New York is an extraordinarily stimulating city to visit, but I'd never survive there in the long term. I swear whenever I'm there it feels like the city itself is alive, s.l.o.w.l.y. puréeing me in all its commotion.

I'm a city boy, but I always leave that town feeling like a hillbilly by comparison.
[Edited 2/16/09 19:46pm]

peacenlovealways said:

despite what Threadbare may say...you're not missing much!

thekidsgirl said:

I recall Baltimore having the largest redlight district I've yet seen in North America.

Am I remembering it wrong?
[Edited 2/16/09 20:18pm]

Lammastide said:

meh, probably not us...Our specialties are drugs and murder, but of course there are areas where you can find your fair share of loose ladies too
Especially if you offer them crack

thekidsgirl said:

I remember driving through Baltimore once and being DAZED at the concentration of adult bookstores. I'm glad I must've been seeing things incorrectly.

Lammastide said:

You were probably driving down Baltimore Street
That would be our version of "the block", but other than that there aren't too many obviously sex-focused areas

thekidsgirl said:

the murder capital

best place i ever lived....

i fucking love nyc

Best part of NYC is the variety of women. It seems like women from every nation live here. For a guy, it's like being in a candy store.

Yeah it's big and busy, but what is there to do?

HOuston is big and busy too, but we've got an amusement park,waterparks,museums, big malls, concert venues ,clubscene,beachmWestheimer(Houston's Sunset) and 1960. But oustide of that basiv stuff there's nothing to do here. There's no tourist attraction. They once were gonna build DIsneyworld here.

SO if I were a tourists or new and town, and wanted to notnore myself in New York or entertain myself what would I do? Times Square is an obvious point but I here it's a touristic trap. I have the impression that there are streets and avenues lined where you can just bounce shop to shop and find something to do.
We alck that here. The only place like that is The Galleria which is the 5th largest mall in America.

Harlepolis said:

I hardly eat anything when I am there and I even take food with me from abroad .

JackieBlue said:

I did not enjoy that at all. Especially the one that was so damn cold.

fluid said:

You're kidding right? You can do pretty much anything you can think of or want.

My dad is a farmer, he HATES New York, but he likes to fish. So one time he was here we took the subway to Brighton Beach (Brooklyn) and got on a boat that took us fishing on the ocean.

There are some malls here, but New York isn't really a "mall" kind of town. Not really enough space for the required sprawl, ya know?

Nature? We'll there's Central Park, or upstate New York, CT or RI a short car or train ride away.

Theater, music, ethnic dining. Check, check, check.


.
[Edited 2/17/09 21:13pm]

Well Houston is the food capital of the world. I'm not much for theater. Infact our theaters combined have the most seating outside New York. And as for nightclubs NEw York has it's own signature scene renound around the continent kind of how london is.

Houston was voted to have the 2nd best club scene in the country of course NY topped us. So when I'm not in New York I have alot of it in Texas. Dallas isn't bad and Austin is The Live Music Capital of the world.World renound for 6th Street. If I were going to go to New York for clbbing I'd probrably go on a seperate trip. But what outside the theaters and clubs is there to do. I know of COney Island and Great Adventure. But those are pretty standard parks. I hear all the things you can do in a qaurter to 3. What are those things?

Harlepolis said:

You can get every cuisine under the sun in London, so ermm.

Lammastide said:

umm...so do you go around world comparing relight districts?

fluid said:

What sort of stuff do you like to do or what are you interested in? Are you looking for a general way to spend your day/week?

JasmineFire said:

No! It's just I've seen -- strictly by happenstance -- some pretty hardcore seedy areas. Some places in Europe seem to have made an art of them!

Baltimore seemed to be doing well in that department from what I thought I'd seen. I guess I'm glad I was wrong.

Lammastide said:

suuuuure.....you just "accidentally" wandered into the redlight district.

LleeLlee said:

Yeah sure, French shepherd's pie, German shepherd's pie, Jerk shepherd's pie, Chinese shepherd's pie etc. etc.

2the9s said:

In New York there is only type of food, Sautaed rat, boiled rat, steamed rat, fried rat and grilled rat etc.etc.

.
[Edited 2/20/09 7:01am]

LleeLlee said:

And it's only good south of Houston Street.

[Edited 2/20/09 11:17am]

A few more points to be made about NYC...

Each of the Five Boro's have there own separate identity, South East Queens looks more suburban than Long Island City. Riverdale In the Bronx looks similar to Upstate New York.

Some neighborhoods are clickish... Asian Immigrants may group together in Flushing Queens, Russian Immigrants may group together in Bright Beach, Brooklyn. Guyanese may group together in South Ozone Park, Queens.

NYC is not completely a CONCRETE JUNGLE of Skyscrappers (take Carrol Gardens in Brooklyn).

NYC can have multiple things happening at the sametime that do not impact each other. You could have a Puerto Rican Day Parade in Midtown and a Iranian parade in Brooklyn on the same day.

You could be in the Times Square Area on New Years Eve... travel to Washington Sqr park, and see different people with a whole different vibe.

Most people tend to keep to themselves, we are an electronic gizmo society (IPODS/Notebooks/Sidekick and Blackberrys are very common sight).

Yes, the subways and buses run all night, but there is better coverage in Manhattan than the other Boro's (Try getting from Mid-town out to Staten Island at 3 in the morning).

You do need to take some reasonable precautions in the city... if you fall alseep on a train and leave your electronics unattended, they will walk away!
You will need to learn certain streets and neighborhoods to stay away from at night. It is not necessary to have a gun to live in New York!! If you are a sensible person in your travels, you should not have any crime issues.


As for shopping and dinning, there are bargains to be found if you now where to look. You can find clothes, furniture and food at excellent prices in areas such as Little Italy and Chinatown... you need to negotiate prices and know your products throughly.

Pay attention to your average joe and not the Typical Tourist who only shops in Mid-town or at Sak's 5th Avenue.

The bast thing about being in NYC is the ability to go Upstate or out to Long Island. There are endless day trips and short hops to plan (many Beaches and Parks are with in 25-30 miles) to help you escape the innercity Madness.

If you're new in the area, I recommend joining a sports club to meet people.
There's always safety in numbers.

You can learn much from a person that is a member of the New York Road Runners or one of the Cycling Clubs. Its a great way to explore the city and can be very cost effective.

i just got back yesterday from living there for 6 months. i was on a training course. my experience of NYC was that ppl are actually friendly - even on first approach. yeah sure there is that "hurry up and go" mentality which is on the subway or on the street and i shared in on that too. I lived in Harlem and I often got a hello or a good day from a stranger on the street. people are friendly in stores and everything.
NYC is everything they say it is and nothing they say it is, if you know what I mean. a truly awesome city.

Milty said:

I also find New Yorkers friendly against the stereotype. Rushed, as you say, but friendly.

One of my dream trips, I'd love to visit there somedays...

IAintTheOne said:

I know what you mean, but the positive is: Sometimes, you can find cheap entertainment and you can give a donation. Someone is always selling something like candy or tapes. Or someone cracking jokes to liven your mood and day. Or someone evangelizing the word of God. The same happens outside the train, especially big stations like 34th or 42nd st. Is it true they are closing Coney Island? I know the 'F' train runs out there. I left NYC in 2006.
[Edited 2/25/09 9:59am]

MarySharon said:

me too!

uPtoWnNY said:

I agree with this 100%. There are racist people everywhere and theres no getting away from it. I have lived in both places New York and Houston. I lived in new york until I was 18 and now I have been living in Houston for about 8 years now. I like Houston because its a mix of the fast pace of the city but at the same time it has the slow pace of the south.

LleeLlee said: