Foo - Alright-- NYC v. LA?

On and off I contemplate an irrational change of venues and it usually comes down to NYC or LA (or Scotland or Ireland but not right now)... so bring it on - east coasters vs. left coasters... New York City or LA/SoCal? Biking, living, working (I work in video production and could probably find work in either place) etc? Anyone, anyone?

Being an ex NYer I would say go east young man. Manhattan is the capitol of the known universe. Yeah the weather is better in SoCal but so what. Thats part of being a NYer. Coming from Somerville THE CITY should be absolutely balmy.
Good to great bike riding is a matter of a short train or car ride away.
Look at it this way, any "itch" you develop in NYC can be scratched at any time of the day or night.
Plus no earthquakes, mudslides, and wild fires.

Manhattan is the capitol of the known universe.

Quod erat demonstrandum.

-alex.

I've worked and lived in both cities. You don't need a car to get around as much in NYC, the public transportation system is better and the size is much smaller, I could walk across manhatten in a day but not LA. I felt alot safer in NYC. I worked until 3 am and felt good walking around since there were always tons of people and the city never slept. I was scared $hitless in LA just driving around at 3 am. (Of course, at the time I was in South central ). I believe the cost of living is about the same. (expensive) However, I hate cold weather (hence my move to sunny Hotlanta) so I would probably choose LA for the weather.

people are nicer in NYC> and real. when i was growing up in brooklyn i thought that there was two types of people in the world. those that lived in NYC and those who are saving their money to come and live in NYC.

it is the center of the universe, that is true.

nothing against LA, and NYC is expensive...but when you have the best of everything. . . .
its worth it.

nobody walks in LA.

CB, If you wanted hot weather you should have come further south. I was considering the Atlanta area but remembered the ice storms when I was a kid and said go south young man.

First, there is a lot more to Southern California than just LA. I grew up in San Diego, went to college in Orange County. Moved back to San Diego for graduate school. Moved to LA County to work for a few years (I refused to live in LA proper). Now I am back in Orange County. You can pretty much find whatever you want here, aside from affordable housing (median price in Southern California is about $400,000).

Second, it was 90 degrees yesterday.

That said, please move to New York. We have too many people here already.

That said, please move to New York. We have too many people here already.

Ahh, very inviting.

Of course, other considerations of late - the possibility that gas will exceed 2 dollars a gallon on the EAST coast means that in auto-centric SoCal/LA gas has the potential to hit THREE bucks! I day dream of how much moolah I can save without car payments, gas, insurance - of course, it would all get dumped nicely into a small apartment in NYC... but at least one could reasonably ditch the car for NYC whereas everyone has told me to at least have a car on hand out west.

Blah!

I vote NYC....because you can:
->commute to work year round
->bike in the park
->hop on a train and 45 mins later bike in the mountains or on the beach
->there is always something to do here and you can get there by bike
->you don't want a car here
AND
->we don't mind you coming here

In NYC who needs a car? And if you do, you ditch a clunker in the burbs with friends. Thats what a lot of the people I know do.
Heresy summed it up right NYers are friendly welcoming people while TINSEL TOWNERS are in their own world.

LA doesn't have any of the devil's powder: AKA snow.

In fact it doesn't have rain either.

And if you move here, I'll buy you a glass of your favorit adult beverage.

William, as tempting as that may seem to some just a look at Zagats alone should tell you which city has more class. Who does LA have? Wolfgang Puck? PUUUULLLEASE!!!! What else does LA have that NY doesn't? Drive by shootings.
NYC IS THE CAPITOL OF THE UNIVERSE.
No offense Ripraph, but Chicago smokes LA.
You would need to entice someone with an "adult beverage" or maybe two just so that it would be morning before they woke up and realized what a bad choice they had made. :p

Think "middle coast"...think Chicago. We have the best Police money can buy.

(this ad neither endorsed or funded by the City of Chicago or any affiliated municipalities. Any likeness this ad may have to Chicago is pure coincidence and Chicago is not responsible for implied similarities.)

Having never been to NYC... I'm slightly biased... but SoCal is where it's at... it's March 9th.. it's friggin 78 degrees outside today...

