new york city

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If you want to read what this series of posts is all about, go here.

Disclaimer:

So I thought I’d do a pros and cons for each of the cities (NYC and LA) based on 15 categories of my choosing – i.e the kind of things that are important to me about a place that I chose to live. For example, since I don’t have any children, so you won’t see “education” on the list, but I do love to eat sandwiches, so “food” will definitely be on the list.

Keep in mind these are MY pros and cons…pros and cons that I have come to after living in LA for five years (2000 – 2005) and then living in New York for five years (2005 – 2010).  This is intended to be a fun (and funny) list, and is not to be taken seriously, but I hope some of you, especially those of you who have lived in both places (or experienced them) will enjoy it. You can read parts one through fifteen starting here.

15.  DIFFICULTY LEVEL

I think we all know the answer to this one.  New York is one of the hardest places to live…certainly in the United States…and it’s a fact that most New Yorkers are proud of.  You have to be at the top of your game to survive here, let alone thrive, from the competition for jobs to the cost of living and the sometimes inconvenience of urban living.  It’s an intense passionate city that really doesn’t sleep and while I’ve for the most part been successful in adjusting to the NYC lifestyle, even five+ years in I sometimes find the city frustrating and inconvenient.

Sometimes I just want to be able to get in my car and go to Target and not worry about carrying crap back on the subway or splurging $20 for a cab ride.  New York is a far more difficult city to live in across the board, and who wants things to be SO HARD all the time, especially as you get old (which I totally am). Advantage:  LA

And the winner IS…in a tight race…Los Angeles.  L.A. is the city for me, based on this highly scientific (not) breakdown after five years spent in each city. Adam…pack your bags…time to head back out west!

Tags:

If you want to read what this series of posts is all about, go here.

Disclaimer:

So I thought I’d do a pros and cons for each of the cities (NYC and LA) based on 15 categories of my choosing – i.e the kind of things that are important to me about a place that I chose to live. For example, since I don’t have any children, so you won’t see “education” on the list, but I do love to eat sandwiches, so “food” will definitely be on the list.

Keep in mind these are MY pros and cons…pros and cons that I have come to after living in LA for five years (2000 – 2005) and then living in New York for five years (2005 – 2010).  This is intended to be a fun (and funny) list, and is not to be taken seriously, but I hope some of you, especially those of you who have lived in both places (or experienced them) will enjoy it. Come back tomorrow for Round 15…the FINAL ROUND.

14.  EXPENSE

Neither city is a real bargain, but I was pretty shocked by my expenses across the board in NYC.

My dad tells a great little story about why he didn’t take a job in Manhattan back in the early 1970’s after graduating from Berkeley and it goes something like this, “I came out for the interview and they took me to lunch, and I noticed that the sandwich on the menu cost $10! And I thought to myself there’s no way I can live in a city where a sandwich at lunch costs $10!”

And you know what?  He’s right.  Living here is incredibly expensive, then and now.  A dozen eggs can cost $3.00, $5.00 if I buy local.  A half-gallon of milk (the brand I prefer – which is organic) is about $4.00.  If I’m also able to buy local (not always an option), which I also prefer, it’s easily over $4.00.

My rent on a 2-bedroom apartment on the Upper East Side is $2100 a month – more than most people I know pay for their mortgage – and considered a steal by most New Yorkers, and that’s for the pleasure of walking up four narrow flights of stairs every day and having a real jerk of a mailman.

LA is not cheap by any means, and I struggled mightily financially while I was there – in part because I made a lot less than I do in NYC (which in fairness should be considered), but that’s also about experience and growth in my job…and the offset is just not enough to cause an upset.

Also…that mailman really screws NYC…I hate him.  Advantage: LA

Tags:

If you want to read what this series of posts is all about, go here.

Disclaimer:

So I thought I’d do a pros and cons for each of the cities (NYC and LA) based on 15 categories of my choosing – i.e the kind of things that are important to me about a place that I chose to live. For example, since I don’t have any children, so you won’t see “education” on the list, but I do love to eat sandwiches, so “food” will definitely be on the list.

Keep in mind these are MY pros and cons…pros and cons that I have come to after living in LA for five years (2000 – 2005) and then living in New York for five years (2005 – 2010).  This is intended to be a fun (and funny) list, and is not to be taken seriously, but I hope some of you, especially those of you who have lived in both places (or experienced them) will enjoy it. Come back tomorrow for Round 14.

13.  SKYLINE

Is there any question?  Advantage: NYC

Tags:

If you want to read what this series of posts is all about, go here.

Disclaimer:

So I thought I’d do a pros and cons for each of the cities (NYC and LA) based on 15 categories of my choosing – i.e the kind of things that are important to me about a place that I chose to live. For example, since I don’t have any children, so you won’t see “education” on the list, but I do love to eat sandwiches, so “food” will definitely be on the list.

Keep in mind these are MY pros and cons…pros and cons that I have come to after living in LA for five years (2000 – 2005) and then living in New York for five years (2005 – 2010).  This is intended to be a fun (and funny) list, and is not to be taken seriously, but I hope some of you, especially those of you who have lived in both places (or experienced them) will enjoy it. Come back tomorrow for Round 13.

12.  CRIME

This one is simple if I base it on personal experience.

In LA my car stereo was stolen (sort of my fault, I left the car unlocked accidentally).  A year later my car was stolen from right in front of my apartment (not my fault).

Nothing has been stolen from me in New York.  Advantage:  NYC

Tags:

If you want to read what this series of posts is all about, go here.

Disclaimer:

So I thought I’d do a pros and cons for each of the cities (NYC and LA) based on 15 categories of my choosing – i.e the kind of things that are important to me about a place that I chose to live. For example, since I don’t have any children, so you won’t see “education” on the list, but I do love to eat sandwiches, so “food” will definitely be on the list.

Keep in mind these are MY pros and cons…pros and cons that I have come to after living in LA for five years (2000 – 2005) and then living in New York for five years (2005 – 2010).  This is intended to be a fun (and funny) list, and is not to be taken seriously, but I hope some of you, especially those of you who have lived in both places (or experienced them) will enjoy it. Come back tomorrow for Round 12.

11.  CLEANLINESS

New York is incredibly clean for such a large city and I’m constantly impressed with the efforts I see to keep it clean.

The trash situation is not great however.  In most of LA (in my experience at least) there are garbage and recycling cans, and trash can be taken to these at anytime during the week…in NYC there are no garbage cans that get put out on the street (not that I’ve seen at least) and in my personal experience (though I know there are places where this is not true) I have to put my trash on the sidewalk in front of my building on very strict deadlines (after a certain time on Monday, Wednesday and Friday nights for trash and recycling)…this means that the trash inside my house is driven to a degree by that schedule which can be frustrating.  Worse however is the fact that sometimes the trash doesn’t get picked up…for whatever reason…weather, holidays, strikes, etc.  But that doesn’t mean people stop putting it out…and that gets gross…really fast.

Additionally, while the street sweepers in LA were bothersome because of parking…it did seem like they actually somewhat cleaned the street.  In NYC it seems more like they, as boss likes to say “just spread the trash juice around”.  I have to agree.  I’m sure they do something…or the city would have moved on already…but from my perspective it’s hard to tell what the street cleaners are actually cleaning.

The thing that really loses this for NYC however, is that I never once stepped in dog shit in LA.  Now maybe that was partly because my feet rarely touched the ground (moving from automobile to destination in the span of six steps or less) but whatever the reason, if I never have to step in dog shit again (or walk on an entire street that smells like dog shit) I will be happy.  This can happen in LA.  Advantage:  LA

Tags:

If you want to read what this series of posts is all about, go here.

Disclaimer:

So I thought I’d do a pros and cons for each of the cities (NYC and LA) based on 15 categories of my choosing – i.e the kind of things that are important to me about a place that I chose to live. For example, since I don’t have any children, so you won’t see “education” on the list, but I do love to eat sandwiches, so “food” will definitely be on the list.

Keep in mind these are MY pros and cons…pros and cons that I have come to after living in LA for five years (2000 – 2005) and then living in New York for five years (2005 – 2010).  This is intended to be a fun (and funny) list, and is not to be taken seriously, but I hope some of you, especially those of you who have lived in both places (or experienced them) will enjoy it. Come back tomorrow for Round 11.

10.  TRAVEL

Both Los Angeles and New York are in vibrant areas of the country where a lot of amazing stuff is only a few hours away.

While living in NYC I have traveled to:  Maine (on of my favorite places ever!), New Hampshire, Shelter Island, Philadelphia, and Cold Spring.

While living in LA I traveled to:  Las Vegas, San Francisco (another favorite place ever), San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Avila Beach, Ojai, Santa Barbara, Oakland, Sedona, and Salt Lake City.

The reason for so much more travel?  It’s simple…I owned a car.

While there are many places very close to NYC, the fact that I don’t have free and easy access to a car really limits how much I can travel.  The first expense you must consider before going anywhere is how you’re going to get there…and while some public transit is relatively cheap (the Chinatown bus springs to mind) a lot of it isn’t…especially if it’s travel by “rent a car” which, within the city limits can be outrageously expensive.  Additionally, in many cases depending on where you’re going (for example Adam and I were trying to go to Vermont for a few days) even if you take a train you’re likely to need a car rental as well once you get there.

There’s nothing wrong with travel that is not a car, in fact having done the train ride to Philly many times I find it quite painless and enjoyable…but I’m just personally a car girl.  I don’t like worrying about how I’ll get around once I arrive in my vacation location, and I like the freedom of traveling by car, being able to control when I stop and where, and how long my trip takes. It’s really convenient and relaxing to me…Running late?  No problem…there is not exact departure time for MY CAR.

NYC does have the advantage in the sense that Europe (and many other places I’m interested in traveling to) are much much closer by plane than flying from LA, however, one of the few places MUCH easier to get to from LA, and a place my parents love to go (and bring family with them when they can), is Hawaii.  Hawaii, a place that will likely always be a destination for my parents (and hopefully a place they’ll keep wanting to invite me to) is an utter bitch to get to from NYC…I think 11+ hours or something crazy for a flight (not to mention hella expensive)…and just hope you don’t have to connect through Chicago…cause then you’re totally fucked and will (as happened to Adam and I once) have to DRIVE HOME TO NYC FROM CHICAGO.  Yeah, so I’m going to let Hawaii proximity edge out Europe proximity, and then let the car aspect take LA the rest of the way to the win.  Advantage:  LA

Tags:

If you want to read what this series of posts is all about, go here.

Disclaimer:

So I thought I’d do a pros and cons for each of the cities (NYC and LA) based on 15 categories of my choosing – i.e the kind of things that are important to me about a place that I chose to live. For example, since I don’t have any children, so you won’t see “education” on the list, but I do love to eat sandwiches, so “food” will definitely be on the list.

Keep in mind these are MY pros and cons…pros and cons that I have come to after living in LA for five years (2000 – 2005) and then living in New York for five years (2005 – 2010).  This is intended to be a fun (and funny) list, and is not to be taken seriously, but I hope some of you, especially those of you who have lived in both places (or experienced them) will enjoy it. Come back tomorrow for Round 10.

09.  PEOPLE

This one is tough.  Personally, I find the people in both cities to be pretty great.

I have far more friends in LA than I have in NYC, but I don’t think I can blame that on the city or its inhabitants.

I find New Yorkers in general to be pretty friendly people, despite the stereotype; but I find the same to be true for Angelenos, also despite the stereotype.  I think technically I’ve encountered more horrible rudeness in NYC, but that’s probably more to do with being out “amongst the people” more in NYC…and more “trapped in my vehicle” in LA.

I guess I like that in NYC you can say you just came from your therapists office and five people around you go, “Hey, me too” while in Los Angeles people would look at you like you just showed them your tits.

But in Los Angeles I like that people seem less judgmental in general…like they probably wouldn’t hold it against you that you just showed them your tits.  Advantage:  PUSH

Tags:

If you want to read what this series of posts is all about, go here.

Disclaimer:

So I thought I’d do a pros and cons for each of the cities (NYC and LA) based on 15 categories of my choosing – i.e the kind of things that are important to me about a place that I chose to live. For example, since I don’t have any children, so you won’t see “education” on the list, but I do love to eat sandwiches, so “food” will definitely be on the list.

Keep in mind these are MY pros and cons…pros and cons that I have come to after living in LA for five years (2000 – 2005) and then living in New York for five years (2005 – 2010).  This is intended to be a fun (and funny) list, and is not to be taken seriously, but I hope some of you, especially those of you who have lived in both places (or experienced them) will enjoy it. Come back tomorrow for Round 9.

08.  LIVING SPACE

My small (approximately 450 SF) two-bedroom apartment in New York is really quite lovely with its hardwood floors and nice light, it’s also in a safe and relatively convenient Upper East Side neighborhood and has a shocking amount of storage (an unheard of four closets, plus four large overhead storage spaces).  However, it’s up four flights of narrow gross stairs, regularly smells like trash/Thai food from the Thai restaurant down below and has a kitchen with approximately 1 square foot of counter space (don’t get me started on the tiny fridge, tiny oven/stove,  and minute cabinet space).  That’s what I get for $2100/month…and honestly, for Manhattan, it’s not a bad deal.  When Adam and I looked for a new place three plus years ago brokers found out what we were paying for what we currently had and they told us we were crazy to move (we didn’t move).

In LA I shared a huge two bedroom (easily 1,000 SF) apartment with my (awesome) roommate Kyle.  We had a nice big eat-in kitchen with crazy amounts of counter space and tons of cabinets and a full size fridge and stove/oven.  We both had decent size bedrooms with closets and two big windows and the living room was large enough to comfortably house a big couch and chair, ottoman, coffee table, entertainment center, bookshelves, an aquarium, and behind a privacy screen my elliptical trainer and a massive heavy bag set up.  It was the living room that dreams are made of.  The apartment also had hardwood floors and nice light.  It was on the ground floor (no narrow stairs!) and the bathroom actually had drawers.  DRAWERS!

You know what else it had?  Don’t lose your shit New York – it had a LINEN CLOSET!  Why have you never heard of linen closets New York, why!?!?!  For that decent location in Studio City we paid $1050…even if you add a couple hundred bucks to it (since it was in 2005, not 2010) it’s still a great deal in comparison.

I also really miss having access to convenient outdoor space in NYC.  In LA, because I lived on the ground floor I could spend time sitting on the steps to our apartment, or even in the somewhat crappy courtyard, and be outside without being far from home, in NYC the closest I get to outside near home is an open window.  Sad.  Advantage:  LA

Tags:

If you want to read what this series of posts is all about, go here.

Disclaimer:

So I thought I’d do a pros and cons for each of the cities (NYC and LA) based on 15 categories of my choosing – i.e the kind of things that are important to me about a place that I chose to live. For example, since I don’t have any children, so you won’t see “education” on the list, but I do love to eat sandwiches, so “food” will definitely be on the list.

Keep in mind these are MY pros and cons…pros and cons that I have come to after living in LA for five years (2000 – 2005) and then living in New York for five years (2005 – 2010).  This is intended to be a fun (and funny) list, and is not to be taken seriously, but I hope some of you, especially those of you who have lived in both places (or experienced them) will enjoy it. Come back tomorrow for Round 8.

07.  CLOTHING

This is a tough one, because I love winter clothes – boots and hats and scarves and peacoats and trenches and fingerless gloves, all of it – and I look much better in winter clothes than summer clothes.

However, in LA you can go an entire year without wearing socks, and I HATE socks.  And I LOVE sandals.

I did once have an unfortunate encounter going to dinner with friends in January in open-toed dress shoes and a shockingly low temperature for LA in 2004 (36 degrees!) but it was one incident in five years – which really – isn’t so bad.

If this category was “fashion” I’d give it to NYC in a New York minute…as far as I’m concerned NYC beats LA at fashion with its eyes closed (is that enough puns?)…but this is about clothing, not “fashion”, so it’s more about what I enjoy wearing, than how great others look.  Also, if I have to compete with the most stylish of New Yorkers I’ve got no shot.  If I have to compete with the most stylish Angelenos…I might be a contender (on a good day).

