Friday, July 07, 2006

LA or NY?

Los Angeles or New York? Because I’ve lived in both cities, I often get asked which one I like better. It’s a well-worn debate, and many people have a very distinct preference for one over the other, but I can never answer the question. For me it’s impossible to compare the two; they are so vastly different in every way. How can I weigh the pleasures of a drive down PCH at sunset against a walk through Central Park just as the leaves have started to fall? Or choose which is worse – the 10 freeway at 6pm or the 4 train at 9am?

I live in Los Angeles now, and in some ways, I guess that is me making a choice. Los Angeles is where I grew up, and I love the weather and my car and the Mexican food and the fact that my family is here, and when I lived in New York I found myself missing it. I’ve resigned New York to my past – a place I’ll always love but will never live in again. But I just returned from a weekend back in the city and was reminded of all the little things that make New York great - things that LA can never duplicate - and I find myself feeling this little tickle in the back of my brain that maybe New York really IS better in some quantifiable way.