I have never criticized NYC in general. It definitely has its place as a true ‘World City’. However, I know it isn’t for everyone and, even it is for a time, it may not stay that way. NYC is only a tiny and non-representative fraction of the U.S. for better or for worse. I am thrilled for people that want to live there and manage to do so very successfully or semi-successfully. However, there are also people that trapped in NYC that would be much happier living in Boulder, CO or some small town that you have never heard of. It takes all types to make up the world. The U.S. doesn’t end at the borders of the five boroughs - just the opposite.
I personally could never live in NYC for several reasons. ‘Hustle and bustle’ is an absolute negative for me because I don’t like anonymous people very much let alone crowds of them constantly around. I can cook well myself so food options are not a concern. Small and expensive housing plus any type of public transportation are approaching my personal vision of hell.
I think we need some kind of exchange program to match people with their ideal environment even within the U.S. You will find that some kid from the rural South will live in a tiny apartment in Brooklyn in exchange for a Manhattan kid that really wants to be a cowboy on a ranch in Texas. It is a win all around. I am never going to tell anyone what their choice should be but everyone should be aware that there are plenty of options open to almost anyone if they are willing to move to a place that suits their goals better than their current location. All you have to do is be brave enough to move to find something that meets your current needs better.
I don’t really see the second part of that sentence happening however I suppose it does from time to time, it is just hard for me to comprehend. I suppose there - are - people who don’t like NYC for the very reasons you mentioned but again, it is a POV that I find very hard to comprehend.
I would never live in NYC. Too crowded and noisy, sensory overload.
and spare me “I’d miss the food/culture” horseshit. I don’t know what it is, but so much of this seems to be geared around restaurants. #1, I live in a relatively quiet suburb of Detroit, and have easy access to pretty much almost any ethnicity of restaurant I can think of. #2, even if I didn’t, I know how to cook for myself.
LOL, I’m just the opposite. The biggest takeaway my wife and I had from our visit to NYC was “Great town, lots to do, great subway system, want to visit again - but never in a million years would we live there!” I can’t even bear the thought of apartment living - gotta have my space. I guess the real answer, cmkeller, boils down to “what is your POV on living?” If you love hustle and bustle and people everywhere all the time, Dallas may not be your cup of tea. If you prefer your own space and a thinner layer of people, it may be a good move.
Yep. To me, NYC is a great place to visit, but it’s way too hectic and busy for me to live there. There’s a reason that the phrase “New York Minute” was coined, after all.
Dallas/Fort Worth isn’t as dense or as hectic as NYC, but it’s got a charm all its own.
Thanks for all the replies, everyone. A lot to think about.
The “hustle and bustle” of New York is definitely something I’m accustomed to, and I can see myself feeling impatient with the pace elsewhere. On the flip side, most of the “cultural” stuff that I make use of in New York have equivalents in Dallas and most other large cities.
As for what my kids think of it…as I said in the OP, I’m not seriously considering it at the moment, I was just curious, having spent a weekend there (amongst the North Dallas Orthodox Jewish community, so I am aware of the eruv and stuff). But if it means anything (which it probably doesn’t)…my weekend in Dallas came after two days in Oklahoma City, and my seven-year-old swears she’s going to move to OKC when she grows up. I suspect, though, that she doesn’t realize that real residents don’t spend every day at Frontier City…
Oh, and Ike…I TOTALLY rock the cowboy hat. (chaps, though, would be a bit much)
I’m pretty sure alcohol laws are screwed up all over the nation, as a remaining legacy of Prohibition, but they’re all screwed up in unique ways–so if it’s at all important, check what it’s like. Around here, it will vary by city/county–here in Frisco, I can buy beer/wine in a grocery store, but if I want to get anything harder (or stay at any sort of bar past midnight), I’ve got to go a few miles down the road to Plano.
Heh - I live in Frisco and like Bump, I work in Addison. As long as I’ve lived there I could buy beer and wine except on Sunday mornings. I’d always have to remember to buy hard liquor on my way home down in Addison. Now that we have Total Wine and More it’s a breeze to swing by on my way home. That place is like toys are us for adults!
When I lived there it was near the intersection of Preston and Plano Parkway, which then was then a little past the northernmost extent of the Dallas North Tollway. I used to ride my bike up Preston through the country on a rural two lane to Frisco, a tiny, quiet town since there was almost no traffic save the occasional truck. There WAS NO place to buy beer or liquor, it was farmland. I understand that’s changed.
The metroplex, expecially North Dallas, has exploded over the last 20 or so years.
Actually about two years ago, the City of Dallas had a referendum to allow the sale of alcohol throughout the entire city, which passed. Prior to that time, it was caught in some kind of limbo where areas with previous votes were maintained under that vote, even if incorporated into some other entity with different laws.
So for example, the original “city” in say… the 1930s or so voted to be wet, but the rest of the county voted to be dry, so as the city grew, due to weirdly written state law, those areas that were part of the county at the time of the original vote stayed dry, even if they became part of the City of Dallas for some reason.
That kind of oddity still exists, AFAIK in Plano and other Metroplex cities.
