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Um - you just chose Birmingham, Alabama with that one.
L.A. and NYC are both very liberal cities, though you will find a bit more religious diversity in NYC, so you won't stand out quite as much if you're vocal about it. Both cities are tolerant with the "live and let live" thing, but if you're in-your-face with the religion, there might be social obstacles in either place.
Or Orange County for that matter. I don't think you can find any county in the NYC metro area as conservative as OC. The rest of Southern CA can be quite different than LA County.
"Chase some dreams" of what? Acting? Singing? or just living in the city?
If you want to act in film you have to go LA, there's work in New York, but nothing like LA. If you want to sing you probably want New York.
The Christian conservative is the hard one. I work in the theater and have lots of colleagues who are practicing Christians and Jews, but they are of the decidedly liberal variety (Episcopalian, Congregationalist, Reform or Reconstructionist Judaism). The Episcopal church that I go to has a gay priest. Social conservatism isn't big in New York.
I'd agree with most of the descriptions, so no need to belabor it. My concern is figuring out what exactly do you want to do entertainment wise (if I'm assuming correctly, that is what you're trying to do) and what are your priorities in this list? As an actress, I don't know how you'd be keeping that 100k job with auditions that often take place in the middle of days, film shoots occur at any hour, and if you happen to land a film role, may have to take off for months for production. On the other hand, keeping a steady job would be easier as a singer as you're not reliant on the schedule of an entire film crew or casting directors. Success as an artist requires a full-time commitment and a bit of strategy, so your career focus/goals should be shaping your decision more than anything.
Living as a performing artist in either place can be extremely difficult. For me, I moved away from New York City, even as an artist myself, to a cheaper place where I could perfect my craft and had some connections until making a move back to the majors (NY/LA). The entertainment world is even more competitive now with this recession, so you better either have connections or a solid resume in one of these cities to expect success.
If entertainment is a path you're pursuing, consider smaller markets that could allow you to gain experience and save up some money, as I can assure you, it would be tough keeping a full-time job for long if you're an artist and it would also be a difficult task to pay LA and NY rent on an artist's salary if you can't keep that full-time job.
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