Why I Wouldn’t Want To Live in New York City

You have an unfortunately skewed perspective of a not-roach-infested apartment in NYC costs—or maybe you were joshing. I can't say the same about hearing your neighbors though.

I hear you – I think my BF wants to move to New York eventually. I'm ambivalent

All the reasons why I wouldn't want to live in NYC but still do…

Typical young person response. You haven't seen the world and you don't know what the hell you are talking about.

typical response of a person that didnt read the article

Typical response to someone who doesn't get sarcasm….

You would write a snarky article about Seattle and then write another one (after getting negative responses) saying that you like it and that it's actually a decent place to live. Make up your freaking mind already. Do you want to move to NYC, or not? If so, cut the crap and stop writing shitty articles about how much it sucks, blah blah blah. If not, stop complaining and just don't move there.

I would hate to know what you're like in real life, and seeing as how I don't live or plan on living in Seattle or NY, thankfully I won't ever have to.

Only a raging dickweed would hate on the metaphorical dick sucking in NYC. That's my favorite part of NYC!!!!!! And the pigeons.

“Sometimes I like to move my arms when I’m in public.”

I died.

if someone disapproves of your behavior, do you just stop behaving that way? what if the person that disapproves of your behavior is anonymous, do you so quickly and easily concede to their wishes? if so, why would you give precedence to their wishes over yours? IRL, whenever someone voices disapproval about your actions, do you immediately cease and desist with your actions? have you ever joked about the place you've lived, like at a party for example? have you ever complained about the public transportation in your city, or maybe the alt-weekly, in a lighthearted and overtly non-serious manner? has anyone ever, in response, like yelled at you, like really gotten red in the face and told you that they regret knowing you and never want to see you again after what you've just said? just wondering.

please do not move to NYC.

I think these stereotypes about NYC exist for a reason, but its far from the full story. And its mostly far away from my experience. Dislike of the crowds remind me of why I hate going to Midtown or Times Square rather than anything resembling where I actually live, work or hang out. I don't think I'd like NYC so much if I lived in Manhattan or even possibly Williamsburg. On that level its also about finding a neighborhood or city that you are comfortable with. For a time I lived in the Bay Area and even though I “liked” it I somehow I never felt completely comfortable there. Though I don't think I'm much of a canoodler, I'm only half-joking when I say I'm not nearly chill enough to make that my home.

Whine

this was good, but we don't really care about your footnotes that highlight where you traveled and lived before.

I enjoyed this.

park slope is nice dude, there are parts of brooklyn where you can avoid some of these issues

Why are people from bland yuppie infested cities always trying to prove (to themselves) that their city (Seattle/Portland/Northampton/Santa Cruz/ect…) is superior to New York? It's OK to just admit that it's not for you. You don't have to come up with crazy distorted/uniformed arguments as to why your hood is better.

1. 1. It’s crowded as hell – well that's sort of true, but you get used to it and many people are invigorated by the amount of productive energy going around.

2. There seems to be no escape – Did you stay in midtown when you visited here? Because it's pretty easy to get out of the crowd. In fact many neighborhoods, especially those in brooklyn are not any more crowded than Capital Hill, Freemont, the CD or Queen Anne. Additionally, when living in New york you have much easier access to other cities/towns/places of interest because shit out here isn't as spread out. When leaving Seattle there's a whole lot of strip-mall/Everett meth head/bland 5 year old housing development vibes before you hit anything interesting.

On the apartment argument – If you want to live alone in Seattle you must live in an apartment. (assuming you can't afford a $700,000 + house). Seattle apartments have the same pitfalls as NY ones. It's plenty easy to find a place in Bell-town with thin walls and nasty neighbors.

3. There is no way to not get screwed on rent – Tired argument. NY, just like seattle is priced accordingly. If I want to live in Capital hill, the same percentage of my paycheck would go to my rent if I was working/living in Williamsburg. On the flip-side, I much prefer the lower rent areas of NYC over those of SeaTown. Bushwick is much cooler than North Seattle.

