Nina In New York: On The Differences Between New York And Los Angeles
A young professional's take on the trials and tribulations of everyday life in New York City.
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By Nina Pajak
Because we have good friends who recently defected to L.A., and my father is a part-time Angelino (I assume that is extremely lame of me to say), we decided to take the recent long weekend as an opportunity to fly out for another visit.
I have to say, though my heart will always remain on the East Coast, I really enjoy pretending I live in Santa Monica once or twice a year. On my last trip, I was new to the city and therefore blinded by the glaring lifestyle differences. Namely, that people are nice and relaxed, the climate is blissfully frizz-free, and nobody walks anywhere. I found this time around that all of those observations still hold true. But now that I'm a more settled in as a fake resident, I was free to scrutinize more carefully and pay closer attention to more of the nuances of life in Los Angeles.
In the plus column, it appears as though nobody works a Mon-Fri, 9-5 (or 6, or 7) job. As a visitor, this is a very attractive thing. Seeing people dressed casually in the middle of a "work day," having lunch or leaving a yoga class, lulls a person like me into a false sense of justified leisure.
More: NYC's 7 Best Yoga Studios | NYC's 5 Best Running Spots
In this environment, I instantly forgot that normal people are supposed to have jobs, and that everyone isn't just mysteriously affluent enough to be found jogging at 11 a.m.
Which brings me to my next point, and one for the minus column: Everyone is always running. Always. Everywhere. All the time. In groups, individually, in pairs, with dogs, slow, fast, up steps, on the beach, on the grass, up mountains, in the street, men, women, teenagers—running. I can only draw the conclusion that there is nothing else to do but run around and try to have slightly less body fat than the next person you see running. We, on the other hand, mainly eat brunch.
The driving thing somewhat balances out the equation, in my opinion. When I first learned of it, I thought, how crazy that people drive a distance that would take less than twenty minutes to walk! But then again, I thought, how nice to get in your own car and not be subjected to the unwashed masses on public transportation, or be forced to trudge home with grocery bags, or be stuck trying to find a taxi within ten miles who will accept a canine passenger. But then again, I wasn't driving myself around last time.
To be fair, Mr. Pajak did all the driving this time. But we finally did rent a car (understated elegance was of the utmost importance), and I was part of the driving process. Which meant that I gained a full appreciation for what it means to live in a city where an 11-mile route pops up on Google Maps as an hour-and-fifteen-minute trip. Not only that, but the driving conditions make for an absolutely terrifying experience. Between the seemingly endless fleet of brand new luxury vehicles being driven insanely slowly (we turned "spot the dealer plates" into a daily game), the powerful people driving cars to powerful to simply sit in traffic, and the habit of most people on the road to spontaneously decide to cross four lanes of traffic in order to exit rightthatverysecond, I spent most of our time in the car white-knuckled and breathless. And that, my friends, was a whole lot of time.
I discovered a new love for my ability here in Manhattan to be conveyed rather than to convey myself, unwashed masses and all.
I still don't think it's a contest between here and there (sorry, friends who gave us the hard sell). But the more time I spend over there, the more fun I have convincing myself that "real estate is sooooo reasonable," and I too could be one of those impossibly fit people who spends all day nursing a latte. It's fun to play pretend, but I'm happy to be back in our real world, real though it may be.
What are your favorite and least favorite things about New York? Sound off below...
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Dear Readers: While I am rarely at a loss for words, I'm always grateful for column ideas. Please feel free to e-mail me your suggestions and follow me on Twitter.
Nina Pajak is a writer and publishing professional living with her husband on the Upper West Side.
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