New York vs. London (single life, cleanness, safety, etc.) (Amsterdam: appointed, how much)

[Bennny]

Transport in New York better?

How come the tube is older than all train services in the US, yet is cleaner and definitely more modern than NY's? London had electronic noticeboards and the Oyster card system for a lot longer, plus more modern rolling stock.
London is more cutting edge. Especially transport! Take a look at St. Pancras station, where you can catch the 186 mph train service through the worlds largest undersea tunnel direct to Paris. Or you could take the fast accelerating 140 mph javelin domestic service to Stratford where the 2012 Olymipcs will be held, where they have basically built a city within a city.
There is also the unmanned docklands light rail service connecting the east of London with the Canary Wharf business district.
London is in the process of building Crossrail - a huge new underground, additional railway network across the whole of London with fast trains. That is additional to the already extensive London overground and tube services.
There are 10 main line terminus stations in London plus several hundred small commuter type stations.

From Wiki:
New York City's bus network is extensive, with over 5,900 buses carrying about 2.01 million passengers every day on more than 200 local routes and 30 express routes.
London's bus network is extensive, with over 6,800 scheduled services every weekday carrying about six million passengers on over 700 different routes making it one of the most extensive bus systems in the world and by far the largest in Europe.

New York has three major airoports: JFK, Newark and LaGuardia, together serving 100 million travelers per year.
London is the best served city by airports in the world with almost 150 million passengers using its six airports in 2005. In order of size, these airports are Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Luton, London City, and London Southend Airport. Heathrow alone handles nearly 70 million passengers per annum.

There are more than 19,000 registered taxis in London.
There are just under 13,000 cabs in NYC.

New York has a population of 8.1 million and covers 305 square miles.
London has a population of 7.8 million and covers 611 square miles.
So, the city of London is bigger than the city of New York - Remember, a metropolitan area is not a city!

So there, I just wanted to insert the facts regarding transport.

Also, another good point - In London, you can sit in a beautifully historic pub and drink a man's drink - none of this watered down pee they drink in the US. Sit back in an old leather couch and drink a fine ale!

[fantine]

Originally Posted by Jess87

Just what I was thinking. People don't queue up to emigrate to london, they just go right on in as the government make it so fricken easy!

Ha, I wish. I'm American and have spent the past 7 years in London, fighting for all I was worth to stay. And I'm still being forced to leave despite having spent that much time here, having a British post-graduate degree and earning a good salary.

Unless you fall into a few specific categories, it's not easy at all.

[Worldtrotter]

Originally Posted by Bennny

Transport in New York better?

How come the tube is older than all train services in the US, yet is cleaner and definitely more modern than NY's? London had electronic noticeboards and the Oyster card system for a lot longer, plus more modern rolling stock.
London is more cutting edge. Especially transport! Take a look at St. Pancras station, where you can catch the 186 mph train service through the worlds largest undersea tunnel direct to Paris. Or you could take the fast accelerating 140 mph javelin domestic service to Stratford where the 2012 Olymipcs will be held, where they have basically built a city within a city.
There is also the unmanned docklands light rail service connecting the east of London with the Canary Wharf business district.
London is in the process of building Crossrail - a huge new underground, additional railway network across the whole of London with fast trains. That is additional to the already extensive London overground and tube services.
There are 10 main line terminus stations in London plus several hundred small commuter type stations.

From Wiki:
New York City's bus network is extensive, with over 5,900 buses carrying about 2.01 million passengers every day on more than 200 local routes and 30 express routes.
London's bus network is extensive, with over 6,800 scheduled services every weekday carrying about six million passengers on over 700 different routes making it one of the most extensive bus systems in the world and by far the largest in Europe.

New York has three major airoports: JFK, Newark and LaGuardia, together serving 100 million travelers per year.
London is the best served city by airports in the world with almost 150 million passengers using its six airports in 2005. In order of size, these airports are Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Luton, London City, and London Southend Airport. Heathrow alone handles nearly 70 million passengers per annum.

