London vs Sydney vs Toronto vs New York City (bus, nightlife)
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.
I have been to 3 of the 4 (only London I haven't been to) and Sydney by far is the one I most vibe with. I love the climate, beaches, surf culture and food is alright as well.
First I want to say that London is my favorite city, so I may be a little biased. I've been to all 4 of these cities. I lived in London, grew up close to Toronto and have visited Sydney and New York a few times each. I went through and ranked each city in each category 1-4 and added up the scores:
Architecture:
1) London 2) NYC 3) Sydney 4) Toronto
I just like the British style row-houses.
People/Diversity:
1) London 2) NYC 3) Sydney 4) Toronto
As with all of these, tough call. I'm going to give it to London for having the higher density of other Europeans, in addition to many of the other nationalities you can find in NYC. All 4 of these are very diverse cities though.
Food:
1) London 2) NYC 3) Sydney 4) Toronto
Call me stereotypical, but I love just going to a London pub, drinking a pint of ale and having some sort of pub meal. In addition, London has cuisine from all over the world, as do these other cities. If you're a bit more of a posh eater, which I can be sometimes, New York has a slightly higher number of total Michelan stars, 93 to 85.
Nightlife:
1) NYC 2) Toronto 3) London 4) Sydney
I have never properly 'gone out' in NYC, but I think with a reputation as 'the city that never sleeps,' it's gotta be good. I've had plenty of good nights out around Toronto. Everything shuts down pretty early in London, and NSW's lock-out laws put Sydney in last.
Standard/Quality of Living:
1) London 2) Sydney 3) NYC 4) Toronto
This is a tough one. They're all pretty similarly priced cities. I simply prefer the ambiance and lifestyle I could lead in London over all the others. I like beaches and nice weather too, so Sydney takes 2nd. The New York life has never really appealed to me, and living in Toronto full-time seems a bit lack-luster for me.
Economy:
1) NYC 2) London 3) Sydney 4) Toronto
Again, another tough one, and I'm no economist. I ranked them by GDP after a quick google, all in USD- NYC: $1.732 trillion, London: ~650 billion, Sydney: $460 billion, Toronto: $308.75 billion
Politics:
1) Sydney 2) Toronto 3) London 4) NYC
Well.. where isn't politics a mess these days. New York has a reputation for corrupt politicians, and is in a country where politics are the most volatile they've ever been. London and UK politics are also a dumpster fire lately. Canada always seems to have a relatively even keel.
editing this because I just remembered Rob Ford was the mayor of Toronto for a while. So I'm going to bump Sydney up to #1.
Climate and Environment:
1) Sydney 2) London 3) NYC 4) Toronto
I ranked these from warmest to coldest.
Education:
1) London 2) Sydney 3) Toronto 4) New York
Not too sure on this one either. New York has Columbia University but London has the London School of Economics, University of London, UCL, Imperial College which are among the best in the world. Aside from universities, public school in the USA is really lacking these days - Australia, Canada and the UK seem to fund education better.
Entertainment (museums, theaters, music scene, dance) :
1) London 2) NYC 3) Sydney 4) Toronto
I'm not a big theater guy so I just ranked them by my general impression
Infrastructure and Transportation:
1) London 2) Sydney 3) NYC 4) Toronto
If you don't care about being on time, London has some of the best (and most expensive) public transport in the world. As does Sydney - their trains, busses, and ferries take you all over the city. New York transport has always seemed frustratingly inefficient to me, and Toronto is quite lacking in this department.
Surroundings:
1) London 2) Sydney 3) NYC 4) Toronto
If we're talking only within each respective country, then Sydney wins for the beaches, forests and mountains nearby. London is surrounded by Europe - in 2 hours you can be in a slew of different countries. Toronto comes in last - what's really around it.. the Niagara region? Eww (I grew up there )
Fashion:
1) London 2) New York 3) Sydney 4) Toronto
Both New York and London are world fashion capitals, but I prefer the European flare so I chose London first here. I don't think of anything when I think of Toronto fashion, but have always liked the look of Australian fashion.
Literary/Cinematic/Televisual impact and exports:
1) NYC 2) London 3) Toronto 4) Sydney
Gave the nod to New York here. Toronto stands in for New York as a filming location quite often, so I put it above Sydney
Total Scores: London: 21, New York: 25, Sydney: 36, Toronto: 50. This goes pretty much in line with how I'd rate my desire to live in each of these.
Last edited by wikiwikirunner; 05-08-2020 at 09:17 AM..
Status:
"“If a thing loves, it is infinite.”"
