Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Could you please compare living in New York City to London? What are the similarities and differences? London’s mayor Ken Livingstone is a socialist so the cities shouldn’t be politically similar. The cityscape layouts seem very different. I know it’s difficult to compare the entire city as it will depend from one borough and neighbourhood to another. You can still try. I’m not looking for a discussion about which city is the greatest financial centre. You may take anything into consideration although I’m mostly curious to know your opinion of single life and attractive people, cleanness, safety, weather, the cities attachment to the rest of America and the UK respectively, and assimilation of ethnic minorities. Cost of living (e.g. housing), recreational activities, food, would be other important things. I would also like to know how you would compare the way people dress and manners. It would be great to know the opinion of those who lived in both cities.
There’s a NYC vs. London thread, //www.city-data.com/forum/new-y...-new-york.html. Most of the replies in the first page were funny comments on obvious things which I didn’t find useful. Weather was discussed in the second page. I know New York is colder in winter. I find it more important if it’s as gloomy and rainy as London.
new york is definitely not as "gloomy and rainy" as is london. and its a major city...of course there will be a myriad of people spanning from attractive to not as much.
new york (most of it) is very safe. manhattan is safe. the majority of queens is very safe also. whenever i watch the news, it seems that there is more crime going on in parts of brookyn, staten island, and the bronx. of course, all those areas have very safe parts to them as well. check stats out if you're still interested in new york in this regard.
some of the most expensive neighborhoods of new york have residents who aren't at all concerned with many materialistic things you may be referring to in your post. there are some very nice parts of new york which you may love that won't cost you an arm and a leg, many of which are named after neighborhoods of london actually (such as parts of queens).
if it really came down to choosing between the two, i'd definitely pick new york. it's just more friendly i feel (despite that common misconception that new yorkers are unfriendly). there is something for everyone to do or enjoy.
My husband lived near London for two years and we go there once a year, and we live in Brooklyn. I have also lived in Manhattan. So, hopefully I can provide some practical info.
New York is not as gloomy as London. There are many bright days in the winter, though cold.
As a 30-something woman, I feel like I can go out in the main areas of London on the weekends with little or no make-up and whatever clothes I happen to put on, and I fit right in. To have that same feeling if I want to run around NYC's areas like the Meatpacking district, the Village, the UWS or UES, I feel like I have to fix my hair, run it through the flatiron, make sure I have my best jeans and shoes on, and put on make-up. Much more emphasis on the perfect smile here, too. On the other hand, even though the downtown area of Brooklyn has come way up in terms of what is provided, as far as patrons and residents are concerned I've never actually seen a man at a restaurant that I thought was handsome, or a woman that made me wonder where she got her hair cut or bought her clothes (in a positive way).
There's also no need to be scared of the outer boroughs anymore, anymore than it's scary in London outside of Leicester Square.
Don't expect to save money in NYC by entertaining at home and having that reciprocated. Most people will routinely want to meet at restaurants, bars, etc., for entertaining.
New York is a lot safer than it used to be. A recent statistic shed some light on our already low per capita murder rate, explaining that almost all such violence is committed by people who know the victim. Really, safety here is mostly about avoiding scams and common sense. I will get on a subway by myself at 10 or 11 at night without concern in most areas. I think it is just as safe as London.
I actually find more politeness in NYC than in London. In London, walking down the street, people constantly push and shove, step on the back of your heels, etc., never apologizing. It happens a little here too, but not at all to the same extent and I think more due to people being inattentive than anything. Shopkeepers, waiters, etc., are also more customer service oriented here, though of course there are exceptions everywhere you go.
I'm not sure what you're trying to get at with the question of racial assimilation -- I think I can answer a more specific question, though.
Dating and single life is tough in NYC. Single New Yorkers tend to be extremely picky, tend to be looking for someone just a notch higher in all aspects, and they lie a lot. Unemployed people call themselves "self-employed", that sort of thing. There is lots of hypocrisy on the dating scene and a lot of people with a list of deal-breakers a mile long. There are also more single women than men in every neighborhood except the financial district, so the scene is a little worse for women. Basically everyone I know, including myself, who has joined the ranks of the happily married in NYC met on the internet, or while in college here. I don't know how it compares to London, but that's how it is here.
Religion is much more important everywhere in the USA than in London, and even in a city like NYC, the number of active churches, synagogues, and mosques, with quite good attendance, is significant.
