I’ve been know to criticize Los Angeles for all the things that make it not New York. The lack of seasons, the presence of traffic, the fact that no one walks anywhere, and bars close at 2am, and people ask “who do you work for” instead of “what do you do.” In general, I don’t like LA.
And yet I’m here in la la land for seven full days on somewhat of a test drive – a vacation slash week-long internal monologue of hypotheticals. “Okay, if I had to live in LA where would I live..” And “should work bring me out here, what specifically would I do?” And, “approx how often would I crash the car I have to have because I live here…”
It’s been one day. So far my only answer is, really often…
But in that one day spent being tour-guided around by one of my best friends from college – an east coaster who’s been fully converted – I have made one additional conclusion. A conclusion that is incredibly painful to admit, but too topical to the 20-nothings discussion to ignore:
I think 20-something who live in LA are actually more adult than 20-somethings who live in New York.
Wait Geanna, hear me out.
- In my one day here thus far I’ve heard no fewer than 5 conversations about things people need to do with their cars. Take them to the shop. Pay for their insurance. Clean them out. Park them somewhere safe. The car is like this mechanical child that they’re wholly responsible for not killing. And, it’s a huge investment to boot. Having this car means budgeting for this car, which means other things (more shoes, more expensive dinners) don’t make the cut. In New York I care for getting myself places by taking a 24-hour color and number coded subway system that costs me less than a slice of pizza, holding my arm up in the air until a man who will drive me anywhere I ask pulls over next to me to pick me up, or walking – which is free. I’m not saying that’s not better. It is. I’m just saying it allows me to avoid dealing with very adult things like not drinking and driving or not crashing a vehicle.
- And on this drinking and driving note. People in L.A. certainly get just as drunk as people in New York, but there are factors beyond their control preventing them from doing it as often or intensely. 1. The cars thing. Yes people drive drunk, and that’s not adult at all. But my friends here explain that people drink less because they have to account for driving to and fro. Makes sense. 2. The bars close at 2am. Is that lame? Yes. Does that save money, time, shame, and regret? Yes. Things that happen between 2 and 4 am aren’t generally grouped among the most mature things we do…
- I’m currently sitting at a desk in a room with a queen bed, double book shelf, two full-sized closets, and a massive window looking out on a terrace. In addition, I can walk around this room. When I asked my friend if both his winter and summer clothes fit in this room he said, “yes, but we don’t really have winter clothes here, so I just have double the summer clothes…” Touche, and ouch. Is it un-adult that I bring an entire wardrobe worth of clothes to my parent’s house every time the seasons change? Not technically I guess, but isn’t any need for your parent’s basement at this stage in life a regression?
- Attached to this massive bedroom where all one’s clothes fit is an equally large kitchen, living room, and sometimes dining room where you can do things like have a dinner party or invite friends over instead of heading out to the bars or welcome guests to crash with you for seven full days. Yes, people in New York have big apartment too, but they’re generally older the 26, making a lot of money very young, or in Bushwick (no offense Kim, just a fact). When you have a big space you have to furnish and care for and live in that full space in a generally more adult manner. In my Greenwich Village apartment I eat dinner on a tv tray sitting on my love seat (which is not to be confused with a full-sized couch). I pay $100 more than the friend I’m staying with in L.A.
Don’t get me wrong. I still don’t like L.A. more than New York. But in an effort to open my eyes to the fact that this city has some pluses that, “but the Washington Square Park fountain is so magical at night…” outweigh – I have to be honest. My life in New York is far more bohemian, college, party, hectic, fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants than my friends’ lives here in L.A. Is that a good thing or a bad thing?
I don’t know — it’s only day two…
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God, you know me so well… well enough to tell me to hear you out at the very moment I was about to close out of my browser window, shut down my computer, and throw my hands up in disgust at your statement.
With that being said, I’m hoping by Saturday you will have come to your senses.
God, you know me so well… well enough to tell me to hear you out at the very moment I was about to close out of my browser window, shut down my computer, and throw my hands up in disgust at your statement.
With that being said, I’m hoping by Saturday you will have come to your senses.
This list of things that make 20somethings in L.A. more “adult” than those of us here in NYC read to me like a list of reasons why I LOVE NEW YORK and, therefore, why I DON’T want to live in L.A.
Like… having a car is a pain in the ass, and so is driving in traffic and worrying about who will be DD. Bars that close at 2 a.m.???? Um, just no. That like doesn’t even make sense to me. A big apartment would be nice, but you get that extra space by trading in the convenience of bars open til whenever and hailing a cab or taking the subway everywhere. So, I’ll deal with my smaller space and TV trays and stuff for a while.
I’m 23, not 26, so maybe I’m just offering a more I-don’t-give-a-shit-about-being-a-real-adult point of view, but this list just made me want to stay in New York… forever.
This list of things that make 20somethings in L.A. more “adult” than those of us here in NYC read to me like a list of reasons why I LOVE NEW YORK and, therefore, why I DON’T want to live in L.A.
Like… having a car is a pain in the ass, and so is driving in traffic and worrying about who will be DD. Bars that close at 2 a.m.???? Um, just no. That like doesn’t even make sense to me. A big apartment would be nice, but you get that extra space by trading in the convenience of bars open til whenever and hailing a cab or taking the subway everywhere. So, I’ll deal with my smaller space and TV trays and stuff for a while.
I’m 23, not 26, so maybe I’m just offering a more I-don’t-give-a-shit-about-being-a-real-adult point of view, but this list just made me want to stay in New York… forever.
Lol.. Though I have no idea how LA is or how NYC is, I am still enjoying reading it… Sort of getting general knowledge, and yes, always interesting and fun 🙂
As a New York transplant looking desperately for any way to get back to the east coast that doesn’t involve simply picking up and leaving without a job back in New York, I’m loathe to admit this but I do grudgingly acknowledge the plusses of living in this city.
Would I be able to afford the 1150 square foot 2br/2ba apartment with a dishwasher and in-unit laundry? No, most certainly not.
I can stay out until the bars close and still have a salvageable morning because, hey, I get to bed by 2:30 and am not considered “lame” for doing so.
Those, I’ll agree with. But the drawbacks? I just flew in from NY about an hour ago and last night, while sipping cocktails at The Standard, my friends (who both live in LA — one having spent several years in NY and the other a born and bred Los Angelean) and I had this very discussion with a New Yorker who was averse to visiting our city.
They listed all the pros of the parties in the hills, hobnobbing with celebrities, the weather, blah blah blah. But I, ever the naysayer when it comes to this subject, asked them how many friends they had in LA who DON’T work in entertainment, or a related field. One, a TV writer, knew 2 people and the other, a feature director, won with 3. I only know one person.
In New York my social (and therefore dating) pool is far more varied — friends in fashion, finance, education, photography, real estate, and even a librarian. And while it’s great to be able to go on a date who I don’t have to explain the concept of overnights or a back 9 pickup, this uniformity lends itself to having the same conversations over and over and over. I think about work work, I think about work at home (where I live with an actor), and I think about work when I’m with my friends — because their work is also mine.
And that’s a BIG thing.
As for owning a car? Pain in the ass. I don’t think that having to pay car insurance or make sure it gets taken care of makes me more adult, I just know that if it gets effed up I have no way of getting to work in the morning. I live close enough to the bars that I can just walk.
Welcome to LA! As a recent east coast transplant who does not work in the entertainment industry, I’m looking forward to reading your thoughts about these “suburbs in search of a city.”
I’m not offended…and I can’t argue. It is true that I enjoy a bedroom with a queen sized bed, a desk, a book shelf, room to walk around, and a walk-in closet. I also have ridiculously high ceilings, recessed dimmers and freshly tiled bathroom with a frosted washbasic that looks like it came directly out of a really nice gay bar.
