Being a Frequent Tourist in NYC vs. Living in NYC - Your Experience and Preference? (New York: rent)

[Ellabella2]

Hello C-D Folks!

I'm curious to hear from people who have both 1) lived in NYC (any of the 5 boroughs) AND ALSO 2) have lived elsewhere and just took leisure trips there frequently.

Which do you prefer, living in the city and having everything at your feet, or living elsewhere and just playing tourist frequently? Why?

I'm only speaking of the enjoyment factor, not employment or cost of living or family issues.

Thanks

[iammax]

Well, I was born in NYC and always visited family there (mostly southern brooklyn) a lot but as an adolescent and teenager I lived in the suburbs nearby (ossining). So I don't know if you'd count me as a tourist, but during that time I went into the city tons. Now I live in Manhattan. Overall it's really hard to say which I prefer, mostly because of family and cost reasons, which you don't want to consider. I lived in the suburbs with my parents, but now I"m by mself, so the majority of the difference in lifestyle stems from that. The suburbs do seem kind of boring when I go back to visit, but the quiet is also nice, it's nice to be somewhere where I hear English most of the time, etc.

As to preference, it really depends on what you like. Do you have friends there? Do you make new friends easily? Do you like going to different kinds of restaurants, etc? What's your budget? You can't really separate cost and family issues from this question.

[Ellabella2]

Thanks.

I don't have the budget to live in NYC now. I lived there as a kid in the 1970's, when our rent on a 2-bedroom Queens row house was $370/mo. (Row houses on the block we lived on are now selling for over $700,000 - lol!).

Anyway, I visit once or twice a year and do the tourist stuff (no family there now). But I'm wondering if I'm missing something by just being a tourist, or if I'm actually getting the best of NYC without the problems that might be associated with living there. I still feel like a New Yorker, but I wonder if I'm idealizing what if would be like to move back 30 years later.

I'm really just curious about others' perspectives (again, not factoring the family, work, or high cost of living issues).

Are you "Team NYC Tourist" or "Team NYC Resident"?

[Chava61]

I too visited my grandparents as a child and teenager and then my grandmother alone a few times in my 20s. Before moving to NYC, I thought I would not want to live in NYC and when I first came to live in the city, I didn't like very cold winters and being so much underground in the subway system. But having now lived more of my adult life in NYC than any other place, I can say that being a NYC resident gives one access to so many different cultural options/opportunities and I am always discovering new interesting places that I can get to by public transportation which I wouldn't know about and have the opportunity to visit if I were just the occasional tourist here.

[VA All Day]

Visitors, by virtue of being somewhere that isn't where they're from, have already detached themselves from many of the annoyances of their daily routine. They're also doing things they (or most people) wouldn't normally do - not just activities but eating at restaurants for every meal, for example.

While you won't get the same depth of experience even as a frequent visitor, you don't get worn down by all the hassles either, and you may be less likely to fixate on the negative aspects of the city. THis is extremely subjective though and dependent entirely on personal preference, like virtually everything else.

[daaver]

There definitely is something you get as a NYC resident (and let's call that 4.5 boroughs) that you won't get as a visitor, however frequent. That said, whether that is a desirable something or not is something I would agree is entirely subjective.