In NYC, we have a greater variety of restaurants, generally better quality food, and larger portions, all generally for less money. This is particularly noticeable where meat is involved.
NYC ATM queues are much shorter than in London. I have no idea why. There also tends to be a lot less crowding and confusion at the machines to buy subway fare here in NYC.
As in London, the grocery stores and drugstores are separate (many U.S. suburban grocery stores also sell drugstore items). Unlike London, you are not going to find food in a department store. You may be able to buy milk at Harrod's or Marks & Spencer, but definitely not at Bloomingdale's or Bergdorf.
The cost of living is lower in NYC than in London, no question. The only thing I have found to be more affordable in London are theater tickets and concerts. Movies, drinks, apartments, clothes, groceries, and public transportation are all cheaper here.
The taxis are better in London. They are cleaner, the drivers seem to be fluent in English, and the drivers also seem to know where they are going, don't try to cheat you, and you don't have to give them directions.
I'm not too sure what types of recreation you are most interested in, but generally if you are bored in NYC, it is your own fault. I didn't find a lot of places for outdoor recreation in London, but then again, I don't enjoy sports so I wasn't looking.
Last edited by intheseshoes; 12-02-2007 at 10:15 AM..
Reason: Paragraph breaks not staying
Wow, that was a very informative post (I am looking to move from London to New York too).
However, I am left with only one question, relating to Income Tax. Everyone says that about 30% of your income would be taxed, but when I do an online calculator, it shows about 40% as my deduction, it does seem a little high. Any help (salary would be $100k, and single living on my own).
Thanks
i visited london and new york several times. One thing new york is sooo energetic full of people taxis,buildings entertainment and beautiful sightseeing and sceneries. Its never dark ,rainy,gloomy and boring like london. the people in new york is more friendly but london is quite clean so is the public transportation . New yorkers are always in style and energetic wit their city's movements
I'm getting tired of people comparing NYC's crime stats to other cities, anybody with a brain would know that Bloomberg and the NYPD tap into that at the end of the year and lower it. Then they have the news report that NYC's crime rate is so low and blah blah, let me tell you this my uncle is in the NYPD he patrols the streets of the Bronx, hes actually telling me parts of New York are getting worse the past few years in terms of murders, robberies and rapes due to cops being cut and the recession. Nobody seems to realize this because most of you live in rich areas like downtown Manhattan and rarely come Uptown or to The Bronx. I was in London twice and I felt safe almost everywhere, I would put any neighborhood other in the Bronx other then Riverdale or Pelham up against Londons worst.
London is less of a 24 hour city than NYC. I was in London for two months for work and I was amazed at how early everything closed in London. Past 5 or 6 one's options for anything ranging from groceries to restaurants were extremely limited.
I have to disagree on the poster who said that NYC was more polite. I found London to be way more polite. People lined up in single file lines for the subway and people were less likely to squeeze into the train as in NYC. The only places I didn't see single file lines happening were in areas of high tourist concentration such as Picadilly Circus or Green Park. Good luck seeing a single file line for the subway in NYC. You will be lucky to see someone let those off the train first before they enter.
NYC is the only major city that I've seen with a 24 hr subway system. I think the London subway system (tube / underground) shuts down around 12 midnight.
Additionally, the London subway system seems to have many more delays and problems. The NYC system has local & express tracks, so they can route trains around any problems. But the London system is generally single track. So if there is a problem with one train, it backs up the whole line.
I'm getting tired of people comparing NYC's crime stats to other cities, anybody with a brain would know that Bloomberg and the NYPD tap into that at the end of the year and lower it. Then they have the news report that NYC's crime rate is so low and blah blah, let me tell you this my uncle is in the NYPD he patrols the streets of the Bronx, hes actually telling me parts of New York are getting worse the past few years in terms of murders, robberies and rapes due to cops being cut and the recession. Nobody seems to realize this because most of you live in rich areas like downtown Manhattan and rarely come Uptown or to The Bronx. I was in London twice and I felt safe almost everywhere, I would put any neighborhood other in the Bronx other then Riverdale or Pelham up against Londons worst.
You're getting tired of New York being safe? Huh? LOL.
Who cares about those places (the Bronx streets he patrols)? The vast majority of people here don't live in awful neighborhoods like South Bronx.
"parts of New York" are not the WHOLE New York City. When taken in as a WHOLE , New York City is safe. Period.
The safest large city in the United States according to the FBI.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
