Chicago vs. New York (Lincoln, Washington: apartments, neighborhoods, to buy)

[jonnynonos]

Oh boy I hurt the NYers feelings! Hahahaha...

Chill out, the demand for NY remains strong, in spite of my City Data post.

But the contention that Chicago is as dirty as NY is pure crazy talk.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by jonnynonos

But the contention that Chicago is as dirty as NY is pure crazy talk.

Well - dirty as parts of Manhattan because there are other parts of NYC you know and there are some perfectly clean parts of NYC (including Manhattan). However, I think if you dropped someone off at like 24th and 7th in Manhattan and asked them to compare to downtown Chicago - nobody in their right mind would think that dt Chicago is as dirty. There are parts of Manhattan that are very obviously dirtier than Chicago and there are areas that are pretty clean. Unfortunately for Manhattan, there are some touristy areas that aren't clean on the street level (others are fine though).

[Ace Rothstein]

I love Chicago and NYC. The problem with NYC is that I'll never make enough $$$ to live there comfortably.

[Vlajos]

I was in Instanbul recently, at least the parts I visited were extremely clean. Much cleaner than NYC. It also didn't smell bad.

[Drover]

Jeez. Nearly 10 years on and dementor is still at it...

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by Vlajos

I was in Instanbul recently, at least the parts I visited were extremely clean. Much cleaner than NYC. It also didn't smell bad.

Most of Istanbul is clean comapred to many parts of Manhattan. There are some outliers like Tarlabasi (most tourists will never see that though) that can be pretty dirty though. Most of the city is pretty clean though in reality.

[MassVt]

Originally Posted by Drover

Jeez. Nearly 10 years on and dementor is still at it...

I don't think that Dementor was an international traveler, though. At the time, he seemed pretty young, too...

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by marothisu

Most of Istanbul is clean comapred to many parts of Manhattan. There are some outliers like Tarlabasi (most tourists will never see that though) that can be pretty dirty though. Most of the city is pretty clean though in reality.

That was definitely my take away. I was only there for 5 days, and obviously didn't see the whole city, which is massive, but it was much cleaner than NYC from a typical tourist perspective.

[sipes23]

Originally Posted by BigLake

You are coming off as a troll here. You seem very insecure wrt New York. New York is a great city, but one thing it is definitely not, is clean. It's probably the dirtiest city I have been to in the US (and I've been to a lot; Boston's pretty dirty, as is Philly). Garbage on a sidewalks. WTF?

I believe it's a reference to garbage being collected on the street side of buildings instead of the alley side. The first time I saw the garbage piled up for collection on the sidewalk, I was *quite* taken back. Once I realized that there really weren't alleys, I felt bad for NYC residents who had to put up with this necessity of life.

To answer the OP's original question, I hated NYC as a tourist for two specific reasons.

1. The attractions are spread out by the standards of most other cities. In most cities this isn't a problem. Just start up the car and go there. Not so in NYC. I had to figure out how to get around without a car. The subway in NYC makes London's look like a paragon of simplicity. There wasn't a good way of working around the distance efficiently.

2. The city is really multi-layered. I'd argue that tourists with no insider connection can't find the coolest stuff to tourist in. It takes time to discover that hidden place that does the thing just right. Few, if any, other places in the US have this level of choice.

If I were living in the NYC area, I definitely wouldn't find either of those things true (or I'd know how to minimize their downsides). As far as comparing Chicago to NYC, I can't. I have too much pro-Chicago bias. I'm open to relocating to the NYC area, but I've got zero urge to go back as a tourist.

[BigLake]

Originally Posted by sipes23

I believe it's a reference to garbage being collected on the street side of buildings instead of the alley side. The first time I saw the garbage piled up for collection on the sidewalk, I was *quite* taken back. Once I realized that there really weren't alleys, I felt bad for NYC residents who had to put up with this necessity of life.

To answer the OP's original question, I hated NYC as a tourist for two specific reasons.

1. The attractions are spread out by the standards of most other cities. In most cities this isn't a problem. Just start up the car and go there. Not so in NYC. I had to figure out how to get around without a car. The subway in NYC makes London's look like a paragon of simplicity. There wasn't a good way of working around the distance efficiently.

2. The city is really multi-layered. I'd argue that tourists with no insider connection can't find the coolest stuff to tourist in. It takes time to discover that hidden place that does the thing just right. Few, if any, other places in the US have this level of choice.

If I were living in the NYC area, I definitely wouldn't find either of those things true (or I'd know how to minimize their downsides). As far as comparing Chicago to NYC, I can't. I have too much pro-Chicago bias. I'm open to relocating to the NYC area, but I've got zero urge to go back as a tourist.

This is a really thoughtful post, especially point number 2. I think that applies to almost all cities, but given NYC's culture, size, cost, etc., I bet this issue is exacerbated.