I wouldn;t live in LA proper... but I live in Orange County... incredible cycling, lots of great LBS's, and the women are hotter :-)

jeff

165, Chicago isn't called the second city for nothing.

i would go to California, but thats because i live in NY
where it snowed all day yesterday.

i would go to California, but thats because i live in NY
where it snowed all day yesterday.

Snowed here in Boston/Cambridge/Somerville too -- but I like watching the snowfall and riding through it... I just don't like bitter cold - which it wasn't yesterday, so that's alright.

Think "middle coast"...think Chicago.

I dunno... Any city that takes it's best feature and hides it behind a highway just ain't for me! And it's such a nice lake, too, if you can get to it...

-chris

NYC, hmmmm, what can you say that hasn't already been said??

Great art.
Great food.
Great music.
Great fashion.
Great architecture.
Great museums.
Great mass transit.
Great access for skiing, fall foilage, camping, hiking...
Great neighborhoods.

I would vote NYC... even though we're leaving soon I consider it a notch in my belt that I have experienced life here-the highs and lows-and all of us survived it (NY'ers that is), together. There are places to live and then there is NYC. New Yorkers are different, life here is great but hard... I mean, any place that you have to work 3 jobs just to cover rent on a closet with a shared bathroom... you gotta want to live here.

My advice is this... move here, experience it for no other reason than being able to plug into the energy this place produces, if you make a boatload of bread stay, if you don't... split in a few years and you'll be all the better for the experience.

I grew up in Michigan,outside of Detroit. Lived in Florida.
Worked in New York City on assignment for 5 weeks(stayed in Ft. Lee, NJ.) and lived on the left coast for 12 years.
While northern San Diego is not LA, the cycling is great, diving great, activities abundant. Climate almost perfect.
Here we can bike 345 days a year in fantanstic weather.
I vote So Cal. We go to LA often..Plays, museums, Hollywood Bowl... I recall commuting out into the Bronx.I think safety concerns about the same..Yes, Woodie Allen is right. NYC has more culture..But, there I would only ride 4 months.. I will take LA anyday.
Yes, mass transit is a big plus..But then for me, I commute by bike all year , so what the difference..Amtrak, The Coaster is available for my purposes,so my needs are met.

I say who cares and go ride your bike. But hey it is just a thought tho.

"Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard; live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft."

I was born and raised here in LA. I can not stand the attitude of most people around here. There are some that are genuinely good folk but not many. The one fact that keeps me around is choice of activity. With in a 2hr drive I can surf at dawn then drive to the mountains to ski and be back in time to get a good mtb or road ride in (if I am feeling inspired to do all that). Every thing in that aspect is very close.

If you were to move to this area I would suggest looking at places such as Simi Valley, Moorpark, Thousand Oaks. There are actually in Ventura county but right on the border of LA. Better air and communities.

:beer:

If this were a culture forum, I would understand favoritism towards NYC...Not that LA does not have plays,writers, museums..
But this is a forum related to outdoors/sports. LA hands down.The distances for bike trails and weather. SO Cal people, so say the stand up comics are the best looking in the country? Certainly have better opprotunities to stay in shape.
As to people, I find them the same everywhere. Hospitable. Maybe, in Iowa...People busy, rude almost everywhere, until personal interactions causes them to break down the outer veneer.

"Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard; live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft."
That song kicked @$$.

A song I enjoy hearing..
"California's been Good to Me." Tom Petty..
Sometimes, it seems appropriate.Think Ani DeFranco did it.
"Drove 500 miles today and never Left LA."

Sometimes, it seems appropriate.Think Ani DeFranco did it.
"Drove 500 miles today and never Left LA."

Nope... that's Michelle Shocked.

Thanks Khuron....When I plow through CD's at the record shop that tune has been in my craw...See what else she has done....Michelle Shocked, of course -I mean...

Thanks Khuron....When I plow through CD's at the record shop that tune has been in my craw...See what else she has done....Michelle Shocked, of course -I mean...

I only have her one album, Arkansas Traveller. Most of her songs on that album are classified under Folk although "Come A Long Way" was played on many alternative stations back in the early 1990s. Here's a website that has her entire discography (http://www.folklib.net/uwp/wrp_shocked.shtml). Across the board, her music is quite eclectic... ranging from jazz to folk to rock.