It is also true that I have to carry an uncapped pen to use like a knife in one hand and mace in the other in order to feel safe walking from my apartment after the sun goes down.
BUT — can I please reiterate Garrett’s point about how many diverse, interesting, wildly different people from all different industries you meet daily and who can inspire your work due to your East Coast location?
Also, the pizza. Just saying.
I’m not offended…and I can’t argue. It is true that I enjoy a bedroom with a queen sized bed, a desk, a book shelf, room to walk around, and a walk-in closet. I also have ridiculously high ceilings, recessed dimmers and freshly tiled bathroom with a frosted washbasic that looks like it came directly out of a really nice gay bar.
It is also true that I have to carry an uncapped pen to use like a knife in one hand and mace in the other in order to feel safe walking from my apartment after the sun goes down.
BUT — can I please reiterate Garrett’s point about how many diverse, interesting, wildly different people from all different industries you meet daily and who can inspire your work due to your East Coast location?
Also, the pizza. Just saying.
Hmmm. Good points, but I disagree. Plenty of 16yr olds have cars, but true adults only take taxi’s. True adults know that it’s wise not to invest in a car, because it’s a big investment and depreciates rapidly, and immediately. And true adults don’t leave their cars at bars overnight.
’nuff said 🙂
Hmmm. Good points, but I disagree. Plenty of 16yr olds have cars, but true adults only take taxi’s. True adults know that it’s wise not to invest in a car, because it’s a big investment and depreciates rapidly, and immediately. And true adults don’t leave their cars at bars overnight.
’nuff said 🙂
Eh. I don’t agree. I definitely think living in LA makes you more adult in a way but I don’t know if ppl in LA can be considered MORE adult than 20 somethings in NY.
Yes, they have car insurance to worry about but I think you really have to be an adult to survive as a 20 something in NYC (minus parental support). For me, I’m paying off student loans, rent, utilities and credit card bills, all while working in an industry that doesn’t pay a huge amount(hey media) and without the financial support of my parents. I’ve had to learn how to budget myself and I generally feel more adult than many of my friends bc I have to be.
This city will test you and drive you crazy but I honestly believe if you can handle yourself in NY then your chances of being a responsible adult in other cities are greater.
Eh. I don’t agree. I definitely think living in LA makes you more adult in a way but I don’t know if ppl in LA can be considered MORE adult than 20 somethings in NY.
Yes, they have car insurance to worry about but I think you really have to be an adult to survive as a 20 something in NYC (minus parental support). For me, I’m paying off student loans, rent, utilities and credit card bills, all while working in an industry that doesn’t pay a huge amount(hey media) and without the financial support of my parents. I’ve had to learn how to budget myself and I generally feel more adult than many of my friends bc I have to be.
This city will test you and drive you crazy but I honestly believe if you can handle yourself in NY then your chances of being a responsible adult in other cities are greater.
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West Coast is the best coast, educate yourself:
http://www.westcoastcasual.blogspot.com/
In LA, i simply think the quality of life is better for a young and poor kid trying to figure things out.
Being young and poor in NY is uncomfortable and depressing, and you KNOW it. At least in LA you have some free sunshine and space and outdoor attractions, even if you’re broke.
A more difficult decision for me would be which city to live in if you are stacking major chips!
Sigh……
I’m from LA, but currently in Italy. I’ve only been to NYC once, but I absolutely loved it: there was just so more variety and culture compared to home. I don’t think that having a car makes us any more mature, though. Some of the most vapid and shallow people I’ve ever met there weren’t even necessarily from LA, but were convinced that they were the next best thing and thus already acted like divas. Case in point: I went to a karaoke bar with friends in Burbank, of all places, and there were these 20-somethings (working as extras on sitcom pilots or something else equally fulfilling – they were also friends of friends of friends, so I was stuck at their table) who put on mini-Broadway numbers and strutted around like they were VIPs or something. Ugh.
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