* This is very long and detailed*
I moved to New York City in early June and stayed until August 1. I moved with the intention of getting a job and staying for at least one year. I stopped seeking employment in NYC after a month and then left after those seven weeks. Some of you might recognize my screen name or just search my previous posts and remember me making some provocative comments. It is my intention to cover my experience, but hopefully mostly in a balanced, insightful manner that won't sound like comments posted here many times over. This will be fairly detailed and long. But I gather some will want a more detailed recap...
Background: I'm 34, single straight guy. I grew up in a small city in central Florida, proceeded to live in Gainesville, Fla; Austin, TX, Hollywood, CA; Hermosa Beach, CA; San Diego (8 weeks); San Francisco (1.5 years) and then finally this short stint in NYC. My time in L.A. and San Francisco more than broke me out of my small-town mindset. I like big cities. I value a city where one can live comfortably without a car and where a lot is going on.
So, NYC had much appeal to me for these reasons. I was seeking the "NYC experience" while also comparing it to the other places I liked so as to consider it as the place I wanted to spend the next several years living in. ALL of what I say must be prefaced with the fact that I was comparing NYC to places like Hermosa Beach, CA and San Francisco. So, I'm NOT comparing it to some town like Athens, GA or another cold-weather city like Boston.
Initial Impressions: After hopping off of the LIRR car from JFK at Penn Station, I walked out onto 7th ave and my journey began. Having lived within a half mile of the financial district of SF for over a year, the mere presence of all the tall buildings in midtown Manhattan was NOT a shocking or jaw-dropping experience. (Later ending up in Weehawken, New Jersey along Blvd. East a few times and looking back at the Manhattan skyline WAS jaw-dropping). Much of the layout of Manhattan was highly appealing with having so many businesses, restaurants and residences stacked on top of one another. I loved that about San Francisco, and of course Manhattan takes that to a whole new level. Knowing that I love nightlife and living without a car, I told people I know that I most likely was staying for a year at the minimum. The presence of trash bags dumped all over the streets all hours of the day and night was startling, as was the potential presence of rats in public places in both day and night. But I was going to try to get over that.
My Seven Weeks In my time in NYC, I spent 95% of my time in Manhattan. Of that, 95% of that time was spent at or south of Columbus Circle/59th st. I did venture to the UES and UWS, and thought they were by and large nicer but relatively quiet areas. I inquired about apartments in those areas but nothing materialized and without living up that way, there's not much of a reason to go up there for all I could tell.
I ended up staying at temporary spots through airbnb for all of June. I stayed at places in the LES; 6th ave. at 15th st which I gather is primarily Chelsea; Times square (44th and 8th ave); and a night in the UES. Ended up grabbing a 1-month sublease at the RiverGate complex at 34th and 1st ave. The RiverGate complex was much nicer than the other places I looked at in my price range ($1500/mo). And being at 34th st meant I was pretty close to a lot of stuff in NYC. Downside was it was a hike to any subway stations. So, my metrocard ended up being used a lot on the m34 buses. This did detract from my experience as riding those buses was no different than riding the buses in San Francisco. Crowded and moving slowly with lots of stops. (That and the city has a STUPID policy of having metrocard holders use machines to run the cards through to print out a receipt which you have to hold onto. The card is no good. I'll stop there before I write a page about how stupid that is.) The transit layout in the city still does lend itself to people staying in their "neck of the woods" a lot. Getting across town-East side to west side- is a pain unless you're right on or near Houston, 14th or 42nd st.
I went out to bars, clubs restaurants about five nights a week. Obviously, the variety of those options is unparalleled in NYC. There were some great dive bars that also had attractive girls, but Hermosa Beach and SF have that as well. NYC has a serious nightclub scene as well. But, for the most part, a guy like me has to either spend a ridiculous amount of money to get into those places or simply cross them off your list of nightlife possibilities. The only fairly major nightclub I went to and got in at was Le Bain, and that was likely because it's a "hybrid" venue in the sense that there is both a straight and gay scene in there. I still rank it as probably the coolest nightclub I've ever been to. I went into the hot tub/pool both times I was there and managed to hook up with girls both times
Overall, though, I think the biggest part of a fun night out is being with a fun group of friends. I didn't think the vast array of options NYC offered was worth enough to carry my interest in the city by itself.
I found that "nice" parts of NYC were not nearly as nice as the best parts of the L.A. and SF areas. The West Village, for instance, is a cute area but has really none of the glamour of a Beverly Hills or a Pacific Heights. There's nothing within reach of NYC that compares to a Sausalito or the Hollywood Hills. No matter where you go in Manhattan, you can rest assured you're going to see trash bags plopped all over the streets at all hours of the day and night. You don't see that sort of thing in the nice parts of L.A. and SF.
I took LIRR out to Southampton one day. Biggest thing that stood out is to get from Manhattan to a nice beach, you're a ways away. The beaches down in Queens and Brooklyn are mostly ghetto. And I don't know why anybody would choose the Hamptons over the beaches in Florida, the Carolinas etc if that is what they really want.
People: By and large, I think it's silly to lump the people of NYC under one umbrella. There are nice people and there are pricks. Everywhere. I did sense that people were much more high-strung there, and not always in a good way. Simple tasks like crossing the streets were often very uncomfortable and often felt dangerous. It's not just that it can be so crowded. It's the way cars and pedestrians share the road. I got "breezed" a hundred times in my time there. By "Breezed", I mean a car that was turning into the intersection I was crossing sped through and gave me/us so little time/room to cross the road that you could feel the breeze of the car going by. That's more stress and intensity than I'd like to have with something that should be as simple as crossing the street.
The police can be quite combative and argumentative. I once asked a police officer about the cars cramming into intersections as people walked within inches and the cop got down right nasty with me and told me to leave town if I didn't like it. That's fine for one of you to say on a message board. But a cop barking it to my face? Again, that's too much intensity that I don't have to deal with in California.
I'm still trying to overcome my addiction to Artichoke Pizza. If anybody knows of a way to mail me a slice without it spoiling, send me a PM.
In the end, I decided it wasn't worth it to me to put up with the stresses and shortcomings of Manhattan relative to California at this point in my life. I was already dreading/fearing winter. I didn't need to put up with everything else on top of it. So, I'm back to living in Hermosa Beach and am happy. I do wish there was more within reach without needing a car. But I feel as if California is where I fit best. I wish you all the best and am sorry for being a prick with some of my posts. I can assure you I had an objective mindset throughout the process.
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