Pros:
1. Financial, media, and cultural capital of the United States.
2. World-class restaurants, cultural attractions, shopping, and nightlife.
3. Don't need car.
4. Smart people.
Cons:
1. Expensive (food, housing, everything).
2. Public transportation.
3. Dirty, loud, congested.
4. Extreme weather; hot and humid in summer; freaking freezing in the winter.
5. Workaholic and status-obsessed culture.
6. Ethnic food better in LA (Asian and Mexican)
Now just from the looks of it, looks like there are more cons than pros. Also the pros really don't seem like pros. You can find world-class restaurants and shopping in Los Angeles. Not needing a car may be a pro, but it's not really because in NYC, you can't have a car. It's not a choice and for a LA-native like me, the thought of carrying my groceries home rather than putting them in a car and driving home is not my idea of fun. NYC definitely has world-class cultural institutions like the MET, MOMA, Lincoln Center, Met Opera, and so on, but really for 90 percent of the population, how often would they go to these places? And better yet, how many of these people actually care about classical music, fine art, and opera? I think a lot of these cultural activities are done primarily to signal status to one's self and to others, more than an actual appreciation and understanding of these things. I think if you're filthy rich, yes New York City is a great place to be, but if you're not, then you're just in la-la aspirational land.
Let's see what pros and cons LA has:
Pros:
1. Weather
2. Best ethnic food.
3. Relatively cheaper cost of living
4. Suburban lifestyle.
5. Korean nightlife and dating scene.
Cons:
1. Traffic
2. Not too many smart people
3. Image-conscious culture
Wow, pretty stark difference there. First, traffic is only bad during rush hour so I would suggest living close to your workplace if possible. Or go to the gym after work and then commute home when traffic has died down. Presto! Problem solved. The lack of smart people I thought was a big deal when I felt that I could learn a great deal from other people but one day I realized most "smart" people are not really smart but just studious and hardworking. Clarification: my definition of smart is not the traditional one and smart for me means intellectual curiosity.
But what I think the most important factor in why NYC will continue its downwardly decline in my eyes is the Internet. In fact, the appeal of living in a high-cost overly competitive city like LA too will also go down. Why? Because the Internet gives you access to a lot of the things that once, only cities like NYC and LA were able to offer: access to smart people, shopping, cultural commodities, etc.
I lived in Orlando for several months and because I had access to the Internet, I was able to get the books I wanted to read, talk to the people I wanted to talk to, listen to the music I wanted to listen to, and enjoy many of the things I am used to in a large city like Los Angeles. The only things missing were my friends and the nightlife scene--and of course great ethnic food. But as I get older and get married, these things will become less important. Also because cost of living is so much cheaper in a smaller town like Orlando, one doesn't have to work as hard. Things like spending time with your family and cooking at home, and having the time to read and enjoy your hobbies are much easier with a more chill job.
Anyway back to the original topic--so I decided that NYC is out of the picture for me. In fact, I think when I apply to business school, I'm just going to apply to places in California.
No comments:
Post a Comment