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.
NYC only ... but I live in the Paris area and I can tell you than the metro (subway) in Paris is way better than the NYC subway. Subway lines in Manhattan are not always convenient, and you often have to walk a lot before reaching your station. For example if you wanna go to the MET museum you have to walk for like 10/15 minutes from the closest station maybe more. In Paris you are never more than 5 minutes away from a station.
If you compare Paris intra-murros to Manhattan, it is very clear that Paris has a better system
I think it's pretty clear Paris on that map has a better subway system than Manhattan ... And I think London is better than NYC in that regard too.
Great thing about the NYC subway though is that it is 24/7, and the express trains are really fast. And it's still better than almost any European city outside of Paris and London (IMO).
There's one area where some American transit systems have an advantage over Paris'.
If you take the DC Metro out to Shady Grove, Glenmont, Greenbelt, New Carrolton, etc., there's a line of cabs waiting at the station and the buses run regularly out there. The different modes of transit are pretty well integrated in the DC suburbs. But if you take RER out to Aubervilliers, Le Mesnil Blanc, Clichy, etc., you could literally be stranded at the station if there's no one there to pick you up. No cabs. Buses do not run regularly. And we're talking about areas that are not that far outside of Paris.
But if you take RER out to Aubervilliers, Le Mesnil Blanc, Clichy, etc., you could literally be stranded at the station if there's no one there to pick you up. No cabs. Buses do not run regularly. And we're talking about areas that are not that far outside of Paris.
Never used the Paris RER but this view shows buses:
Trust me. That was my life...walking to Drancy everyday to take RER to Chatelet. If buses ran regularly, I would have taken them. It's not even close to the DC Metro system where buses run constantly. If you arrived at the Drancy station past 6pm, you were just SOL. You'd have a nice walk through industrial zones where German Shepherds would trot up to the fences to keep you company during your stroll.
Whenever I give advice about visiting Paris, I always tell people to not stay in a suburban hotel, even if it appears it's not far from a train stop. It's not like DC where you can get to the station at 10pm and catch a cab to your destination. Bus service in the suburbs is notoriously infrequent.
Well I was not talking about Seine st Denis (93) but Paris (75), I mean sure the 93 sucks but the bronx sucks too and so do South Central and Camden. I live in Essone (91) and the only buses I have to take from time to time are frequent (one every 15 min), fast (they have dedicated routes with synced lights) so I really don't have to complain.
There's nothing "ghetto" about RER unless you think the presence of Arabs and Africans to the northern suburbs automatically equals "ghetto."
How about gang fights, jumping turnstiles, smoking weed, and scratchitti and grafitti everywhere?
I'm well acquainted with the RER, and am not "white" myself. I'm of Hispanic descent, and look like it.
And the RER doesn't just have these problems to the north. It's the same to the east and south. Really the only direction where you don't get the problems is to the west.
Well I was not talking about Seine st Denis (93) but Paris (75), I mean sure the 93 sucks but the bronx sucks too and so do South Central and Camden. I live in Essone (91) and the only buses I have to take from time to time are frequent (one every 15 min), fast (they have dedicated routes with synced lights) so I really don't have to complain.
Le neuf trois doesn't suck. A small area of housing projects in the 93 "sucks," and to be honest, they're not even rough areas, especially compared to the Bronx of all places.
there are no problems south of Paris, sorry. I take the RER B almost every week from Bures-sur-Yvette to Paris and it is VERY safe. Lots of students (like me) and people who are just minding their own business. But in case you continue your trip after Chatelet, you really notice a change of demographics in the train. I wouldn't like to go to the CDG Airport, it sure wouldn't be a pleasant trip.
How about gang fights, jumping turnstiles, smoking weed, and scratchitti and grafitti everywhere?
RER trains are generally clean. The only graffiti I have ever seen on an RER train was on the side of buildings heading north from Gare du Nord. I've never seen grafitti on the actual trains. And I never witnessed a gang fight after riding RER between Drancy/Blanc-Mesnil and Châtelet for an entire year.
"Ghetto" is not exactly what comes to mind when I think of places like Drancy or Aubervilliers. They are just quiet towns with a mixture of working-class whites and immigrants. I think you may have bought too much into the riots hype.
Quote:
Originally Posted by PA Born
I'm well acquainted with the RER, and am not "white" myself. I'm of Hispanic descent, and look like it.
I didn't say you were white. There are some black people who get extremely uncomfortable in the presence of blacks. If I had to compare Seine Saint-Denis to any part of New York City, I'd say it's more comparable to certain sections of Queens. It's not blown out and poverty-ridden like the Bronx or North Philadelphia.
Quote:
Originally Posted by PA Born
And the RER doesn't just have these problems to the north. It's the same to the east and south. Really the only direction where you don't get the problems is to the west.
Well, if you call weed and graffiti "problems," then I think we have two different standards for "ghetto." I tend to think of craps games on trains that lead to multiple stab and gun shot wounds as "ghetto." You don't really get that in Paris.
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.
