· September 2010

NYC v LA Round 8: Living Space

September 13, 2010 in lists, los angeles, new york city | 2 comments

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: nyc v la

NYC v LA Round 7: Clothing

September 10, 2010 in lists, los angeles, new york city, nyc vs la | 1 comment

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

NYC v LA Round 6: Sports Culture

September 9, 2010 in lists, los angeles, new york city, nyc vs la | 6 comments

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

NYC v LA Round 5: Pets

September 8, 2010 in lists, los angeles, new york city, nyc vs la | Permalink

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 6.

05. PETS

I have been craving having a pet that’s not a goldfish for a long time now.

I used to want a dog, and though I still want a dog I’ve become a bit obsessed with kitties (this is mostly Adam’s fault). I’m getting old…I want to be a grown up that has a pet and maybe access to outdoor space that doesn’t also belong to the rest of the world. These things don’t seem to be possible in NYC the way they might be in LA.

Reasons why I can’t have a cat in NYC:

My current apartment is stuffed to the gills, with not a square inch of space available for a litter box.

My apartment gets zero air flow and cross breeze, even when it’s windy outside (though I will never understand how this is possible). So the smells that are in this apartment? Are REALLY in this apartment. It’s bad enough with two people in here…adding a pet is not a good idea.

This apartment is small…it’s two people living in 450 Square Feet…450 well laid out, well organized square feet, but still. I’d feel bad adding a pet to that equation.

I’m broke all the time, which is not a good environment to bring an animal that needs food and toys and likely regular medical care (which I don’t even get) into.

Technically I’m not allowed to have pets in this apartment (though it doesn’t seem to stop some people).

Reasons why I can’t have a dog in NYC:

All of the above “cat” reasons, plus I live on the fourth floor and am way too lazy to take a dog out as frequently as he needs and deserves.

Plus, I don’t want to add to the piles (and smells) of shit, even though I’d always clean up after my dog, that line NYC streets with regularity.

Do some of these apply to LA? Sure, but based on where and how I lived in LA previously (in ground floor apartments in neighborhoods conducive to walking pets, in large roomy apartments, with windows that frequently caught lovely breezes) that it’s much more doable, realistic and less painful in LA than NYC.

I REALLY want a cat, hence – Advantage: LA

Tags: nyc v la

Panel Of The Week – 09/06/10

September 7, 2010 in art, artists, comics, marvel comics | Permalink

Ah superheroes, they’re just like us…but not really.

I love this panel from Black Cat #3 of Spider-Man and Black Cat having a serious discussion about their relationship (and stuff) by shouting across rooftops and the side of buildings. Hilarious and fun.

Ah superheroes, just like us...not really.

Tags: Panel Of The Week

NYC v LA Round 4: Green Living

September 7, 2010 in lists, los angeles, new york city, nyc vs la | 2 comments

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 5.

04. GREEN LIVING

Because LA is so beautiful and has so much nature in it and surrounding it, I’d be inclined to give the advantage to LA, but the reality is, if only because I don’t own a car and generally commute by walking or mass transit (and yes, sometimes, too frequently, by cab), my PERSONAL environmental footprint is much smaller in NYC than it was in LA where I commuted via car from Studio City to Santa Monica five days a week.

I miss my car. I sometimes cry for my car. However, it’s cheaper, faster, and more earth friendly to live in NYC and travel by train, bus, foot, and occasional cab ride. And whenever I’m missing my car too hard, I try to remember that hour long commute from work every day that had me ready to gouge my eyes out with cupholders by the time I left LA in 2005. Sometimes (okay, often) the subway is inconvenient and a pain (and there are rats! Aggh!), but the car was sometimes too (well, no rats)…in addition to being an expensive liability

In both LA and NYC I recycled and did my best in other ways to be green, although I certainly do more now than I did in 2000 to 2005, if only because times are changing. But the reality is that the car is that thing that really makes the difference, and as much as I love it and miss it, I can admit that it’s better for the rest of the world that I don’t have it. The goods news is that if/when I move back to LA, they’ve made great strides (not enough, but still great) in automobiles and I can get a Hybrid for a semi-reasonable cost that will be much less harsh on the environment. Still, Advantage: NYC

Tags: nyc v la

She Has No Head! – Was Stumptown Worth The Wait?

September 6, 2010 in comic reviews, comics, comics news, comics should be good, CSBG, oni press, she has no head!, stumptown | Permalink

A new SHE HAS NO HEAD! is up – a review and discussion of Stumptown #1 – 4. Check it out.

NYC v LA Round 3: Food

September 3, 2010 in lists, los angeles, new york city, nyc vs la | 8 comments

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 4.

03. FOOD

People are going to kill me for this, because NYC has great food. Pretty much any food you can imagine, and some of the most amazing restaurants in the world. But it’s a long held belief (stereotype?) that NYC has mediocre Mexican food (one of my favorite cuisines) and it’s pretty well proven out. I’ve found a few places I like, but nothing that beats the Mexican food I had in LA.

In NYC I will miss: Ithaca, Urban Lobster, Pearl Oyster Bar, Katz’s, Corner Bistro, Acme, Sabor a Mexico, Olives, and the powerful margaritas at Cilantro.

But in LA I have long been missing (and sometimes dreaming about): Bay Cities, Malibu Seafood, Casa Vega, Matsuda Seafood, Fritto Misto, Kay & Dave’s (best hamburger I’ve ever had), Little Toni’s, Taverna Tony, La Serenada, Fred 62, and even Baja Fresh.

