nyc vs la

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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. 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:

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:

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

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

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