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I have lived in London for 10 years and I go to NY on a regular basis. The more I discover NYC the more it reminds me of London. Not Manhattan of course but if you venture outside to different areas it looks/feels like London, I spent signifcant amount of time in Brooklyn last week and it felt like I was in London. Anyone else feels the same?
To me, NY is like London with the volume (and everything else) turned up. Also, when I'm in NY I constantly feel like I'm in a movie or TV show. I think it's the one place in the world where you can go there for your first ever visit and instantly feel like you're familiar with it, just because we're so exposed to it through entertainment. Aside from the area around Big Ben, and maybe Buckingham Palace, London is more of a mystery.
I think they look quite different though. New York has all the skyscrapers and brownstones which you don't see in London (aside from the small cluster of skyscrapers at Canary Wharf), the hot dog/pizza carts on ever corner, the yellow cabs (vs black cabs).
I don't think there's anywhere that really resembles New York. London is unique too, although other parts of the UK are similar in places. Particularly the Victorian terraced houses.
I have lived in London for 10 years and I go to NY on a regular basis. The more I discover NYC the more it reminds me of London. Not Manhattan of course but if you venture outside to different areas it looks/feels like London, I spent signifcant amount of time in Brooklyn last week and it felt like I was in London. Anyone else feels the same?
I'm not an expert in london but people say philly is like brooklyn and I've heard it compared to london a lot. Not sure if you are trying to find the london in NYC or a city that is more like london.
I found Boston quite similar to London, particularly as it's the only US city I've been in that has a non-grid structure. This street really reminded me of England in general (the American flag aside)
I found Boston quite similar to London, particularly as it's the only US city I've been in that has a non-grid structure. This street really reminded me of England in general (the American flag aside)
Boston pubs remind me very much of London pubs and yes some cobbled streets and general red brick architecture is very London like.
In some ways they are similar, but otherwise they do differ.
Similarities
Huge sprawling cities with large populations. Except for Moscow, the rest Europe in particular has no equivalent.
Very diverse populations and areas with specific ethnic enclaves.
Massive central parks which are a godsend in such large cities. Paris by comparison has tiny parks right at it heart imo.
Great shopping with various areas that differ massively. In NYC the shopping in hells kitchen is massively different to Fifth and again Soho. Likewise in London the kings road is very different to Oxford street and Camden.
Both cities have new similar pop up trendy districts. If you say Williamsburg, then I immediately think of Shoreditch.
Differences
New York wins on sheer scale and density hands down. London may have some impressive architecture, but nothing can prepare you for the skyscraper canyons of New York.
New York is a lot dirtier than London. A quick ride of the subway in New York shows you how dirty the city can be. London by contrast is a lot cleaner.
Real estate in New York is cheaper and better quality than the often older damp and expensive housing in London.
Some may disagree but New Yorkers are much ruder than Londoners hands down. They often push and are quick to get angry if delayed or feel cheated in some way.
Finally New York just has more crazies.. For sheer wild folk on the trains or on the streets, New York beats London by a fair margin..
New York wins on sheer scale and density hands down. London may have some impressive architecture, but nothing can prepare you for the skyscraper canyons of New York.
I've written in some detail about this in previous posts, but I've never understood what people find so impressive about this. It's a completely alien mentality to me.
Density per se is great, but, to me, not so much if that density has so much condensed urban ugliness to go with it. The textures, poor maintenance state, size discrepancies and irregular spacing of the high-rises just don't go down aesthetically well.
I've written in some detail about this in previous posts, but I've never understood what people find so impressive about this. It's a completely alien mentality to me.
Density per se is great, but, to me, not so much if that density has so much condensed urban ugliness to go with it. The textures, poor maintenance state, size discrepancies and irregular spacing of the high-rises just don't go down aesthetically well.
I think the best showcase for US urban density is the Chicago loop (probably my favorite urban area in the states).
I don't think he meant that it was 'impressive', merely that it's just denser.
That said, there is a type of liberal mindset that revels in urban decay and ugliness like pigs in mud.
Besides, if anyone is desperate to be surrounded by tall buildings in London they could just head to CW and walk up and down the colonnades for a bit. A speck on the horizon compared to midtown, for now, but a lot more pleasant.
... If anyone is desperate to be surrounded by tall buildings in london they could just head to cw and walk up and down the colonnades for a bit.
That was pretty funny.
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