There are more than 19,000 registered taxis in London.
There are just under 13,000 cabs in NYC.

New York has a population of 8.1 million and covers 305 square miles.
London has a population of 7.8 million and covers 611 square miles.
So, the city of London is bigger than the city of New York - Remember, a metropolitan area is not a city!

So there, I just wanted to insert the facts regarding transport.

Also, another good point - In London, you can sit in a beautifully historic pub and drink a man's drink - none of this watered down pee they drink in the US. Sit back in an old leather couch and drink a fine ale!

London: 607 Square miles
New York City:489 Square miles

The city of London was extended to include 'greater London' boroughs like Croydon, Merton and Richmond etc obviously to compete with other cities around the world including its big brother NYC. If NY included 'New York State' it would be a different story when it comes to comparison in size.

I'm a Brooklyn born NY native and ive spent 10 over years in London and know it inside out. In my opinion New York is the better city, it's more hip and has a culture where London does not. I've met various other people from other European Countries whilst living in London who express the same opinion on London not having a culture. They came to London to work and appreciate the opportunity but ONLY like it as a means of work. Attending some school and college I also learned that Londoners have a hate toward foreigners, not everybody but allot do. Essentially this must have been passed down from the parents. Some of the British used to target South Americans, Europeans and blacks with racism and not to say this does not happen in NY but its not to the extent as it is in the UK.

Transportation
In regards to transport, i've worked for various bus companies in London including TFL (Transport for London) which is the equivalent to the MTA (Metropolitan Transit Authority). London's Underground is a very good system and improved vastly when the Mayor Ken Livingston took the seat, but still lacks in areas where New York continues to lead. London's mistake was selling there entire public transportation service to private companies.

The buses are good and are modernized where they have taken away the iconic routemaster. The routemaster's were good vehicles and lasted a long time but needed to go, they had no heating or air conditioning and were literally falling to pieces except for the few that had been refurbished. The diesel fumes that came out of them was just terrible as well as them breaching EU health and safety laws, probably the only reason why they lasted so long was the fact that the private Bus operators i.e London General and Arriva etc leased each bus from transport for London for something like 1 UK pound per year, so they were able to save a hell of a lot of money whilst running them. As for there more modern vehicles, a lot of them still lack climate control, at least 90% of the entire cities fleet. The only climate control available 90% of the time is ONLY in the drivers cab except, for a few of there new Enviro 400 double decker buses. Using London's lack of summer and dull grey weather is no excuse in my opinion, one should be ready in case the weather changes as it can do. We've seen London get shut down by a petty 2 inches of snow in December 2010. Snow like that in NY goes un-noticed. Those who reside in NY remember the snow we had last christmas 2010? in fact it hit the whole tri-state area and from what i can remember only shut the New York city down for 12 hours or so, and that snow was knee high in places. I almost could not get a flight out of London, and flights were grounded as well as Londons buses and trains not being able to move. The year prior London had snow issues but did nothing to invest in equipment to cope with the petty issue. New York cities buses on the other hand have been equipped with things like climate control since the 80's. I remember going to school in the summers as a youngin feeling nice and cool on those buses that are still in service today in NYC. NY's buses also run to time a lot better than London's buses. Essentially where NY's streets are wider there is less traffic on the streets even tho at times it can feel congested, but trust me it is nothing like Londons congested streets. London was not designed for cars, it was designed for Horse and carriage. When a bus stops at a bus stop in London EVERYTHING stops as road users then have to use the other side of the road to over take. If a large truck stops to unload/make a delivery its the same thing. In turn all that does is stress out Londons drivers who are trying to get to work or take there children to school.

