London vs New York

If people don't think there's tonnes of history in NYC, I suggest you go on a river tour the next time you're in town.  Seriously.  I lived there for a few years, and I had no clue about just how much history took place there until we took a tour a few years ago.  They aren't expensive (I think they are under $10 without a discount, and we got them for like $1 a piece with a coupon).  Great way to spend a few hours on a nice day off.

As for its other charms, maybe you do have to spend some significant time there to see what there is to do other than shopping.  I'm an ambivalent shopper.  I don't like spending time doing it and want to get home with the crap I've bought as quickly as possible.  I definitely was rarely if ever bored in New York despite not being a "shopping for recreation" type of person.  Lots of stuff does cost money to do, especially when the weather isn't nice, but I think you could get away with spending less in NY on a decent night out than you would here in London.

ETA: I am definitely NOT saying London sucks.  If I felt that, nothing on heaven and earth would keep us here.  We'd have made our planned moved to elsewhere in the UK well before now.

I love living in London and would choose it over NYC.  The transportation system is far easier to understand and I find a bit better.  I love the green spaces all over the place, which I didn't experience as much in NYC.  I feel like it's a bit easier to live in London.  I can play field hockey, which I can't in NYC.  Free museums!  

NYC is a fun place to visit, but I don't think I could live there for more than 6 mo at this point - it has a faster pace feel, more focused on younger folk.  But that's just me!  I also just love the place I live in, so imagining being somewhere else is tough. (now that I'm settled in my own house)

Maybe not.  Though it is fair to say that some parts do as some parts of the day.  I will happily say that I retch walking down Gerrards Street in Soho early in the morning before it has been cleaned.  But I can see why 
 
Beats the smell of London, Vomit and Drunks  
(okay, to be fair, thats anywhere in the UK after a bank holiday weekend)[/font]

may cause offense.


Vicky

While nobody would argue about Soho on a Sunday morning, lol, yes, it is the blanket statement (in blue) that simply made me feel the injustice. Thank you Victoria for pointing out where the offfence may have been felt.

London is a large place not simply populated by drunks and partiers. There are families here. Babies and dogs being walked in parks full of hyacynths on that same Sunday morning. Tea shops smelling of fresh pastries. Nice, normal people living nice, normal lives. And yes, there ARE even friendly people. I can name spots in, yes, horrible London, where I felt treated like family on a regular basis by perfect strangers. There are suburbs where nice, polite folks are just trying to support their families, not hell bent on producing that evening's city supply of vomit.

Sweeping statements -- especially "anywhere in the UK," unjustly trash an entire people instead of just those groups that even the fellow Londoners or Brits also frown upon.

Now, it's my lunchtime and I didn't want to spend it on this sad little discussion, which I'm leaving now to do something happier and more uplifting to me in my spare time, than have to defend my country, my city, and millions of perfectly innocent, nice people just trying to live their lives and who don't even take part in the things some here would point to as "typical" of an entire nation or city.

As mentioned before, you can debate all you want the pros and cons of each city, but personal experience is what tips the scales.  In my case, London beats NYC by a mile.  I'm not saying New York is bad and London is good.  It's not so black and white.  I lived in lower Manhattan for 10 years (Dinkins to Bloomberg) and have now lived in north London for over three.  Yes, there are things about NYC that I dearly miss (the Yankees.  Metropolitan Museum of Art. And, oh my, street pizza by the slice at 2am!)  but I LOVE my life in London.  I loved introducing my Yorkshire-born DH to 'my' New York when we were over last Thanksgiving, but I couldn't wait to come HOME.  Give me Hampstead Heath and the Walthamstow Marshes, a walk along the South Bank at sunset, Spitalfields, our local pub, Arsenal (hello, Vicky!), and even the love-to-hate-it Tube over almost anything NYC has to offer. Just a matter of opinion.

I was born and raised in New York, so I'll probably always love it more.  That said, I live in London now, and I really do love it.  I am a city girl, it's my comfort zone.  For those who have been talking about the smells in either city, the reality is most cities are always going to have a bit of a funk.  There are a lot of people, a lot of cars, etc, and that's just going to mean there will be a lot of smells!  To me, it's just part of the charm of a city, I guess.   I've seen no more vomit, etc in London than I would see in Manhattan.  