(set 2 days ago)
Location: Great Britain
27,178 posts, read 13,461,836 times
Reputation: 19482
Quote:
Originally Posted by wikiwikirunner
Nightlife:
1) NYC 2) Toronto 3) London 4) Sydney
I have never properly 'gone out' in NYC, but I think with a reputation as 'the city that never sleeps,' it's gotta be good. I've had plenty of good nights out around Toronto. Everything shuts down pretty early in London, and NSW's lock-out laws put Sydney in last.
Most of your points are very good however London is a lot more 24 hour that people think, indeed 1.6 million Londoners work nghts.
Whilst London is not as 24 hour or in your face as NYC, it does have 24 hour tube and rail services (overground) at Weekends and has a 24 hour night bus service, as well as a host of black cabs and taxi services.
There are also lots of clubs and other late night entertainment venues.
Most of your points are very good however London is a lot more 24 hour that people think, indeed 1.6 million Londoners work nghts.
Whilst London is not as 24 hour or in your face as NYC, it does have 24 hour tube and rail services (overground) at Weekends and has a 24 hour night bus service, as well as a host of black cabs and taxi services.
There are also lots of clubs and other late night entertainment venues.
I guess I should have written more on this topic, but it was getting long already. I've spent many a great night out in London. I actually should have put London second and Toronto 3rd, it's easier to get around London when drunk than, well most other cities but especially Toronto. I guess to me, especially after living in Spain for so long, it seems like your options are severely reduced after 11pm in London. I'll never forget the time I was invited to a friend's going away party, after I had been living in Madrid for some time. She was having it at a pub and it was supposed to start around 8pm. I thought, in typical Spanish fashion I'd show up a bit later, and I walked right in as they were ringing the final bell. Anyway, there are plenty of options late at night in London, there are just less options than I feel there should be for a city of that size and quality, and you've gotta be in the 'right' part of the city
Status:
"“If a thing loves, it is infinite.”"
(set 2 days ago)
Location: Great Britain
27,178 posts, read 13,461,836 times
Reputation: 19482
Quote:
Originally Posted by wikiwikirunner
I guess I should have written more on this topic, but it was getting long already. I've spent many a great night out in London. I actually should have put London second and Toronto 3rd, it's easier to get around London when drunk than, well most other cities but especially Toronto. I guess to me, especially after living in Spain for so long, it seems like your options are severely reduced after 11pm in London. I'll never forget the time I was invited to a friend's going away party, after I had been living in Madrid for some time. She was having it at a pub and it was supposed to start around 8pm. I thought, in typical Spanish fashion I'd show up a bit later, and I walked right in as they were ringing the final bell. Anyway, there are plenty of options late at night in London, there are just less options than I feel there should be for a city of that size and quality, and you've gotta be in the 'right' part of the city
There are some pubs that have applied for late night licences, however they tend to be in Central London or busy areas.
First I want to say that London is my favorite city, so I may be a little biased. I've been to all 4 of these cities. I lived in London, grew up close to Toronto and have visited Sydney and New York a few times each. I went through and ranked each city in each category 1-4 and added up the scores:
Architecture:
1) London 2) NYC 3) Sydney 4) Toronto
I just like the British style row-houses.
People/Diversity:
1) London 2) NYC 3) Sydney 4) Toronto
As with all of these, tough call. I'm going to give it to London for having the higher density of other Europeans, in addition to many of the other nationalities you can find in NYC. All 4 of these are very diverse cities though.
Food:
1) London 2) NYC 3) Sydney 4) Toronto
Call me stereotypical, but I love just going to a London pub, drinking a pint of ale and having some sort of pub meal. In addition, London has cuisine from all over the world, as do these other cities. If you're a bit more of a posh eater, which I can be sometimes, New York has a slightly higher number of total Michelan stars, 93 to 85.
Nightlife:
1) NYC 2) Toronto 3) London 4) Sydney
I have never properly 'gone out' in NYC, but I think with a reputation as 'the city that never sleeps,' it's gotta be good. I've had plenty of good nights out around Toronto. Everything shuts down pretty early in London, and NSW's lock-out laws put Sydney in last.
Standard/Quality of Living:
1) London 2) Sydney 3) NYC 4) Toronto
This is a tough one. They're all pretty similarly priced cities. I simply prefer the ambiance and lifestyle I could lead in London over all the others. I like beaches and nice weather too, so Sydney takes 2nd. The New York life has never really appealed to me, and living in Toronto full-time seems a bit lack-luster for me.
