New Yorkers are famous for being city snobs; after living here for even a brief time, you find yourself sipping a vodka tonic on a microsuede banquette at some ridiculously overpriced lounge and saying to your friends, “I’m pretty sure the only place I could live in other than New York would be Paris. Or maybe London.” And everyone nods in assent. Then the conversation will devolve into a comparison between New York and some other city, frequently LA (the traffic! And the fake boobs!), or sometimes Chicago (don’t cows roam the streets there?) or Boston (the Red Sox).
What drives the New York snobbery is that living here can be so torturous that we have to come up with reasons that we don’t live elsewhere. If we could even allow ourselves to consider inhabiting some other city, then why on earth would we linger in a place with such unthinkably high real estate prices ($1,000 per square foot, people) and so many unbearable smells?
After almost a decade here, I love my life and all the conveniences and offerings of the city; but I could conceive of living somewhere else. Somewhere with more humane work hours, less neuroses, (slightly) fewer options of things to do (and therefore less guilt at not doing any of them), more closet space, less jostling (oh, how I have come to hate the jostling). Of course, I also I hate strip malls and driving, and I get impatient if I have to go more than a block to buy a Diet Coke; so my options may be somewhat limited.
This past weekend, we went to Washington, DC, to celebrate our three-year anniversary and to do all the touristy things that neither of us had done since elementary school. We stayed at the beautiful Hay-Adams hotel, which was a little floofier/old-school than what we usually go for; but it was ideal for DC inasmuch as it was centrally located and had an understated grandeur that captured the city’s Southern side. Also, the breakfast was extremely tasty.
Here’s my assessment of the livability of our nation’s capital, as compared with New York (caveat: I was there for a weekend. I do not claim to “know” DC. Duh.):
Walkability
We set out on foot from our hotel. Our destination was the Supreme Court. On a map, this looked like a perfectly reasonable walk. Half an hour into the trek, we had made it about four blocks (each “block” being the equivalent of about five New York City blocks). We sagged and sweated in the heat. The Capitol still seemed impossibly far away. The traffic lights took a thousand years to change. But, we soldiered on.
On our many-hour trek, we did appreciate the pedestrian-friendly width of the sidewalks. You could make your way without being mowed down or elbowed by others, and people tended to walk on the right side. That is one of the most infuriating thing about people in New York – they consistently walk on whatever part of the sidewalk they damn well feel like walking on, so you get this miasma of bodies that you have to plow through rather than simply being able to file along in a civilized manner. Also: DC has lots of public toilets. Great for my small bladder. New York is very bladder-unfriendly.
Advantage: New York.
Conveniences
DC, you have a deli problem. You’ve got all these government employees – hundreds of thousands of them! – and tourists – thousands more! - all converging on the area from Capitol Hill down through the Mall and NOT A DELI IN SIGHT. Why is New York the only city that has fully caught onto this concept? You need a little store with drinks, snacks, sandwiches, coffee and ginseng energy pills on EVERY CORNER. This is necessary to life.
After we went to the Supreme Court, we were famished. We walked a couple of looooooong blocks in a few different directions (growing older every time we had to wait to cross a street) and saw absolutely nothing but more concrete government buildings. Close to death, we asked a guard at the Capitol where we could get something to eat, and she pointed us to the basement cafeteria in the Longworth House Office Building. A cafeteria? That’s all you’ve got? We went there and they had food and everything, but come on. Choices. We need choices.
Advantage: New York. By a long shot.
Quality of Food and Drink
Thankfully, we had made reservations for dinner; so in spite of the dearth of conveniences, we were able to maintain our body weight over the long weekend. And, happily, every place we ate was excellent.
The first night, we went to TenPenh, a Pan-Asian restaurant with a lively atmosphere and diverse menu. It was a little loud, but not earsplitting, and the tables were nicely spaced (I can’t stand feeling like I can rest my elbow on the next person’s bread plate). The service was generous, enthusiastic and swift, without being abrupt. And the prices! So reasonable! We walked out of there feeling like they had paid us to eat their food.
Then, the following evening, we went to Ceiba. Awwww, yeah. This place rocked. Subdued atmosphere, but in a sexy way; nice layout; flattering lighting that still allowed for menu-reading without the aid of a flashlight. The service was tremendous. Our food was quite transporting, especially the fufu mash (plaintains and sweet potatoes mashed up with – wait for it – smoked bacon) and the dulce de leche cheesecake (dear God!). After we finished dessert, they brought out a little carton of their homemade caramel popcorn with toasted almonds. Damn. Good.
Advantage: New York, mostly based on sheer number of options. Sorry, DC. Good show, though. Ceiba - we'll be back!
Public Transportation
WHAT IS THE DEAL WITH THE FARE SYSTEM IN DC? I was all looking forward to hopping on and off the Metro, getting around all zippity-doo-dah and enjoying the escalators and air-conditioned stations vs. the grubby stairs and blast furnace heat of the MTA platforms. I had not accounted for the mind-blowing absurdity of the farecard system. The fare is based on distance? What is that? What if you change your mind en route? What if you get distracted and miss your stop? Do you have to put more money on the card to get out of the station? And what if you don’t have anything smaller than a $20, but you only want a $2.00 farecard? What then? And you have to produce the card again at the END OF THE RIDE? For God’s sake people!
Advantage: New York. Gah!
