a more spacious three-bedroom apartment in the East Village, living with friends she met in her first-year cohort. 

“Once I got it in my head that I liked New York, then I never really questioned it,” Shelby said. “I feel like there is always something to do. There are so many things happening. I love just walking around; going to explore different things.”