As for the trains... We can start with the underground. It's so small and gets crowded easily, has no AC and gets to hot. So hot they encourage riders to carry a bottle of water are they serious? They have had brand new trains delivered on there Victoria line but hey, still no AC or climate control? Are we not in 2012? They say the trains are not big enough to fit AC units. Personally i think they should have thought about that before and should have anticipated that London once being the capital city of the world was going to grow in size. The tube stations on the other hand are a lot cleaner than NY's subway system where the Underground closes around midnight, daily they have the opportunity to clean it. New Yorks subway system runs 24/7 so it is a real task to maintain and clean. Londoners pay far to much money for a system that lacks what i've listed above as well as not being a 24hr service. 24hr buses are limited and the entire Underground shuts down around midnight/1am, so people who work late are forced to get expensive taxi's. The equivalent of an all zone monthly travelcard/oyster which will enable you to travel in Londons 6 zones (equivalent to NY's 5 boroughs) via bus, tube and train is $224 per month in comparison to NY's $104 per month metrocard. Ouch! All that money and it has no climate control and shuts down just after midnight? Londons british rail is just as bad with delays every single day and very few trains with climate control and virtually no trains after midnight. New Yorks subway is also affected by construction work but at least there are alternative lines one can use. In London if a line is down you are often screwed.

London is an over priced city and people are getting ripped off (my opinion) We could say that London's streets are safer but as people they tend to be miserable and less liberal. I think this is due to the lack of sun light as its grey and overcast for almost 300 days per year. London has less road accidents i think and the average car driver is a better driver than your average New Yorker (my opinion) yes London also has more history and the architect is nice. May I also add that London is NOT a city, its a town in comparison to Hong Kong, NY and Tokyo. London's quality of food is better with less synthetic chemical additives but is expensive with small portions.

As for entertainment, being an events organizer London's club and bar scene is lame and lacks creativity for a capital city and is pretentious. Most of these so called clubs are not even clubs except for "The Ministry of Sound" and Matter now known as ''Proud2'' to name a few. US artists and music genres tend to dominate its pop chart year after year (House, R&B some Hip Hop) but not to say that there is not quality music that comes out of the UK, there is just very few. The majority of clubs lack energy and a vibe. Alcohol is expensive and watered down, its no wonder London has a problem with binge drinking and fights because people have a hard time getting drunk. London is more prestigious, better spoken english and elegant. New York is REAL no sugar coating, it is what it is and has style! Gasoline prices in London are virtually 100% more expensive than NY's. Less then 50% of New Yorkers own cars in NY due to the coverage of the public transportation system, Londons roads are congested and stressful. Londons road surfaces are maintained better than NY's also to a degree.

I could go on just ask

[bg7]

"The city of London was extended to include 'greater London' boroughs like Croydon, Merton and Richmond etc obviously to compete with other cities around the world including its big brother NYC. If NY included 'New York State' it would be a different story when it comes to comparison in size."

Thats a dumb statement. Its continuous - it is one big city, try to get from central London to Croydon without going through city. Including NYS isn't comparable, nor is even including Westchester when you consider all the open land. London has been one of the biggest cities in the world since Victorian times, it never suddenly shrunk - just got bigger. London has basically always been NYC's big brother in terms of size. As for your other points - they are generally true.

[Worldtrotter]

Originally Posted by bg7

"The city of London was extended to include 'greater London' boroughs like Croydon, Merton and Richmond etc obviously to compete with other cities around the world including its big brother NYC. If NY included 'New York State' it would be a different story when it comes to comparison in size."

Thats a dumb statement. Its continuous - it is one big city, try to get from central London to Croydon without going through city. Including NYS isn't comparable, nor is even including Westchester when you consider all the open land. London has been one of the biggest cities in the world since Victorian times, it never suddenly shrunk - just got bigger. London has basically always been NYC's big brother in terms of size. As for your other points - they are generally true.

