Alright Edsters, before we go any further with this relationship, there is something you should know about me: I’m from the country. I own a pair of cowboy boots and I know all of the words to a disturbingly large number of country songs.
Now that that’s out in the open, there’s something we need to discuss. Lately, I’ve felt like I have to justify living in New York. People here love to tell me what I’m going to hate about it, namely the sky-high prices, mean people, and lack of green space. I know I might look back on this post in August and laugh at how naïve I was, but I just got back from a quick weekend trip to the city (still two weeks until the big move) and I didn’t find much of that to be true. Here’s the current impression I have of New York, after my third trip there.
High prices: I’ll definitely be paying considerably more for rent than I would in the big city near where I’m from. But in said big city, I would also be sitting in hours upon hours of traffic going to and from work every day, wasting gas (expensive) and putting additional wear and tear on my car (expensive). Not to mention that traffic makes me crazy (anti-crazy medicine: probably expensive). So for now, I’m going to call this even, because after surviving a three-hour round trip commute last summer, I’m under the impression that the subway is the greatest invention ever. As for other necessities like food and clothes, I didn’t see much of a difference, as long as you’re willing to shop around.
Mean people: I’m sure they exist. I just didn’t meet any of them last weekend. Unless you call the stranger with the thick northern accent who saved me from accidentally taking the subway all the way to, like, Canada, a mean person. Which I don’t.
Lack of green space: Have you seen Central Park? That place is huge and plenty green and easily my favorite place in the city so far. And this is coming from someone whose perfect world involves living on a farm in the middle of Manhattan. Since we all know that will never happen, Central Park is a good substitute.
Am I going to stay in New York forever? Who knows. I think I’ll get through this summer first. But as long as people don’t mind the occasional “y’all” thrown into conversation, I think the adjustment will be pretty painless.
What do you think, Edsters? What would you miss from your hometown if you moved to New York? Would it be worth the switch?
Till Next Tuesday,
Edit Intern
I'm so glad you're going to be writing about your experience! I'm from Nashville, Tennessee and am hoping to get an internship in NYC next summer, but I do know it's going to be quite a change. There is so much more open space, and overall quiet where I'm from, but to me, NYC is the greatest city in the world! So it would definitely be worth it :)
ReplyDeleteI definitely understand about the open space and the quiet! I'll let you know how it goes, of course. We ate at a little Italian place during this last trip and the first thing the waitress asked was where we were from - turned out she was from Nashville and could tell we weren't from anywhere close by. She's been in New York for a couple of years and loves it!
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