Paris vs London vs New York City (lifestyle, visit, best)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 1.5 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I've been to NYC and London on numerous occasions. (I live in Washington, D.C., which is just a 4-hour drive from NYC and a 6-hour flight to London.) Personally, I think NYC and London have a lot in common - in terms of scale, urban density, quantity of architecture, tourist attractions, city parks, public squares, restaurants, public transit, museums, nightlife, economic influence and other factors.
The most obvious difference between the 2 cities is the sea of skycrapers in Manhattan in contrast with the expansive historic architecture in London. Basically, if you prefer Europe, then London is better. Whereas if you prefer the U.S., then NYC is better. But then again, NYC reminds me of some European cities and London reminds me of some American cities. So, it's not that clear-cut.
Thank you...this is the point I have been trying to make from the beginning
I think the main thing NYC struggles with is cleanliness... The city is just too dirty, and this is emphasised in the summer by the heat.
The problem is, there is a lack of places to put rubbish in NYC, so people just put bin bags in the street...And because the subway runs 24h (most lines) The stations are much harder to keep clean.
That is one of the main things NYC has over London, a 24h subway, but overall i prefer the tube as it is cleaner and more extensive.
Im hoping the 3 new crossrail underground lines they are currently building in London is 24h, the buses are 24h but buses take ages due to traffic... ;/
I find New York to be quite dirty too, but then, when people visit New York, they do not expect a glamerous, historic city like London or Paris (two cities which actually keep their centre's clean to impress), they just expect a large, buzzing city.
And try shooting all those romantic comedies and winter/Christmas movies in London
By dirty, I am not talking about ghettos (Even though some areas of the south bronx are awful)
I am talking about the constant smell of **** on every street. The pavement is littered with dirt, and even when you are walking down on 5th, past all the luxury brands, you still get the wiff of faeces and off food from the dumpsters...It is quite disgusting.
There is no denying that NYC is a dirty city - the subway is the worst.
This brings me on to the classy part I mentioned earlier.
the UES, is no where near as classy or beautiful (architecturally) as kensington, chelsea, or knightsbridge.
The UES is New York's wealthiest neighbourhood, and it is still dirty and smells.
I constantly saw rats in central park, when out jogging/walking.
My parents thought New York was the best city in the world, after visiting me there a few times - I paid over £7000 for a London trip for them with me, to prove that London is the king city.
It was simple, After walking around, and showing off the city, they were thinking 'this is pretty similar on excitement levels to NYC' and they thought that both cities were equal.
In the end, I won them over, I got a confession from my father, that London is better than NYC, this is the man who constantly raves for the big apple, and is heavily defensive of NYC.
How did I win them over? Quite simple...took them to this:
I actually expected New York to be a lot dirtier.
But i have to say i have only seen...
Hell's Kitchen, Theatre District, Turtle Bay,
Garment District, Koreatown, Murray Hill, Kips Bay,
Chelsea, Flatiron District, Gramercy, Stuyvesant Town
Greenwich Village, NoHo, SoHo, TriBeCa, Financial District,
Basically everything of Manhattan south of 59th Street, except the area East of Broadway between the Brooklyn Bridge and East 14th Street (Didn't have enough time).
I actually expected New York to be a lot dirtier.
But i have to say i have only seen...
Hell's Kitchen, Theatre District, Turtle Bay,
Garment District, Koreatown, Murray Hill, Kips Bay,
Chelsea, Flatiron District, Gramercy, Stuyvesant Town
Greenwich Village, NoHo, SoHo, TriBeCa, Financial District,
Basically everything of Manhattan south of 59th Street, except the area East of Broadway between the Brooklyn Bridge and East 14th Street (Didn't have enough time).
Maybe i just missed the bad parts.
No...By dirt, I am talking about physical dirt, not bad areas, or ghettos.
What I mean is, there is much more dirt and litter on the pavements everywhere...Lower manhattan, times square, 5th, UES, subways etc.
There is no denying that New York is dirty - As I said before, it is a problem that the council debate - there is no where to but rubbish for collection, so people just dump all there bin bags on the sidewalk right next to where people walk - this is not just in the outer areas...outside skyscrapers in midtown, there is constantly big bags.
The pavements never appear to be cleaner either - I know they are, but they are always covered in gum and dirt.
If you think NYC is not a dirty city, just jump on a subway in midtown - you will see
I guess Davy was also talking about physical dirt, he just didn't share your view that NYC is oh so dirty.
All in all, I guess not really caring about public space is somewhat typical of the US as a whole. I have explored all kinds of cities and towns, places of every size, on Google Street View, and I have noticed of course that most public places look a bit neglected and dirty. Since most people (especially pedestrians) seem to avoid public space anyway, why care about it? That seems to be the motto.
I did notice a similar tendency when living in Britain, though, in several cities. I remember sidewalks full of litter, including lots of food such as fries and pizza pieces, which is a problem as it attracts rats and other animals.
Maybe it's a cultural thing. US Cities in the Midwest and from there further to the NW seem to be tidier, maybe it's the strong German and Scandinavian influence Towns of strong Dutch heritage also seem to be rather tidy.
Filth and neglect are a psychological phenomenon. Researchers have conducted interesting experiments and found out that the snowball effect applies. As soon as there is a little dirt, people's willingness to keep the place tidy decreases rapidly. There must really be a fight to eliminate any dirt so that people notice how clean it is and thus are afraid to drop stuff and "get caught"
Thank you for the positive contribution.
I agree with you - apart from the last bit, from past experience, both cities are as 'cool' as each other...I am the only person who has moved from NYC to London on this thread, and the nightlife is 'cool' in both cities - In a way by saying x is cooler than y, you are contradicting the positive point you made earlier.
Fair enough, but I didn't say that was a fact, just that everybody I know in London who has lived in NYC says very similar things, as to how they thought London may be able to live up to NYC in some aspects but it just doesn't. Again, never been to NYC myself, so I don't know.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $53,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 1.5 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Towns of strong Dutch heritage also seem to be rather tidy.
