I'm Not Moving to New York. Get Off My Ass About It.
"The true New Yorker secretly believes that people living anywhere else have to be, in some sense, kidding."
-John Updike
I'm posting this from a Bolt Bus. Right now. Isn't that crazy? $20 for comfortable seats and wi-fi, all the way from New York to DC. I was in NYC from Saturday afternoon until now for a family engagement and boy am I happy to be homeward bound. It's not that I don't like New York, but I have chosen to live in Washington. My boyfriend is there, along with my friends, my job and my domicile. In short, my life.
But try bringing that up to a Big Apple resident and they'll act like I'm just sitting around with my thumb in my ass around until my big break comes in Manhattan. I can't even count the number of times in the past 18 months that I've been asked when I'm moving to New York. Not "If," mind you, but "When."
There are a lot of great things about New York. The dining. The shopping. The energy it carries, and the fact that there is really nowhere else like it. But every city is unique in its own right and many things about New York are downright disgusting. Trash on the streets. Tiny, expensive apartments. Little chance of a back yard. The city used to hold some appeal for me, but after two summers spent there and innumerable family gatherings I decided that I never wanted to live there for good. It was one of the most relieving decisions of my life.
But now, a good number of my loved ones won't accept that fact that I won't be joining them in their city of choice. I understand that they simply want me closer to them, but I think it goes beyond just geographic proximity. The assumption that everything I need lies four hours north shows an inherent disregard for DC. The Updike quote that begins this post is funny, but unfortunately close to home. Just because no city is as big or bustling as New York doesn't mean that every other city in the country doesn't have its own appeal.
I am going to reiterate that I chose to move to D.C. Its's where my friends were when I graduated from college and I thought it would be excited to move to a city I knew nothing about. I got here thinking I would stick around for a year, tops, but since then DC's beauty and cultural opportunities have really started to appeal to me. As much as we complain, there is really alot to do here. I know that I'm going to stay a while.
Did I not get the memo that New York the only place in the world to have fun, go out and pursue a career as a writer? Its residents will so often judge the rest of the country to be provincial and comparatively unhip, but it is the smallest mind of all that can't see beyond their own surroundings.
That's all for now. The other cool thing about traveling with wi-fi is that I can watch Sean Cody videos on my laptop without anyone else knowing, so I think its time to take advantage of the Bolt Bus' spotless bathroom.
15 comments:
I used to go to NY a lot as a kid because it was so close to Philadelphia that we could take public transportation. I always enjoyed going but I'm not sure the city that sits in that location today is still the same place it was in the past. It's more of a theme park for lawyers and other people with too much money designed to give them a New York-like experience.
There are definitely a whole lot of gays who come from the middle of nowhere and move to New York, often passing through DC in the process, and then decide they are the shit once they get there and can't wait to let everyone know it. Sorry, it doesn't work that way. Please spare me you "I'm from NYC" rants!
just like zack doesn't understand all of the "when are you moving to new york!" stuff he hears, i don't understand all of the "i am never moving to new york, it's not all that!" stuff i hear. methinks the hipsters doth protest too much.
yeah, every city (maybe even DC) has its charms and conveniences, but don't you think there's a reason why so many people you know move there, love it, and beg you to join them?
parts of new york, like another commenter noted, are maybe a little too shiny and yuppified these days. but it's probably the only city around that offers just about everything that any type of person could want all in one place. unfortunately, it does not really offer the opportunity to work for the senator from delaware. so i'm here but looking forward to the day when i am not confined to a tiny section of a tiny quadrant of a tiny city.
note: please don't hate on me for this comment. it's what i feel. i do make the best of DC but the best doesn't cut it in my book.
I admit that I used to be anti-New York, but then my best friend moved there and I sort of fell in love. While there were a variety of reasons why I moved to D.C., I'm quickly coming to the realization that it is not the right city for me. My move to New York will occur at some point over the next year or two, depending on if I can swing some time spent abroad.
I lived in New York City for two years, and there are some nice things about it, but professionally it has nothing to offer me. I'd really sooner move back to Europe than to NY again.
i like molly.
I spent the first part of my childhood in NYC and later went back for school. While I love my job in DC (it's kept me here for years) I would move back to NYC yesterday if the chance came up. I don't hate DC all the time or anything and I certainly feel safe here, but I feel safer in NY in a way. In NY you can always find someone who dresses like you, likes the kind of music you do etc. Not so easy in DC, I'm afraid.
Hey Zack, wanna get a 100 sq. foot studio in New York together? We could be like those guys in "Perfect Strangers"!
Allison, don't be ridiculous! Balki and Larry lived in Chicago ;-)
Andy's right. They lived above the Gold Coast Dogs at Clark and Dickens.
I meant live like them emotionally. :(
This NY vs. DC debate never ends, but I like hearing other people's thoughts.
I just moved to DC from NY last fall, after three years in the big apple for grad school. It was fun, but I'm so much happier to be in DC. Thanks to the investment bankers and the kids of the Russian Mafia, middle-class people who actually work for a living can no longer live in NY for all practical purposes. If you're 21 and don't mind sharing a tiny cell with 2 other people, you can squeak by for a while. But can you really do that as a grown-up?
The garbage in the streets, the sweltering subways infested with rats, the car alarms -- it gets really old after a while.
For the people who love living in NY, I say more power to them -- I'm glad they're happy. I know I'm happy here in DC. (The boys here are just as cute as NY, too.)
While I've never lived in NY, I moved away and then moved back. I worked in London after college and while it was fun and had many opportunities for people with different interests, I preferred the sense of community in the neighborhoods that you find in our city.
DC v. NYC? Really? That's all you have to choose from?
Having lived in both places now, I can safely say neither of them qualify as a first-rate "city" in my book. Give me Tokyo or Paris any day.
I agree wholeheartedly with Rob -- I, too, moved to DC after 3 years in NYC for grad school (plus working afterward).
The other night, I was walking home through Columbia Heights, and I thought, "Wow, there are trees. It's pretty quiet. This is so much nicer than New York." Yes, there are things I miss about it (24 hours diners and musical theater piano bars are pretty great), but it's only four hours away when I need a fix.
im on the boltbus right now after a memorial day weekend with my boo. the trip to nyc was my first time on the bolt and i know i will never vamoose again! i stopped listening to all my friends or my bf's friends when it comes to moving to nyc. it just aint happening! it all comes down to money and i am BROKE.
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