4 ms·

New York does have a great arts scene; but unless you're an artist, it'll always be peripheral to your day to day life. Day to day life in New York is dreary.

New York does have a great arts scene; but unless you're an artist, it'll always be peripheral to your day to day life. Day to day life in New York is dreary. By American standards it's a filthy city. It smells and will always smell because trash is collected on the sidewalk. It manages to be both too hot and too cold. On summer days, a blanket of pollution hangs in the city air. The waterways are toxic after rainfall because NYC expels raw sewage into them. Most any place of business worth visiting will have a long wait. There are lots of delightful people in the right areas, but the many wrong areas are filled with throngs of really awful people. The amount of cat-calling, homophobia, and racism I experienced on the train or just walking around was an order of magnitude more than I've witnessed anywhere on the West Coast. The cost for living this privilege are some of the nation's highest taxes. I don't regret my time in New York, but I do think it's one of the worst cities in the US in terms of livability. From Joan Didion: > All I mean is that I was very young in New York, and that at some point the golden rhythm was broken, and I am not that young anymore. The last time I was in New York was in a cold January, and everyone was ill and tired. Many of the people I used to know there had moved to Dallas or had gone on Antabuse or had bought a farm in New Hampshire. We stayed ten days, and then we took an afternoon flight back to Los Angeles, and on the way home from the airport that night I could see the moon on the Pacific and smell jasmine all around and we both knew that there was no longer any point in keeping the apartment we still kept in New York. There were years when I called Los Angeles “the Coast,” but they seem a long time ago.

msutherl 12y ago
> New York does have a great arts scene; but unless you're an artist, it'll always be peripheral to your day to day life. This just isn't true. I know a number of people who work full-time in tech and are deeply integrated into various New York art scenes. re: New York's awful quality of life compared to other cities, I completely agree. I can't blame anyone for wanting to live in a beautiful place with good weather and a more relaxed pace of life.
Ollinson 12y ago
The subway makes the culture in NYC different than almost any other major city in the US. If you lived in NYC maybe you understand. In other cities you can get around with public transportation, in NYC it's unquestionably the way to get around by everyone from day laborers to movie stars. Also, your narrative of grittiness is very different than the other popular narrative, that NYC is now "disney" full of tourists, cops and wealthy transplants. The simple fact remains that people want to be here in NYC despite whatever criticism.
- STRML 12y ago
  Have you been to other cities with underground metro lines? The NYC subway is the dirtiest, noisiest, most claustrophobic metro system I've ever used; it even gives London a run for its money. There are other great cities out there. Many of them do things differently, and do quite well at it. Try Hong Kong or Singapore's underground, or in Europe, Vienna's - even the ones in China are cleaner and easier to navigate. I agree with nostromo. A day in New York is a day endlessly pushing against roadblocks, those roadblocks being people, traffic, delays, dirt, bad neighborhoods, long commutes, noise, expensive living, expensive eating... and all of that just to live in your tiny box and think that you're a part of it all. I'll take small to medium-size towns any day, over that.
  - Ollinson 12y ago
    Notice how I qualified my statement by saying in the US. I'm perfectly open to criticism of the subway compared to other countries more modern systems. As it stands though, for a person with only a US passport, the NYC subway is in a class of its own. On a global scale it is still one of the largest underground systems. I was born in NYC and have also traveled extensively internationally. Foreigners and transplants often have this misconception that NYC = Manhattan. If I shared that sentiment then I would agree that NYC is not the greatest place to live. Try spending an afternoon in Astoria, Queens or Williamsburg, Brooklyn (two of the most trendy places in NYC at the moment but they work to prove the point). Tourists rarely see these places but residents live comfortable lives there with literally a 5 minute commute to the city.
jackmaney 12y ago
I went to NYC for the first time last year when I went to a conference. I wouldn't mind visiting the city itself, but I wouldn't live there for anything under seven figures per year (and not just because of the high cost of living).

msutherl 12y ago

> New York does have a great arts scene; but unless you're an artist, it'll always be peripheral to your day to day life. This just isn't true. I know a number of people who work full-time in tech and are deeply integrated into various New York art scenes. re: New York's awful quality of life compared to other cities, I completely agree. I can't blame anyone for wanting to live in a beautiful place with good weather and a more relaxed pace of life.

Ollinson 12y ago

The subway makes the culture in NYC different than almost any other major city in the US. If you lived in NYC maybe you understand. In other cities you can get around with public transportation, in NYC it's unquestionably the way to get around by everyone from day laborers to movie stars. Also, your narrative of grittiness is very different than the other popular narrative, that NYC is now "disney" full of tourists, cops and wealthy transplants. The simple fact remains that people want to be here in NYC despite whatever criticism.

STRML 12y ago
Have you been to other cities with underground metro lines? The NYC subway is the dirtiest, noisiest, most claustrophobic metro system I've ever used; it even gives London a run for its money. There are other great cities out there. Many of them do things differently, and do quite well at it. Try Hong Kong or Singapore's underground, or in Europe, Vienna's - even the ones in China are cleaner and easier to navigate. I agree with nostromo. A day in New York is a day endlessly pushing against roadblocks, those roadblocks being people, traffic, delays, dirt, bad neighborhoods, long commutes, noise, expensive living, expensive eating... and all of that just to live in your tiny box and think that you're a part of it all. I'll take small to medium-size towns any day, over that.
- Ollinson 12y ago
  Notice how I qualified my statement by saying in the US. I'm perfectly open to criticism of the subway compared to other countries more modern systems. As it stands though, for a person with only a US passport, the NYC subway is in a class of its own. On a global scale it is still one of the largest underground systems. I was born in NYC and have also traveled extensively internationally. Foreigners and transplants often have this misconception that NYC = Manhattan. If I shared that sentiment then I would agree that NYC is not the greatest place to live. Try spending an afternoon in Astoria, Queens or Williamsburg, Brooklyn (two of the most trendy places in NYC at the moment but they work to prove the point). Tourists rarely see these places but residents live comfortable lives there with literally a 5 minute commute to the city.

jackmaney 12y ago

I went to NYC for the first time last year when I went to a conference. I wouldn't mind visiting the city itself, but I wouldn't live there for anything under seven figures per year (and not just because of the high cost of living).