My experiences here so far have been largely positive - I can't complain about the people.  (I mean, I can, but it wouldn't be a London people complaint it would just be a people in general complaint!).  The people I've met in the city have mostly been very intelligent, friendly, and liberal, so we've had a fair amount to talk about. Also, I think I probably have an easier time of it talking to people because I think we share a similar city mentality.    

I do think both cities are an acquired taste, though.  I have no other basis of comparison, as I've never lived anywhere but New York (well, Albany for four years during college).  But I know people who were not from New York or a city didn't love it.  Loved to visit, but not to live.  As my friend once said "Just because you can fit all those people in a city doesn't mean you should!" and I guess there's something to be said for having more space.  Me, I like getting lost in a crowd, and both cities let me wander around to my heart's content.

I don't think it has to be an either/or situation, either.  Just because you prefer one, doensn't mean the other sucks, right?

As mentioned before, you can debate all you want the pros and cons of each city, but personal experience is what tips the scales.

I think you're right. Both cities have a rich history, both have fabulous architecture, shopping, museums, theatre, etc. So that's why I said I have a hard time pinning down exactly why it is that I prefer London so much.

And that's why I made a glib little remark about the smell. I never intended for it turn into a nasty argument - and for most of us here, I think it was taken with the humour it was intended. At least I hope so. For those of you who took it more seriously, I apologise.

Every place, love it or hate it, has its unique smell.  Oddly enough, I had a dream the other night that DH and I went back to New York for a visit in August.  NYC in August during a heatwave and a sanitation strike.  In the dream, DH loved the smell and wanted to stay longer and I....well, did NOT.  Different strokes. 

Every place, love it or hate it, has its unique smell. 

Too true. I adore New Orleans but, to me, it always has that first-thing-on-a-Sunday-morning smell of vomit and whatever the stuff is that they try to clean up said vomit with. 

Great topic.   

I've been living in NYC for 6 years and am looking ahead to probably living in London starting end of this year.  My BF in London says the subway is better than the tube.  Other Londoners I've met recently mentioned that NYers can be more friendly or open to get to know newbies to the city.  It will be interesting to see what my perspective is next year after some months in London.

I lived in NYC (in Manhattan) for 2 years and in London (Finsbury Park) for a year, and they're both great.  I'd be happy to live in either one again.

I'd give the slight edge to NYC for general ease of life; I think that in Manhattan, especially, there is so much packed into such a small area that you're never very far from anything you need, and a lot of it will be within walking distance.  London is more spread out, so it might take a bus ride or tube ride to get someplace.

The Tube, however, is way better than the NYC Subway.  There is a lot more signage, written much more plainly, and there is a lot more information available on the platform about when the next train is coming.  There were times in NYC that a line had been shut down for maintenance, and unless you went and found somebody to ask you'd never know.  When they shut a line down in London there's a replacement bus service and about 10 people at the station to tell you how to get to it.

As for friendliness, I didn't find either city more friendly than the other.  I've been helped by total strangers (without having to ask) in both places.

New York gets a final plus from me for having less dog crap on the sidewalks.  In two years I only saw dog crap on the sidewalk once that I can remember, while London (Finsbury Park, anyway) has dog crap on the sidewalk every day, and this was one of the things I took into consideration when thinking about moving to the countryside.

I was once in NYC during a garbage workers strike at the end of July.  It didn't smell too pretty.   

Even if you lived in both cities there's certain factors here which will weigh you one way or another depending on your circumstances

For instance, if I was rich, I think I could enjoy living anywhere

Also my time in nyc was one of being single and young and getting asked out by random people on street corners and drinking in faux-trailer park bars and having beauty salon martinis.

My time in London revolves around a lot of "going to Tesco" and "commuting miles to work" and "buying a new lamp"

I'm not a big shopper, either.  I prefer to do most of my shopping online.

But I am an eater, and so for me, it's NYC everytime! 

Oh, and if you want to talk about smells, you've obviously never had to live in Manila. 

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