Dear New Yorkers..How Do You Rate Other Urban Experiences?

[202_Cyclist]

Originally Posted by dimondpark

Gawd, I guess people from the west coast are just different, or maybe it's a Bay Area thing. I've never felt 'jealous' of anything in New York. I love visiting and have lived there twice(UWS and Alpine NJ) but I've never felt like wow, I wish SF had this or that---I do wish Golden Gate Park and environs were more like Central Park and environs-now that YES, otherwise, the agitation and packed sidewalks-meh SF is just fine, having lived and traveled all over the world, Im grateful for all the experiences and appreciate every city immensely, but if anything I've come to appreciate home the way it is even more so. I'm actually most jealous of Chicago's cleanliness more than anything else. What a well put together urban envirornment. Kudos Windy City.

Also, on the other side of the Hudson River you have New Jersey... On the other side of the bay, you have the Marin headlands and some of the most spectacular and scenic outdoors areas.

[Pedestrian]

Originally Posted by dimondpark

Gawd, I guess people from the west coast are just different, or maybe it's a Bay Area thing. I've never felt 'jealous' of anything in New York. I love visiting and have lived there twice(UWS and Alpine NJ) but I've never felt like wow, I wish SF had this or that---I do wish Golden Gate Park and environs were more like Central Park and environs-now that YES, otherwise, the agitation and packed sidewalks-meh SF is just fine, having lived and traveled all over the world, Im grateful for all the experiences and appreciate every city immensely, but if anything I've come to appreciate home the way it is even more so. I'm actually most jealous of Chicago's cleanliness more than anything else. What a well put together urban envirornment. Kudos Windy City.

I suspect you can attribute Chicago's "cleanliness" to its weather. Living in a tent on the sidewalk much of the year in Chicago would be really brutal.

[pj3000]

When they visit a big, urban city which has a ton to offer (i.e., Chicago, et al.), they often come to realize that New York simply takes more than it gives... even if they don't openly offer such feelings.

And they're just not quite as dazzled by the big city lights of NYC anymore, because they can't help but think to themselves, "Fuck, why do I put up with all that shit everyday?".

It's called being New York-sheltered, and then coming to terms with the fact that their worldview has just been upended.

[JManc]

Originally Posted by dimondpark

Gawd, I guess people from the west coast are just different, or maybe it's a Bay Area thing. I've never felt 'jealous' of anything in New York. I love visiting and have lived there twice(UWS and Alpine NJ) but I've never felt like wow, I wish SF had this or that---I do wish Golden Gate Park and environs were more like Central Park and environs-now that YES, otherwise, the agitation and packed sidewalks-meh SF is just fine, having lived and traveled all over the world, Im grateful for all the experiences and appreciate every city immensely, but if anything I've come to appreciate home the way it is even more so. I'm actually most jealous of Chicago's cleanliness more than anything else. What a well put together urban envirornment. Kudos Windy City.

Well there really isn't a whole lot New York has that SF doesn't have unless you want insane amount of people living above and below you which isn't a barometer for greatness in a city. Just more of it. SF has some quirky politics (hence the dirtiness) but it checks all the right boxes as far as what to look for in an urban environment. Chicago too...minus the sub Arctic winters.

[tom hanks]

Originally Posted by bossabreezes

Seattle and SF are nice minus their clear descent into lawlessness.

SF has been a lawless town since 1849. This isn't a new development lmao.

[Camelback]

Originally Posted by tom hanks

SF has been a lawless town since 1849. This isn't a new development lmao.

And look what happened!

The 49ers now play in Santa Clara.

[Obadno]

Why would you ever want the opinion of New Yorkers?

[tom hanks]

Originally Posted by Camelback

And look what happened!

The 49ers now play in Santa Clara.

I'd rather the 49ers move to the Moon than the City give one penny to the York family.

[fleonzo]

Originally Posted by Obadno

Why would you ever want the opinion of New Yorkers?

I think its was geared towards your fellow NYC Skyscraperpager....for their opinions. It's no different than asking people who live in house about how they'd feel if they'd have to live in an apt or vice versa. No need for insults though...

[SIGSEGV]

Originally Posted by tom hanks

I'd rather the 49ers move to the Moon than the City give one penny to the York family.

baseball on the moon would probably result in a LOT of home runs...

[Obadno]

Originally Posted by fleonzo

I think its was geared towards your fellow NYC Skyscraperpager....for their opinions. It's no different than asking people who live in house about how they'd feel if they'd have to live in an apt or vice versa. No need for insults though...

Its fun to insult New Yorkers though.

