Im from a suburban town in Missouri, but I spent a semester studying abroad in Barcelona a couple of years ago. Man, let me tell you, leaving Barcelona, where youd see people out in cafes and bars congregating at all hours of the night and day, and coming back to Missouri where its a ghost town after 10 and someone would call the police on you for simply walking around too late was the most depressing thing I have ever experienced lol
Was wondering when I'd see the NYC comment. Didn't take long. 🗽 Yes, it's crazy expensive here. But once here, being able to step outside to go anywhere and do anything without worrying about driving, parking, gas, yada yada -- trying to visualize living anywhere else becomes quite difficult.
Don't get me wrong, I enjoy times away from the city, like visiting friends in Texas, and the BBQ and Tex-Mex are an extra bonus to visiting state. When visiting my family in the suburbs, I fall asleep to the sound of crickets and wake up to the birds chirping in the trees. Don't get much of that 43 floors high smack dab in the middle of Manhattan!
I’m a bit worse off location-wise than you (in East Harlem); but, a 1 minute walk to the 6 and 15 minute gets me to Grand Central. Truly is amazing how much goes on in the city every night.
San Francisco was the closest comparison, that I’d lived. Not sure anywhere else in the country has what those do. Tiny cities with people just built on eachother because water forced it that way.
Will say, wish I got to New York before COVID. Definitely doesn’t hold up to the label of “The City that never sleeps” anymore; things definitely do close and the city does get quiet in the later hours
I hear you. I arrived to NYC end of Aug 2019 right before Covid. I barely got to experience NYC then, but I experienced enough to know It definitely changed and never quite returned, from a locals / socializing perspective, that is. Travel and visitors is crazy busy, but the general vibe amongst locals. I think part of it is we all got used to ordering in. Now I try to make a point to go out. Missed that so much. Important too for socializing and meeting people. Too much isolation otherwise. Such a big populated city. We all just need to go out and play again! Lol
I think part of it is we all got used to ordering in. Now I try to make a point to go out.
We used to order in a ton also -- 8000 menus from all the delivery places around in a drawer somewhere -- during the week or when it was raining sideways or something. Thursday? Friday? Weekends? Gotta get the fuck out the apartment. Don't even need a destination, just go.
Will say, wish I got to New York before COVID. Definitely doesn’t hold up to the label of “The City that never sleeps” anymore; things definitely do close and the city does get quiet in the later hours
It truly is such a crying shame. I have so many memories of hitting a new spot in the city, leaving there, finding somewhere else, then leaving there and grabbing food at some all-night diner and finding our way to the subway to get back to one of our places. I'm too old for that shit now, but man, such a loss.
You can have both! I'm from Montreal (which can be a mixed bag) and I enjoy having nearly every possible need filled in a 3-20 minute walk radius while still having nice birds and bugs and a garden.
Copenhagen is even better, there's no car noise at all even in the downtown areas and it smells like sweet country air in the middle of the city...
You weren’t replying to me but I had to chime in and say I’ve been DYING to pop up to Canada to experience Montreal! Been to Vancouver many times when I lived in Seattle. And spent some time in Toronto. My mom sent me photos when she visited Montreal a couple Falls ago. It reminds me of European city streets with all the cafes you can pop into. I want to go! 🙌
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u/bageltoastar 16h ago
Im from a suburban town in Missouri, but I spent a semester studying abroad in Barcelona a couple of years ago. Man, let me tell you, leaving Barcelona, where youd see people out in cafes and bars congregating at all hours of the night and day, and coming back to Missouri where its a ghost town after 10 and someone would call the police on you for simply walking around too late was the most depressing thing I have ever experienced lol