Activities/Culture
I luuuuuurve that everything (well, most stuff) is FREE in DC. Yes! Our tax dollars at work (finally!). In New York, the museum entry fees have gotten way out of hand. $50 to go look at some art or dinosaurs for a couple of hours? Plus, the whole Mall layout is kind of cool in that you can wander in and out of so many different collections for as long or not-long as you want (possibly sometimes just to pee). We went on Friday night to a (free!) jazz thingy at the Sculpture Garden at the National Gallery of Art. We have all that free junk in Central Park and Bryant Park in the summer, but you can’t even go to them because they are mobbed with Cutthroat Picnic People, all jockeying for the best possible blanket position. It’s so unpleasant, you just want to go around and dump prosecco on everyone’s heads.
Advantage: I was going to say “Draw”; but then I thought about Lincoln Center and all the Broadway and off-Broadway plays and the Fringe Festival and everything – gotta go with New York. Sorry.
Dog/Runner Friendliness
I saw tons of people running in DC, but I can’t imagine it would be that enjoyable to run on the Mall or around the Tidal Basin. Too many tourists, and too many streets to cross (with those interminable lights!) to get there. I understand Rock Creek Park is nice. We didn’t go there. Maybe it would be as good as Central Park for running? (Although I am told it’s a little sketchier safety-wise.) Or can you run along the river somewhere? That might be fun. The same thing goes for dogs – we weren’t in any residential-y kind of areas except for Georgetown, and I saw some people walking around with pooches there, but it didn’t seem as easy to navigate the brick sidewalks with a dog.
Advantage: New York. I heart Central Park.
Law Jobs
With its government jobs - the DOJ! The CIA! The FBI! Lots of acronyms! - plus private sector law firms (appellate practice…drool), DC is unquestionably an excellent place to practice law. And with the slightly lower cost of living, you maybe have a bit more job flexibility than in the city. And maybe – just maybe – the lawyers treat each other a little more nicely than they do in New York.
Advantage: DC. Too bad you have to live there, though.
(Well, ok - If you can get some more delis in place and speed up those traffic lights, I might consider it.)
(I was going to insert a bunch of pretty pictures into this post, but our wireless Internet is being a big butthead. Fie on you, wireless Internet!)
“I’m pretty sure the only place I could live in other than New York would be Paris. Or maybe London.”
I have uttered this exact statement! In fact, I had it in the profile of my blog, but my husband told me to take it down as it sounded too snobby. :)
Posted by: Laura B. | June 26, 2006 at 01:28 PM
I thoroughly enjoyed this comparison. Will your jaw drop if I tell you I've never even BEEN to NYC?
I know. I know!
It's on our list of places to go. But there are so many pretty, warm beaches that take priority. So. At least I have some excuse.
Posted by: chirky | June 26, 2006 at 05:03 PM
Laura B. - I can't tell you how many times I have had that conversation. In law school, it must have been once a week. For the first year that I lived here, everything that happened to me was just "SO New York." I got excited over the littlest things. Many of which now irritate me the most about City living. But it's cool. I still have trouble thinking of a place I'd rather live, when I really seriously think about it.
Jes - My jaw is on the floor! So lemme get this straight - you have been to THE PHILIPPINES, but not to New York? Ok, actually, I can see that. My husband has been to Vietnam (I've been twice), but not to London or Paris (YET). So sometimes you just travel places in a haphazard manner. Or you prefer pretty beaches to grimy cities, which I can also understand. We try to switch it up by doing a beach vacay and then a sightseeing or active/adventure-y trip - or, even better, something that combines beach and one of those things. Of course, every time I go somewhere, I start panicking about all the places I haven't been yet. I'm fun like that.
Get your booty to NYC, girly!
Posted by: lawyerish | June 26, 2006 at 05:21 PM
Ah yes. City love to justify rents. I know it well. We have the same conversations, but the other cities listed are usually Seattle and London, because those of us in San Francisco wilt in weather above 90 degrees, and freeze when it's below 55. We are wimps. We do not care.
The SF/NY comparison: http://www.themorningnews.org/archives/in_the_city/battle_of_the_giants.php
Posted by: Whinger | June 26, 2006 at 05:42 PM
Thanks for the link, Whinger! Very funny article. I've been to SF a few times and I liked it well enough, but I didn't LOVE it. I kind of expected to at least love it a little; but something about it wasn't quite there for me. Maybe we did too much driving (i.e., looking for parking), or maybe I didn't see enough of it - although the first time I went, I was being taken around by a local. I do like Marin County and its cute little (EXPENSIVE) towns and all the (EXTREMELY MOUNTAINOUS) places to run or bike, and I like the whole free-wheeling, anything-goes deal (although that certainly applies here, except people can be somewhat judgmental about fashion).
Probably the most city-love I have found other than New York is Chicago. And Boston. I really love both of those cities and could see myself living in either one. Too bad we bought and therefore cannot move for the next thousand years, at which time we may have 1% equity in our home.
Posted by: lawyerish | June 26, 2006 at 06:04 PM
I lived my last year in NYC and now I am in Chicago for the summer. And I have a countdown until I go back to New York. There is something about NYC autumns that you just can't beat - and everything is just so convinient! (beyond just the stores). What I would kill for, though, is some friendly/not manic people working at Associated. Would it kill them to say "Next!!" with a modicum of happiness in their voice? :)
Posted by: Banana | June 29, 2006 at 12:24 PM