I’m noticing an interesting trend in the changing landscape of Wall St. Last time we discussed the realities of globalising the financial markets and the emmergence of downtown as a residential hub. Now this past weekend’s NYT (registration required) has a great piece on the new trend of streeters going to work for firms in Greenwich (and Stamford), CT. Being that I work at a fund in Greenwich (name of which is not important) I found the article interesting:

Thousands of young financial workers stream into Grand Central Terminal every weekday morning. But many are not on their way to offices on Wall Street or in Midtown. Instead, they are crowded into trains for Greenwich, Conn., which has emerged as the home of the ballooning hedge fund industry. The center of power in finance has shifted in recent years, and in one sense that shift is geographical. Some of the most powerful traders in the market can be found miles away from Wall Street, in Greenwich, Stamford, and Westport, Conn. ‘If you look up and down the train line in Connecticut you will see all the hedge funds concentrated right along the line,’ said Thomas Torelli, a corporate real estate agent in Greenwich. Those funds are there because their founders and top managers live nearby. But thousands of their employees do not and as result do what to the rest of Wall Street is a reverse commute.

Luckily I gave up the hustle and bustle of the city several years ago. As a native of Manhattan and a long time resident of Brooklyn, I guess you can say I’ve had my fill of the city for the time being, and as a result my commute is very easy from Westchester, NY.

‘Greenwich is quiet, peaceful and clean,’ said a young hedge fund employee on the train who lives in Manhattan. ‘But I am 24 and single - I couldn’t imagine living in Greenwich.’

I used to think the same thing when I was 24, but now that I’m almost 30 and married, I can’t imagine living in the city anymore. I wonder, does this mean that in 5 years time there will be an influx of migration from NY into the Westchester and Fairfield communities?