No, not because of terror threats or vacations. What I mean is that it seems like everyone I know who’s a New York City native or has lived there for any length of time seems to have the same attitude:
New York is the greatest city on earth in all of history, and life anywhere else is unimaginably miserable.
Admittedly, my sample size is statistically insignificant. But I guess my questions are:[ol][li]Where does this attitude come from, even among non-natives?[/li][li]Do people ever decide that they want to try living somewhere else?[/li][li]Is it possible to transplant a New Yorker (native or otherwise) to another location?[/ol][/li]BTW, this is more than just a hypothetical exercise, I actually do have a practical application. I’d just like to hear others’ opinions.
Actually Av8rmike, I’ll let you in on a little New York secret if you promise not to tell anyone. Once a week we actually have a giant tribal council, and vote anyone who isn’t enthusiastic enough off the island of Manhattan.
You’re from Baltimore. Ever go to an Orioles game? See all the Yankees fans? Probably a lot of transplanted natives there. Same with Southern California. My best friend’s family growing up in Orange County, CA is from the Bronx. My current roommate is from Hawaii and his family is all transplants from Brooklyn.
I suspect that there are lots of New Yorkers who leave the city, but are replaced by youngsters who dream of a life in NYC.
Given the above as fact, what’s the purpose of the questions?
Although, I could envision living somewhere warmer, as long as it’s near salt water. This winter has done me wrong and I’m going to give Momma Nature an earful next time I see her.
Of course people leave New York. If it ever seems like all Americans have a family history going back to New York, it’s because so many of us do - our ancestors entered this country through New York. My great-grandparents, in an effort to be much like a stereotype as possible, left the shtetls of Russia for the brave new world of…NEW YORK! :: cue heartwarming music :: They had their last name “Americanized” at Ellis Island. They spoke Yiddish and settled in tenements in Brooklyn, where my bubbe (that’s grandmother to you non-Yids) was born. Oh, it was just like a movie, perhaps an animated one. They were Americans! And New Yorkers! :: more music ::
Anyway, they left, of course (or this tale would be even more pointless than it is), for the golden sand and the sparkling blue skies of… Los Angeles. (For best effect, imagine that with the lettering of a 1950s travel postcard.)
So yeah. But if you ask my bubbe where she’s from, she will always always always say “New York.”
[Nitpick]
This is petty. Really petty. I apologize in advance, but I have to say it.
New York != New York City. Hell, NYC isn’t even in NY, it’s in Jersey.
It used to be that damn near every time I’d get involved in a conversation with someone who discovered I used to live in NY, I’d invariably get asked, “Manhattan? The Bronx?”
Since 9/11, it tends to be, “How far from the towers did you live?”
When I tell 'em, “around seventy-five or eighty miles,” they just get a dazed look on their faces. (I realize that I’m obviously not speaking about a representational cross-section of the population at large, but after years of this, I’ve reached my saturation point.)
Um well, I’m actually one of the escapees…I am in Pennsylvania now. It’s prettier here, people are nicer, I’m calmer, my husband is calmer…but I can’t get a decent meal to save my life. Forget about a bagel…grrrr. I love NY and I always will. Dang I miss it…
I grew up near NYC and love it, but I’m living near Boston now. I had a lot of friends who lived in NYC, but I don’t think any of them live there anymore. Clearly LOTS of people leave New York. I’m sure they all have their reasons.
OK, I think I need to put a little more of a boundary on my questions. Of course, I know that some people are going to leave the city eventually, it’s not a maximum security prison (yet ;)). It just seems to me that there are two polar extremes, represented by people like Smeghead on one side and D_Odds on the other. Right now, I’m kinda in the Smeghead side, because I can’t really envision myself living there.
I’ve known a few of those types, who dream of being a musician or writer or theater performer or whatever. Then after a few years, they learn to look on anything east of the Hudson with the same disdain as natives. I’m interested in hearing more from people like Shana. What made you decide to leave? Were you one of those people trying to “make it” or were you in a profession that can be done anywhere?
I’ve never understood how anyone can not like city life. Where would you rather be living-- the 'burbs, with absolutely nothing to do ever?
I’m a city boy through and through. I especially like city life with rural access, which I don’t expect to happen when I move to New York in September. But if I was in charge, I’d demolish all the suburbs.
The burbs is certainly a better place to raise a family than the city. Especially one that kind of smells like urine and has lots of crime, like New York. It’s a nice place to visit, but why would you want to live there?
If you need to move somewhere just to find something to do, ythe problem ain’t your location, it’s YOU. There’s always something to do no matter where you are. Only boring people get bored.
:mad: Them’s fighting words, and as soon as I get a passport, I’m visiting you up in Canada (which I understand is just north of Westchester) to stomp your Canuck butt
Actually, our murder rate was awfully high that decade…