4. The culture of canoodling – Networking or “canoodling” as you put it is common among ambitious people. Even in Seattle. The difference is that there are more ambitious people in NYC than in Seattle. It's way easier to sort of turn on the cruise control and waste a few years chillin with your bro's at your sick pad in Ballard doin a whole lot of Bar backing at Sunset Tavern and not a lot of following your dreams/becoming an adult type shit. Are you saying that meaningful relationships can't be made in NYC because of all the “canoodling”? Isn't that lame argument usually reserved for LA? Are you sure you've been to NYC? The generally agreed upon stereo type for us is that we are all blunt an uninterested in uninteresting people. Were people mean to you when you were here and you assumed it was cuz you're a bad canoodler? That must be it. I assure you that relationships here are just as “real” as Seattle ones.

I lived in Seattle (for hella long). It's boring. NYC is clearly better, but it's OK that it's not for you.

Brandon, I was born in New York and was raised in Philly. I decided to go back to NY for college, and I have 4 words for you:
YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT!!
You literally listed my top 4 reasons for leaving NY. I could hug you, if this wasn't the internet and that wasn't weird.

And for all of you New Yorkers/NY-Lovers:
Yeah, NY is considered one of the greatest cities ever, and I'm not gonna deny that–but it's not a place everyone can live in. Some people like green grass and movement and sunshine that isn't blocked by looming towers of industry. We who live elsewhere aren't dissing your beloved city; and if we did live there, who the hell would be funding the tourism industry that your city thrives on?
Exactly.

RIP

I think it's refreshing to see that someone on TC believe that NYC ain't all it's cracked up to be. This is coming from a gal that would rather live in the woods than pretend to be alternative and edgy on the internet.

something about this seemed trying so hard to stay positive but made me sad, slightly, even though i don't think that was the intention.

cataloging external factors of place, breaking it down to 'factors' – 'livability' / 'culture' – all of it (and i've done and still do the same) points to some kind of root level disconnection with belonging somewhere.

some ppl just 'get' this. they belong where they belong.

me, i've traveled all over the americas, partly because i hate how the place where i grew up evolved and i felt like i no longer belonged there.

ppl think it's the internet or whatever that defines our generation(s).

it's not. it's the fact that most of us have no more connection to place.

I've lived in New York for about eight years (6 years in Canada) and I have to say I love it here, although I completely understand that it's really hard to enjoy NYC if you weren't raised here or you aren't financially well off. Then again, it's hard to enjoy anywhere if you aren't financially well off.

I think with the whole NYC being super crowded, it definitely is really crowded. But it takes a native, or someone who's lived here 3 years+, to find your own special place where you can be alone. I recommend Van Cortland Park. It's in the Bronx and it's absolutely beautiful. Plus, if you're into forest and grass and stuff, it has a ton of that.

But I liked this article, partly because I could identify and partly because I like your style of writing.

Hahaha, chill bro

Having lived in New York for years, I don't really understand a lot of the complaints, especially in comparison to what the city has to offer (maybe I'm just accustomed to it). Either way, these complaints seem reserved for Midtown, which is why I would go there willingly. But everyone knows that part of town isn't New York anyway – it is much bigger and more diverse than that. That said, I have qualms about comparing cities. It does not seem fair. Whatever New York is still better, always :)

I would never go there willingly***

I don't see anything wrong with the Seattle article nor this NYC one. I think everyone understands the idea of a love-hate relationship. And that's what Brandon was trying to say about Seattle. It doesn't mean he have a few negative things to say about a place means he hate it. We only “playfully diss” a place when we have some sort of affection for it. And sometimes the little flaws about these places makes us just love the place even more.