NYC does have one secret weapon working for it and that is LOBSTER ROLLS. Many of you have heard me rave about how much I love these and I will miss them immensely when they become more difficult to obtain (LA has only two restaurants that definitely carry them as far as I can tell – but I’ve yet to do the taste test).

But LA has a secret weapon too, and that secret weapon is YELLOW MUSTARD. You would not believe how difficult it is to get simple yellow mustard in New York. Not only that, but most New Yorkers apparently do not understand what you’re saying when you ask about it. Watch this reenactment of me ordering a sandwich:

ME: Do you have yellow mustard?

NEW YORKER: Yeah, yeah, sure.

ME: Not brown mustard – yellow.

NEW YORKER: Yeah, we have yellow.

ME (unsure): Okay, then I’d like some yellow mustard on the sandwich too.

NEW YORKER: No problem.

Two minutes later, opening my sandwich in the park.

ME: Sonofabitch!

Imagine a sandwich drenched in brown mustard.

This has happened no less than two dozen times to me verbatim in New York. Eventually I learned to just stop asking. But I’m still miserable. In a city that has EVERYTHING why can’t I get a sandwich with yellow mustard on it? Access to lobster rolls cannot defeat something as simple as the ability to have a sandwich the way you’d like it. Advantage: LA

NYC v LA Round 2: Weather

September 2, 2010 in lists, los angeles, new york city, nyc vs la | Permalink

If you want to know what this 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 3.

02. WEATHER

On the surface this seems like an easy one, as it’s beautiful in Los Angeles for about 360 of 365 days in a year, but living in New York did make me remember how much I missed actual seasons.

It’s wonderful for fall to arrive and kill summer with its lovely breezy death blows. And spring is all the more rewarding to see and feel on your skin after a long winter. And I actually don’t mind winter. It’s a nice chance to wear all those cute clothes and there’s something cozy and deliciously romantic to me about winter in New York (although it feels less so in late February and March, when you’re really ready for winter to be over)

But summer.

Summer is what loses this battle for New York.

If New York weather was 9 months of spring/fall and 3 months of winter, I think I’d give it to New York, even though some of those winter days I know I’d be wishing for sunny days and balmy LA breezes.

But there’s maybe nothing I hate more than summer in New York. Hot, sticky, and miserable. It’s three plus months of misery and I catch myself spending much of the year dreading those coming months. Advantage: LA

NYC v LA Round 1: Culture & History

September 1, 2010 in lists, los angeles, new york city | 17 comments

This massive multi-part post is spawned by the fact that I’ve been pretty mopey about missing Los Angeles lately (summer in New York does that to me), and Adam’s been pretty “Eh” when I talk about how great L.A. is.

Adam and I do plan to move back to LA eventually, but since life is currently in utter chaos i.e. I’ve recently started working again after a long bout of unemployment; my book is out to publishers…sort of, and who knows if or when it will ever sell; and the city of New York continues to build the Second Avenue subway right outside my bedroom window; and for some reason has been constantly shutting off our hot water, or just our water period, we really have no idea when we’re going to go back to LA. And frankly, Adam is hot and cold.. He has always said he’s going, and that he wants to go, but he has other legitimate priorities some of which are best accomplished here. The same way there is always another reason to add to the list for me going, I can see him finding another reason to add to the list for staying, which is only fair, he loves it here, and if we do ever move back I know he’ll miss the city like crazy. It got me wondering what I would miss if we moved to LA?

So I thought I’d do a pros and cons for each of the cities 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.

The first one, CULTURE & HISTORY is below…but come back every day for a new round.

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 – present). This is intended to be a fun 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.

01. CULTURE & HISTORY

LA is a much more culturally rich and diverse city than many people think, but at the end of the day I just don’t think it can compete with NYC.

NYC is older and more beautiful in everything from its buildings to its parks. It seems to have more museums, more history, more preserved culture, more diversity, more historic landmarks, more festivals, more street fairs, and even more film festivals – which is kind of embarrassing considering LA is a city built on movies.

I would say that while pound for pound it’s possible the cities are equal if someone did a scientific study, the difference is that in NYC you feel it without even trying, whereas with LA I feel you have to seek it out a bit.

Even without being a person who deliberately tries to experience culture you feel it here in NYC – whether it be a trip to Ellis Island or just driving down Fifth Avenue and experiencing the architecture. For example, if you walk across the Brooklyn Bridge from Manhattan (an iconic, historic, and culture rich experience in and of itself) you can see the Statue Of Liberty to your right, the seaport to your right and below you, Brooklyn stretching out in front of you, and probably a million other things I don’t even realizing I’m seeing. And then on your way back you can see the whole massive impressive breath of Manhattan.

There are other ways in which LA can totally hand NYC it’s ass (like Mexican food!), but this just isn’t one of them. In my five years in LA I never had an experience like that…like walking the Brooklyn Bridge and feeling both the history of the Statue of Liberty and then the immediacy and potency of the city skyline full of life.

LA is a fantastic city and there truly is no end in sight for the culture available to explore if one is so inclined, but it just can’t compete with one of the most culture rich cities on the planet, in NYC you don’t have to want to explore it…it’s at your front door, on your street, in your walk to work, at your favorite lunch spot…you can’t escape it if you wanted to. Advantage: NYC

Tags: nyc v la

September 2010

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