[Antares41]

I was born and raised in NYC and only left to attend college in Madison, Wisconsin. I found my perception of urban was vastly different from many people I met from other places. They were often astounded by the fact that a great number of NYC residents did not own a car. I myself did even know how to drive when I enter college, because I never had to drive anywhere. Public transportation and even taxis (pre-Uber and Lyft days)were the normal mode from getting around the city. My first roommate took me to Milwaukee to give me an urban experience. Back then the city had one building over 500 ft. I was polite and said it was nice, clean and orderly, but, in my mind I would have given anything to show him what I considered a city. I'm sure all the little blonde hair would have fallen off his head as he stood there wide-eyed at the magnitude of the human mass/madness that is NYC, lol!

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by 202_Cyclist

Also, on the other side of the Hudson River you have New Jersey... On the other side of the bay, you have the Marin headlands and some of the most spectacular and scenic outdoors areas.

NJ across from Manhattan is pretty nice, actually. The Palisades are really impressive and wild, and a lot closer to the core than the Marin headlands are to the SF core.

You walk/bike across the GW Bridge and there are dramatic cliffs, black bears, and hiking to the Appalachian Trail.

Of course, other parts of NJ suck, but that's true in parts of the Bay Area too. Hayward and Union City are ugly.

[homebucket]

Originally Posted by Crawford

NJ across from Manhattan is pretty nice, actually. The Palisades are really impressive and wild, and a lot closer to the core than the Marin headlands are to the SF core.

You walk/bike across the GW Bridge and there are dramatic cliffs, black bears, and hiking to the Appalachian Trail.

Of course, other parts of NJ suck, but that's true in parts of the Bay Area too. Hayward and Union City are ugly.

Sorry, but comparing the Palisades to the Marin headlands is like comparing SF's skyline to Manhattan's.

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by homebucket

Sorry, but comparing the Palisades to the Marin headlands is like comparing SF's skyline to Manhattan's.

Disagree. Marin Headlands, most of the year, is dry/dusty. Palisades are lush and rocky.

And distance matters. Palisades much more integrated into urbanity.

I love the lush parts of Northern CA, but the semi-arid stuff does nothing for me. Would much rather hike/bike to Appalachian Trail than through scrubland. Of course I'd much rather hike through isolated redwoods in CA's Lost Coast than either option, but that's nowhere near anything.

[Pedestrian]

Originally Posted by tom hanks

SF has been a lawless town since 1849. This isn't a new development lmao.

Which is why we invested "Vigilance Societies". And we need to bring them back.

[Pedestrian]

Originally Posted by Crawford

Disagree. Marin Headlands, most of the year, is dry/dusty. Palisades are lush and rocky.

And distance matters. Palisades much more integrated into urbanity.

I love the lush parts of Northern CA, but the semi-arid stuff does nothing for me. Would much rather hike/bike to Appalachian Trail than through scrubland. Of course I'd much rather hike through isolated redwoods in CA's Lost Coast than either option, but that's nowhere near anything.

Gawd, Crawford, you always post cr*p that's so far from reality it's absurd.

The Marin Headlands are awesome any time of year and are right across the bridge from SF. It's their lack of being "integrated into urbanity" while being so close to urbanity that makes them such an urban asset. They are wild and wonderful along with their neighbors Muir Woods and Mt. Tamalpais.

As for the Appalachian Trail, it's great but not that close to New York and the proper analogue is not the vast stretches of Highway 1 both north and south of the Bay Area but the Pacific Crest Trail, all 2653 miles of it.

[chris08876]

Originally Posted by Crawford

NJ across from Manhattan is pretty nice, actually. The Palisades are really impressive and wild, and a lot closer to the core than the Marin headlands are to the SF core.

You walk/bike across the GW Bridge and there are dramatic cliffs, black bears, and hiking to the Appalachian Trail.

Of course, other parts of NJ suck, but that's true in parts of the Bay Area too. Hayward and Union City are ugly.

Hudson County is very underrated but pound for pound, a solid urban experience. IMO, the views from NJ, from the cliffs of Union City/Englewood are superior. Northern/Northeast NJ is a gem. An area blessed with good geology and topography and superior views.

I kind of have a bais for liking Union City. I'm a fan of it. Good culture in that city.

[YSL]

Originally Posted by Pedestrian

I don't know about the typical NY "man in the subway" but The NY Times seems perpetually addicted to writing about San Francisco and most of the articles don't quite get it right.

NYT isn’t a local paper, all of those San Francisco articles are written by journalists based in San Francisco.

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by Pedestrian

The Marin Headlands are awesome any time of year and are right across the bridge from SF. It's their lack of being "integrated into urbanity" while being so close to urbanity that makes them such an urban asset. They are wild and wonderful along with their neighbors Muir Woods and Mt. Tamalpais.

Muir Woods is tiny and an absolute zoo. I'll take the Lost Coast anytime.

And sorry, I don't like the arid, treeless stuff in CA. Love the coast, the redwoods, the mountains, hate the dry, dusty parts. Most of the time, the Headlands are brown. Looks like Andalusia in Spain. I try and visit during rainy season just bc I hate the dusty months.