On a side note, Brandon, I don't think there was a need to justify yourself by adding that footnote at the end of the article. Writers can write about any damn thing they want. Only politicians feel the need to justify their actions.

ugh

I think your missing a number for this : “too many jews”

Whoa, weird animosity in the comments. I've lived in Seattle and I've lived in New York and while I find Seattle much more to my liking on so many levels, I can appreciate New York. I know why people want to live there. I just don't. There's a reason why there's more than just one city in the world. Each one has its own vibe that's attractive to different groups of people, and that's fine… desirable even.

New York is definitely more important than Seattle, but I realized that living someplace important isn't, well, important to me. New York has better public transportation and a 4 AM last call, but Seattle has better weed and friendlier people. Seattle is awful on July 3rd when it's 50 degrees and rainy, New York is awful on August 3rd when it's 95 and humid; Seattle is wonderful on August 3rd when it's 75, cloudless, smells like evergreens and you can see the mountains; New York is wonderful on October 3rd when it's 65, cloudless, doesn't smell like urine and the trees are full of color.

You can be anonymous in New York and it can be both exhilirating and depressing; Seattle can feel like a small town where everybody knows your name or a small town where you run into exes on every street corner.

In the end it's more about the intangible aspects of cities that can't really be quantified in the way this post and mine have attempted to do; you either feel like home or you don't.

Anyway, just some rumination on two cities I've known.

Also, Seattle has KEXP, although now I hear it has a satellite station in NY, so there's that.

I think the use of gentrification concerning Capitol Hill and also the black people in the CD is what made most of my friends (black and not) kind of hate that article. The humor was kind of directed poorly. And the hate for the Seattle Weekly. Sometimes their articles are better!

the internet isn't real life, Brandon. Thank God.

You can avoid upsetting people by not posting anything at all. C U l8r.

I mean its like, thru the back door to the front stage amirite!?

everyone move to tempe AZ, i'm lonely, it's hot

It's against New York City law for an apartment not to have a window.

I agree on the New York thing. Number 5 should be people talking about how amazing and filthy and beautiful and tortured and unbearably magical New York is all the time.

I also feel you on the people flipping out about poking light fun at a place you love. I wrote an article about how Europe doesn't put ice cubes in their drinks and loves skeezy deep Vs and you would think I denied the Holocaust.

I know how strange it can be watching people make misguided assumptions about who you are and what you mean, but that's writing on the internet, bro. If Shakespeare had a comment section, I'm sure he would have killed himself two plays in. There's no need for the footnote, really. If people are going to think you're a narrow, inexperienced prick because they're butthurt about you ribbing their city, they're going to think it no matter how many countries you listed.

I agree with Anna. This is yet another case of you generalizing neighborhoods as representative of an entire city. Midtown is awful—I'll give you that. Times Square is cramped, crowded and miserable. However, you fail to realize that those “congo lines” are due to tourist crowds. Real New Yorkers inhabit remote areas of the city, and since that you fall under the tourist category, it's pretty ballsy (but predictable) that you summarize for neighborhoods and boroughs that you've never visited. Rent in New York is high, but you fail to mention that cars are needed in every other city, bringing overall living prices up at my city's level.

I could go on, but there's not point. Clearly you're too close-minded to ever appreciate an environment that's out of your comfort zone. The next time you make sweeping statements about a city, try living there first. As a tourist, you don't know anything.

Oh, one more thing. I see that you're a writer. Considering that this post isn't very long, you might want to expand your metaphors a little bit. Your dick sucking analogy is numerous and contrived, ultimately making me respect you less than I already did. Get creative and present a well-supported argument next time, Brandon.

seems like you didn't read the entire article

“Don’t get me wrong – I like NYC. It’s really cool, it’s really interesting, everything does seem to happen there, and people seem to self-actualize there at a higher rate than any other place I’ve been. The culture that comes out of NYC is vibrant and insane, and perhaps is in part born out of the ‘negatives’ I’ve here listed.”

