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The United States, its core political philosophy, its legal and economic systems were all founded on what certain people thought well over 200 years ago. The Revolutionary War and the Civil War are perhaps the two most defining periods in U.S. history. Almost anything else pales in comparison.
But of course I know you're joking.
The core philosophies were postulated thousands of years ago, but that is no gauge of the average idiot.
Yes, but--like Boston in the 1600s--it was hardly a city.
The urban fabric of the major cores of the East is mostly from the mid-to-late-19th century. The urban cores of the West are mostly from the early 20th.
Yes, there are small historic districts in the East coast cores that date to earlier, but on a whole, walk around in an East Coast city and you're looking at 1850 onward. On the west coast, it's 1900 onward. 50 years.
Now, despite being such a short amount of time, it's a HUGELY significant time-period (i.e. the second industrial revolution) so that by the time West Coast cities came around there was electricity for powering the red cars in LA, the cable cars in SF, etc.
The cores of Seattle, Portland, SF, Oakland, LA and SD all have a street-car character to them, while East coast cores are mostly horse-carriage based. The subways really were more similar to the west-coast streetcars at that time, bringing in well-to-do people from first-ring suburbs. The average tenement worker in NYC in 1900 didn't take the subway to work.
All of this history lesson aside... the vast majority of people in america (be it in the west, east, north, south) don't live in a core or a first-ring suburb, they live in postwar auto-oriented suburbia. Hence, my earlier point about how I'd rather live in postwar suburbia in the west than in the east.
But my first choice is to live where I do live - in the streetcar suburbs of a west coast city, where the lots and streets were drawn up at the turn of the 20th century, and where I can walk to local stores and yet still be surrounded by gardens, sunshine, and diverse architectural forms and styles.
Its not a few old buildings that make a city what it is. Thats mostly for the tourists.
Its the culture, traditions, values and the sense of place of the people of a city that makes a city unique. And that takes time to develop.
Many European cities had their Medieval buildings totally destroyed in WW2. But these cities still have cultures and traditions dating back centuries because of the people not just the buildings.
One could argue that Seattle, Portland, San Jose or Sacramento might be physically a more beautiful city than say Boston, Charleston, Brooklyn or New Orleans. But for many people, Seattle for all its beauty, is missing something that is really hard to describe. A sort of tradition and sense of place that the older cities have. And that is why the tourists flock to the older cities.
And its not just a East vs West thing. Even on the West Coast, which of the bigger Pacific Coast cities is the favorite on most polls? Here is a hint: She also happens to be one of the oldest most established cities on the Pacific Coast.
Its not a few old buildings that make a city what it is. Thats mostly for the tourists.
Its the culture, traditions, values and the sense of place of the people of a city that makes a city unique...A sort of tradition and sense of place that the older cities have.
And that is why the tourists flock to the older cities.
Also, I think that cities that are "only" around 100 years old are more than capable of having culture, traditions, values, and sense of place. In fact I think brand-new places can have these things if they're made by and made up of people that care.
And we all know that things change. Sometimes drastically.
Is lower manhattan anything like it was 50 years ago (in terms of culture, traditions, values, sense of place...).
Or is monmartre anything like it was in 1900?
Or London in 1800?
Or for an even greater cultural, traditional, etc. shift - Beijing in 1700?
Why are West Coasters taking the ass kicking so personally?
Calm down guys. Sheesh.
And we all know that no one on the East Coast has chips on their shoulder... Ever been to boston? New Jersey?
No one ever takes anything personally on the East Coast....
Nope, no drugs here. I'd have to wonder why you're putting Orlando, Buffalo and Atlantic City on the same pedestal as NYC, Miami, DC & Baltimore and then proceed to only list the well known cities on the west coast.
Oakland
Long Beach
Sacramento
San Jose
Reno
Spokane
Tacoma
Napa
All more than stack up to Orlando/Buffalo/Atlantic City.
Joking on the drugs part but i lived both in East and West coast and West coast is where i lived at the age of 0-17 then i moved east and its alot better than the west which has nothing compared to the East. Napa? Thats a joke been there its only a place to go once and its not any fun. Spokane Tacoma? Orlando beats them Oakland is nothing special but its port. Sacramento is whatever no ocean front just two rivers. San Jose is fine. Long Beach is fine untill you compare it to Miami FL or Myrtle Beach in South Carolina. You lose i can name more and more and you will still lose. As i said before we got connections to Europe, Latin America, Africa, Middle East.
It's nice to have to explain why you love living somewhere. It makes you stop and identify the things you really enjoy--and then you can appreciate them more.
I can pretty much only imagine living in NYC or LA. These are the two cities where the vast bulk of my friends are and where the culture scenes--music, art, fashion, etc.--are up to my standards. And if a fantastic NYC opportunity lands in my lap, I'll move for sure.
But the West Coast continues to have greater appeal for me.
It would also be nice to have more East Coasters explain what they love about the East, why they live there, what their lifestyle is like (as opposed to just boasting about its stats, history, # of cities, etc.).
I really think there is something nice about living in the East (I thoroughly enjoyed my time living there) but the majority of the "East Coast offensive" on this thread has been very impersonal. I really liked that picture of the sidewalk cafe in Philly that KidPhilly posted. That's the kind of thing that really interests me, not the "my dad has a cooler car than yours" ****-talking that's been flying around. If you don't drive the car it doesn't matter.
In other words, tell me how the great things about the East Coast make your lives better. (and there are plenty of great things about the east, so this shouldn't be hard).
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