Economy:
1) NYC 2) London 3) Sydney 4) Toronto
Again, another tough one, and I'm no economist. I ranked them by GDP after a quick google, all in USD- NYC: $1.732 trillion, London: ~650 billion, Sydney: $460 billion, Toronto: $308.75 billion
Politics:
1) Sydney 2) Toronto 3) London 4) NYC
Well.. where isn't politics a mess these days. New York has a reputation for corrupt politicians, and is in a country where politics are the most volatile they've ever been. London and UK politics are also a dumpster fire lately. Canada always seems to have a relatively even keel.
editing this because I just remembered Rob Ford was the mayor of Toronto for a while. So I'm going to bump Sydney up to #1.
Climate and Environment:
1) Sydney 2) London 3) NYC 4) Toronto
I ranked these from warmest to coldest.
Education:
1) London 2) Sydney 3) Toronto 4) New York
Not too sure on this one either. New York has Columbia University but London has the London School of Economics, University of London, UCL, Imperial College which are among the best in the world. Aside from universities, public school in the USA is really lacking these days - Australia, Canada and the UK seem to fund education better.
Entertainment (museums, theaters, music scene, dance) :
1) London 2) NYC 3) Sydney 4) Toronto
I'm not a big theater guy so I just ranked them by my general impression
Infrastructure and Transportation:
1) London 2) Sydney 3) NYC 4) Toronto
If you don't care about being on time, London has some of the best (and most expensive) public transport in the world. As does Sydney - their trains, busses, and ferries take you all over the city. New York transport has always seemed frustratingly inefficient to me, and Toronto is quite lacking in this department.
Surroundings:
1) London 2) Sydney 3) NYC 4) Toronto
If we're talking only within each respective country, then Sydney wins for the beaches, forests and mountains nearby. London is surrounded by Europe - in 2 hours you can be in a slew of different countries. Toronto comes in last - what's really around it.. the Niagara region? Eww (I grew up there )
Fashion:
1) London 2) New York 3) Sydney 4) Toronto
Both New York and London are world fashion capitals, but I prefer the European flare so I chose London first here. I don't think of anything when I think of Toronto fashion, but have always liked the look of Australian fashion.
Literary/Cinematic/Televisual impact and exports:
1) NYC 2) London 3) Toronto 4) Sydney
Gave the nod to New York here. Toronto stands in for New York as a filming location quite often, so I put it above Sydney
Total Scores: London: 21, New York: 25, Sydney: 36, Toronto: 50. This goes pretty much in line with how I'd rate my desire to live in each of these.
I like your points too, but I disagree with London closing early. I found nightlife in NYC really overrated and snobby. London is very open, diverse. I loved going out in London way more. Sydney’s lockout law were repealed this year, and even before it didn’t affect Newtown/Surry Hills where are the nicest places to go out. The laws also brought a lot of new small bars, and places to go out dont lack in Sydney. There are lot of parties on boats cruising around Sydney harbour. The lockout laws killed King cross which was an area full of issues at night. I found Toronto dead but in not sure if it was because I went around Canadian thanksgiving. It must be different in the middle of summer.
Definitely Sydney. Great weather, great size, beautiful place, clean, and the Aussie accent and lifestyles are hard to beat, in my opinion.
Toronto second, Toronto has a lot going for it and will definitely be a major player in the future. Could definitely imagine myself living there.
London, while having never been, so can't speak on it fully, seems like a fantastic place, but the weather puts me off.
New York, while interesting and definitely a world class city, felt like somewhat like a developing country when you leave the major areas of Manhattan (which are really quite clean and well maintained). Rats, garbage everywhere, and some sketchy people being visible pretty much wherever you go. Saw at least one fight or confrontation on the train every day I was there for more than a week. Had a lot of fun, and can see the appeal, but doesn't vibe well with me in terms of living there, particularly regarding the high living costs for what you get in return.
I've lived in London for many years of my life and I don't think I've ever seen downpour or anything like that? Rainy days always end up clearing up. It is rarely grey and gloomy, and when it is, it looks beautiful. Seattle is another story. Your plans get ruined because of this while London is full of life. The comparison is silly. Maybe compare it more to Vancouver or something?
Architecture: London
People/Diversity: All four are quite diverse hard to pick one main contender
Food: Hard to pick one main contender
Nightlife: London
Standard/Quality of Living: Sydney
Economy: NYC and London
Politics: Toronto
Climate and Environment: Sydney
Education: London
Entertainment (museums, theaters, music scene, dance): London and NYC close second
Infrastructure and Transportation: London
Surroundings: Sydney
Fashion: London
Literary/Cinematic/Televisual impact and exports: NYC
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.
)
