whoodle

Has anyone raised kids in a big, walkable city in the US? London? Elsewhere?

My wife and I lived in downtown Philadelphia for >10 years, but moved to the suburbs after having kids. We have two young kids under 3. However, we’re finding — especially me — that we hate living in the suburbs. I miss the city, the energy, the walkability, and the public transport. I wish I could never drive a car again. To me it’s the best way to live, and I only find myself drawn to it more as I get older.

My wife stays home with the kids but is open to working again soon. We don’t want to move back to Philly, so we’re looking at other options. Has anyone either moved back to a big city with kids or just raised their kids in one recently? How did you manage costs?

…And, before someone suggests it, no, a walkable suburb is most likely not the same thing :)

Is NYC feasible if one parent is making FAANG salary? What other cities should we consider?

We’ve also spent a lot of time in London and are considering there as we prefer many parts of the lifestyle in the UK. I have an option to work there keeping my US SWE salary plus visa sponsorship. The real risk there is losing my job and then being at the whim of London level SWE salaries as we aren’t UK citizens.

Has any non-lawyer here had success if either sending a large corporation a demand letter or actually taking them to small claims court? Do I need a lawyer for this? This is in the United States.

For background, I’ve been in refund and call center hell with West Elm for 5 months now. They’re holding on to almost $2,000 and I can’t seem to get the refund to which they’ve already agreed. They tried to refund me once and when that failed they automatically put the balance on a gift card. I did not ever consent to this and have already to spoken to them, making it clear I want an actual refund. However, it apparently takes a 2nd level manager (manager of a manager) to cancel a gift card. Despite hours on the phone and promises every time, nothing ever changes.

Is it possible using some combination of Google, GPT, and persistence to craft a compelling demand letter or even represent myself in small claims court? Could I demand damages for the time invested in this?

Curious if anyone else here has done this that isn’t a lawyer? I’m currently a SWE and am curious of others experience.