idg how my dick sucking analogy is 'numerous'

every other city doesn't require a car, i haven't had a car for ~7 years, one of my friends has a car that i can think of, i have perhaps 10-15 people i would call friends

this was not meant to be a threat to those who use glean portions of their identities from being a 'new yorker,' just chill

honestly doesn't seem like you read the entire article or simply skimmed it with a predetermined opinion about it that you formed upon seeing the headline, or something, i don't know where you got that i was trying to prove seattle superior to new york

every time i've stayed in nyc i've stayed in brooklyn

re canoodling i am not saying anything more than i said, that the culture of canoodling seems to be stronger than in any other place i've been and that this is something that i dislike about nyc; i also say that i have respect for it at the same time as not liking it; have no idea what affect that the “'lame argument' is usually reserved for LA” has on the fact that i wrote that here, don't get how that proves what i say as not representative of my opinion; seems like you extended my canoodling thing to a meaning that i didn't at all intend

again it seems like for some reason you're threatened by this article and it must be because you base part of your identity on the stigma of being from new york; didn't mean to attack that – felt like the things i said were relatively innocuous: “crowds” “no escape” “high rent” and “canoodling”

I lived in the East Village while working in a building off of Times Square, so while my perception of NYC might be skewed (accordinging to all of these Midtown comments) I 100% agree with your article. There was something so claustrophobic and containing about living on the ISLAND of Manhattan. Yes, it is very much an island, the roads literally end and would drop off into water. Keeping that in mind, the freedom of personal space and even just mentally freeing yourself from the city was a huge challange. I currently live in Chicago, and I can honestly say that before living here, I was terrified that maybe big city living just wasn't going to work for me, but I was wrong –NYC city living just wasn't for me. Chicago is cleaner (NY streets are filled with trash), has a much wider/spread out street planning system, the public transport. is ABOVE ground (which is liberating to someone who used to take the Subway everyday) and actually having smaller parts of the city a car ride away is nice. The Burbs blend right into city vs. bridges. and people can get in their cars and drive to their little hearts desire.
Overall, you read my mind.

As a resident of NYC, I struggle with every reason on that list and then some. There's perks but man… the downsides seem to outweigh them… especially at 3am when that bitch upstairs is getting some for the 15th night in a row. (Not-that-I'm-counting-thank-you-very-much.)

Here is the thing/problem with this “discussion”: I can make fun of my family. But you can't.

Theres a reason Sinatra didn't write songs about Seattle.

Maybe you should get some too, then you wouldn't sound as bitter.

Not to over-analyze a one-sentence post, but what is the “family” in this scenario? Is it the places we live? Because I live in Europe, he lives in Seattle. So shouldn't we be able to make fun of them?

I confuse.

Yes. My point isn't that you can't or shouldn't make fun of where you live. And you have any right to have opinions or make assumptions about somewhere you don't. But its just an observation — as this comments section shows, even people who may make fun of their own city might not be as kind towards people from outside of it doing so.

“Getting some” will make me appreciate the 4am wakeup bangs on a nightly basis? Maybe I'm missing something. Wish I could be as easily pleased as you, Greg.

You are missing “some” thing.

Dearest Brandon,

I was born in NY, lived there till my parents were murdered, raised in Omaha, Nefuckingbraska and now attending school in San Francisco.

I appreciate this article, I read all of it and I didn't superimpose my own opinion on your voice. My only advice is that you just stop answering people's comments.

People are twats. Be the bigger twat in this situation. And let the haters just fucking hate and drink their haterade.

BTDUBS San Francisco is dope as fuck,
Annette

PS: You don't have to explain yourself to anyone and by continuing to have conversations with dumb ppl from the interweb who don't respect you and vice versa you will probs only become more turned off to internet writing.

you're probably right

sometimes i feel like if i can just be logical about things, people will stop being idiots

you're right though

Thank you for sharing. I have lived in NYC for almost 10 years now and your post totally made sense to me on every level. I am thinking of leaving due to all of the reasons listed above. I have no savings, I live in a box and I really want a slower, more gentle pace of life. Hell, I want to throw my arms around in public too! Thanks for making me smile!!!

