Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Transplants are you still in LOVE with NYC as much as when you dreamed about living here and when you visited here....Now that you live and breath NYC and the masks are off you gotten a chance to see the Real NY are you still as in LOVE with it?
If so what has changed you love, what do you know now that you didn't as dreamer/visitor/tourist
NO POLL Because it will be hijacked....I want honest answers.
I'm sure natives will chime in, but this is question for Transplants.
I never dreamed about living in NY unless it was in a nightmare.I was raised in a die hard Red Sox loving,NY hating environment and was considered a traitor for even thinking about NY.
I came here to go to Columbia and had no intention of sticking around. I actually sort of dreaded moving here.The plan was to get my degree(s) and move back to my hometown,Boston ,as quickly as possible.
The love came on slowly but it has endured and now I have been here for more than 1/2 of my life and can't imagine living anywhere else! I live and work in The Bronx so I guess you could say I have definitely seen "the real NY" !
I'm fairly similar to Bluedog- I didn't really want to move to NYC (I had had a very overwhelming visit a few years ago) but my fiance lived here and it was either move to NYC or break up- it was the cusp of the financial crash and he had a good, steady job and I didn't. I actually like New York much more now that I've lived here for a few years and have had a chance to make friends and develop my career. I still hope we'll move on someday, but a lot of good things have happened and it's become a very positive experience. It probably helped a lot that I was expecting to hate everything and be miserable, and since I expected the worst, I was constantly surprised by all the good things. My fiance's family also lives in the city and surrounding suburbs, it's the first time in my life I have an extended family I see on a regular basis, so that's pretty awesome. I have friends who have given up and gone home, but the ones who burned out were the ones with SATC eyes and no real skills. The rest of us had more realistic expectations and great work ethics and are carving out good lives.
Location: from houstoner to bostoner to new yorker to new jerseyite ;)
4,084 posts, read 12,693,793 times
Reputation: 1974
I've wanted to live here all my life so I guess I qualify to answer. The rose-colored glasses came off right away. Living here will do that to you. For every good experience I've had here, I've had maybe a dozen minor negative experiences. I think this is what people mean about New York testing your mettle, separating the wheat from the chaff, the men from the boys, or whatever metaphor suits you. I guess I was at a slight advantage because I came here prepared for that. I know that things will get better, even if it takes a few years to get where I want. The main negative experiences I've had have been in looking for work. I've encountered quite a bit of weirdness there, being given jobs and then having them taken back and such. (What IS that??!) But I'm determined to suck it up and spend a few years here, at least, if not the rest of my life. Nowhere else has the right combination of the opportunities and general awesomeness I want in my life on an everyday basis like New York. If that means I have to take the good along with the bad, I'm willing to do it. I've lived in a few other cities and states and nowhere else compares.
I moved here from London at the beginning of 2009 and I have loved every second of it so far. I actually find New Yorkers (and transplants!) to be a pleasant and varied bunch; the only obnoxious people I have met are wealthy UES mothers (I am a nanny for a millionaire UWS family who hang around in THAT kind of circle to keep up appearances). Having said that, my job has helped me in many ways; my boss co-signed with me on my first lease (he also pays half my rent), I get to eat whatever I want at work so I avoid the high cost of groceries, as well as getting to sample some of the best restaurants here, plus I have traveled loads (I can go two weeks without having to spend a single cent!). All this means I have a lot of disposable income to enjoy the city.
I love living on the UWS as I have shops and restaurants on my doorstep, and the subway 2 blocks away (am excited that it runs all night. The London Underground stops soooo early!). Have been all around the city, to all 5 boroughs and explored all kinds of areas. I guess that I sometimes feel I am on an extended vacation so I probably act like a tourist and try to cram in as much as I can at the weekends!
Winter is magical in this city (we don't get much snow back in London!) but I hate the heat of summer. Yuck! Again, I seem to be stuck in vacation mode as we always used to visit at Christmas. Central Park in the snow is what it's all about!
My biggest dislike is having to go to the Hamptons (I know it's not NYC but it's a big part of my life here, unfortunately!) A load of pretentious crap! Oh, and my tiny kitchen....
I lived in Princeton, NJ for the past 11 years (if you don't count 4 years in Philly for college) and had made frequent trips to NYC throughout that time. So I was already highly familiar with the city before actually moving here a year ago.
But once I moved, I realized that visiting is a LOT different than living here. I love it just as much as I did before, but in a different way, I guess. That "omg I'm in NYC" feeling I used to have is long gone and now I just think of it as my home.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
