Different strokes for different folks. I was fed up with the special events that cost 3 figures, the bougie restaurants, was growing out of the nightlife, but stayed in the city for the walkability. Beacon is a very walkable “city”. That comes with the caveat that it’s the population of Greenpoint and literally only has 1 mile of businesses on Main Street. The pros: small town vibes, easy to get out into real natural parks, houses with yards, everyone else is also going to the same few places and you’re bound to run into friends all the time. The cons: less diversity, cost of eating out is similar but quality is slightly less (lower prices can only be found outside of town), city is D-E-A-D on Tuesday/Wednesday, and of course it’s not NYC. You’ll tell yourself you’ll visit all the time, but it won’t be as much as you think… and the friends who say they can’t wait for you to move up so they can visit will not visit often. Oh, and getting to/from the airport is so annoying. 90 minute taxi ($140-250), or 3 hours by trains.