Anyway…back to socks and sandals…even though you can wear sandals for probably six months out of the year in New York, but a heavy peacoat just about never in LA, I’m still going to have to give this to LA in part because the workplace dress codes in LA are far more interesting and flexible.  And that goes beyond just clothing.  I never had people question my two colored hair, combat boots, sandals, tattoos, or piercings when living in LA, despite the fact that I had a quite respectable job, yet in NYC I run into a lot of pretension and snobbery over those same things (although not at my work, because I work at awesome places).  Lighten up NYC.  Thanks to year round sandals and less pretentious attitudes, I’m giving this to LA, sorry peacoat!  Advantage: LA

If you want to read what this series of posts is all about, go here.

Disclaimer:

So I thought I’d do a pros and cons for each of the cities (NYC and LA) based on 15 categories of my choosing – i.e the kind of things that are important to me about a place that I chose to live. For example, since I don’t have any children, so you won’t see “education” on the list, but I do love to eat sandwiches, so “food” will definitely be on the list.

Keep in mind these are MY pros and cons…pros and cons that I have come to after living in LA for five years (2000 – 2005) and then living in New York for five years (2005 – 2010).  This is intended to be a fun (and funny) list, and is not to be taken seriously, but I hope some of you, especially those of you who have lived in both places (or experienced them) will enjoy it. Come back tomorrow for Round 7.

06.  SPORTS CULTURE

***Unhappy with the direction these lists are headed, Adam has taken over for Round 6***

In tackling the issue of sports culture, Kelly thought it would be wise to draft my services.  While I am a big sports fan, and an educated sports fan, I am not a fan of any sports team in New York City or Los Angeles.  With that out of the way what evidence supports each city’s claim to the crown of “Best (or better) Sports Culture”?

To the naked eye New York City, with it’s two football teams(Giants, Jets… who actually play in New Jersey), soon to be two basketball teams (Knicks, Nets), two baseball teams (Yankees, Mets), hockey team (Rangers), as well as hosting the US Open and countless other sporting events that I’m forgetting, wins the city battle in a landslide.

However, Los Angeles, with their dynastic basketball team (Lakers) and the high profile fans that support them (Jack Nicholson!), make a cosmetic push that keeps them in the conversation.  Los Angeles also has a rich baseball history (Dodgers… originally from Brooklyn, and the Angels), a hockey team (the Kings…full disclosure… I don’t like hockey, or know much about it), and… oh… they have another basketball team (Clippers) and they used to have two football teams.  That is something.  LA does dominate in college sports. Now this suddenly looks like a landslide.

How about the fans?  What is more important to a sports culture than the fan.  Los Angeles has the big stars (see above) and the beautiful people.  Seeing a Lakers’ game, with the crowd on their feet, is a sight to behold.  The Clippers have a loyal fan base, in spite of their perpetual losing ways.  Loyalty is good.  What about New York?

Simply put, and I’m not a fan of the New York teams, and I can still see they have some of the most passionate, knowledgeable fans in the country.  Listen to a sports talk radio station in NYC and you will hear in depth analysis of last night’s long relief pitching in the Yankee game from a guy who lays pipe for a living.  It is impressive.  Baseball is the true pastime in New York, as even the casual sports fan, the one seen at that super bowl party who doesn’t know how many points a TD scores, watches games every week, even crappy games against teams without the Yankee payroll.  The Knicks, who have been terrible for years now, fill up the stands with die hard fans right off the bus at Port Authority, fans who know what True Shooting Percentage is and what Wilson Chandler’s +/- is.  That is a real fan.  I know, because I’m a real fan of my teams… none of which are in New York or Los Angeles.  In fact I hate the Lakers, and the Knicks, and the Giants, and especially the Yankees but I can stand up and recognize that New York has better sports culture than Los Angeles.

Besides, why would you want to be indoors when it’s so nice out.  We should drive down to the Santa Monica Pier and ride the Ferris Wheel.  Advantage: NYC

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