Ok I agree, maybe i should have said Long island, New York instead

[NewParadigm]

As for entertainment, being an events organizer London's club and bar scene is lame and lacks creativity for a capital city and is pretentious. Most of these so called clubs are not even clubs except for "The Ministry of Sound" and Matter now known as ''Proud2'' to name a few. US artists and music genres tend to dominate its pop chart year after year (House, R&B some Hip Hop) but not to say that there is not quality music that comes out of the UK, there is just very few.

I'm sorry, but, I have to ask: What parallel universe are you living in?

Given the current sorry state of the NYC club scene, London is indisputably the live music and music industry capital of the world. Its dominance has now also extended to the orchestral scene. (Shame, I liked the Met Opera House in Manhattan)

[Worldtrotter]

Originally Posted by NewParadigm

I'm sorry, but, I have to ask: What parallel universe are you living in?

Given the current sorry state of the NYC club scene, London is indisputably the live music and music industry capital of the world. Its dominance has now also extended to the orchestral scene. (Shame, I liked the Met Opera House in Manhattan)

Well thats 'My opinion' I've never been to a club night that plays Opera :-). Also i did say "club scene" London does have great live music festivals like Glastanbury and South West Four to name a few. i've attended almost every club in London and have had far better experiences in Europe... and to name a few Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary and Austria. The decor and sound systems in the clubs out in Europe are 10 times better, they invest more money to give there attendee's an unforgettable experience. I'm not really a drinker but the portions of alcohol they give are an insult for the price they want people to pay in London. No wonder Londoners get drunk before hand or hide drinks outside the club and sneak off for a sip during a cigarette break. This could be part of the reason for London's binge drinking problem as well as the cap on times alcohol can be purchased?

[Jess87]

Originally Posted by fantine

Ha, I wish. I'm American and have spent the past 7 years in London, fighting for all I was worth to stay. And I'm still being forced to leave despite having spent that much time here, having a British post-graduate degree and earning a good salary.

Unless you fall into a few specific categories, it's not easy at all.

Man, that sucks! I hope they let you stay. Especially as you have clearly studied and worked and paid into the system.
Maybe marry a british girl

[Worldtrotter]

Originally Posted by fantine

Ha, I wish. I'm American and have spent the past 7 years in London, fighting for all I was worth to stay. And I'm still being forced to leave despite having spent that much time here, having a British post-graduate degree and earning a good salary.

Unless you fall into a few specific categories, it's not easy at all.

Which State did you come from? The UK immigration are funny at times i've heard, but i suppose just as equally as any other country. I can seamlessly transition between both accents. One day i returned from Poland and came through immigration at Stanstead Airport. The female immigration officer at the desk said to me with an attitude "Why do you still have this passport? I can see by your accent you've been here long enough, you need to change this passport as they no longer give out these stamps for indefinite stay." I'm between the US and UK a minimum of twice a year every year and have been doing so since the 90's and have never had any immigration officer go at me like that before, even now i carry my old passport with my indefinite stay stamp inside and show that upon entering and it is never questioned. I believe its down to whether or not they like who has stepped up to the desk or not as I have a friend from the US who also has indefinite stay in the UK and she had forgotten her second passport with her visa at home and they allowed her to pass and told her not to forget it next time without doing any further checks. Immigration have there own unique laws they are governed by one could say and often enough the ego tends to come out

[joshd9124]

Originally Posted by NewParadigm

I'm sorry, but, I have to ask: What parallel universe are you living in?

Given the current sorry state of the NYC club scene, London is indisputably the live music and music industry capital of the world. Its dominance has now also extended to the orchestral scene. (Shame, I liked the Met Opera House in Manhattan)

No London is not the music industry capital of the world your delusional if anything it's prob LA and even if London has a bigger music scene than NYC which I'm not sure it does NY is still close behind while sharing our nation music industry with LA. The club scene here is changing to smaller more intimate lounges for the most part which I prefer to mega clubs. And Londons night life scene still isn't as large and dynamic as NY don't most of the pubs close at like midnight in London cmon now.