I have a love affair with NYC. I lived there 9 years and loved all 8 years of it. By the 9th year, I was ready to leave and I did. Now, I miss it. My heart aches for it. If I could afford my home in LA and a studio in NYC, I would do it in a heartbeat. The city has a lot of things wrong with it, but I still consider it my home.

http://redcarpetcloset.tv/

That's where I'm at. I'm graduating a week from tomorrow though so I doubt I'll be here much longer. Don't think I can take another cultureless 115 degree summer.

Hell, I'm just happy to see someone else publicly admitting to having lived in SLC. The impression one tends to get from folks who don't live here is the Mountain West is somewhere between a mass hallucination and a figment of our imaginations.

Live in Jersey City, work in New York City. Affordable rent and a 5-minute, $1.75 train ride away from the heart of the city. Better than Brooklyn. :)

Well with the way your replies keep making the wake up times later and later maybe you will reply here enough that she'll start getting some at 8 or 9 am?

Beyond your simply lacking content, your writing style is horrendous.

wow, seem like you've lived in some disgusting small American cities that are totally isolated. I also love how you include your 'travel experience in Western Europe as if that gives you any authority about comparisons to New York. I just wanna get this straight you 'travelled there', not lived there right? Yeah that's what I thought. Yeah, I'm from New York and my favorite thing about New York isn't the people from here, but those who chose to move here. They've made the choice to be awesome. Obviously, you never will.

seattle is shit compared to nyc. i lived in nyc all of my life. and i am in seattle now. this city is bullshit. seriously!!! wtf doesnt this city have sidewalks. wtf doesnt this city have realy entertainment. and real fucking fashion. im so fucking upset that a disgusting city like this even exists in my country. wtf is there so much homeless in this city. and that space needle is trash. wtf is so great about it. so what if your weed is good. it costs too fucking much for it at the grams they are giving. the people in this state are not fucking friendly. the people in nyc are wayyy friendlier. the people in nyc are quicker to befriend you. the people here act like they dont know how to greet people with there pathetic cliques. and wtf is with the sweatpants every fucking where. wtf u people dont know how to fucking dress. and wtf is with the looks at me cause i can dress. im not wearing sweatpants. i cant even fucking wear my heels out here cause they have gravel roads and no fuckin sidewalks. and the city of seattle needs to learn to level there fucking streets and make homes for the homeless. what fucking culture?!?!? what asian people means u have culture. seattle will never be more culturally diverse than nyc. that would be seattles wet dream to even be remotely close. if u had culture diversity you would have parades for said cultures celebrating them. what culture the endless pho restaurants. such bullshit. you seattle people get offended when people tell u this state sucks. well fucking do soemthing about it then. step your fucking game up !!!!!

complain about the damned crowds if u want. but ur city doesnt even have a tourist crowds. because it is  just that fucking lame. admit to the fact that your city is trash.  the most crowds seattle has is a homeless crowd begging u for fucking shit every step u take. and u know why nyc has a crowd cause there is shit to do in the fucking city. have shit to do in ur fucking city then u wont have a high rate of suicides. nyc doesnt have a high rate of suicides compared to seattle. its fucking summertime. and its still cold in seattle. im still wearing a fucking sweater and my family in nyc is enjoying the beaches and pools at 80 and 90 degree weather. i hate this city and i hope a terrorist bombs the shit off the map.

Ok, wtf is wrong with these people? I'm a poor white girl living in a shitty house in Seattle's ritzy Upper Queen Anne 'hood, (one year now, 10 years just south of Seattle, rest of life divided between the horror that is Tampa, Florida and a lovely childhood in (very) small town New Hampshire.) I ruefully laughed at all your spot-on comments on Seattle.

I still get a little thrill every time I walk under the Space Needle, though. As iconic views go, it's cheaper than the Statue of Liberty.

Hey you should just write about every city in the world so everyone could hate you.