Never been to Phoenix. Spent a few days, but not much longer, in each of the others.
LA was probably my favorite. I enjoy the LA alt-comedy scene vicariously through podcasts, and I could easily spend every night out at shows. I caught several when I was there for a few days. I generally enjoyed the vibe there, I think I could enjoy living there.
Chicago was cool, I really enjoyed the food a lot, and I wouldn't mind going again. I guess I missed whatever the magic is that people love about it, but it didn't strike me as super special. Would never be able to handle the weather.
Houston, being from Atlanta, felt surprisingly "comfortable". I did like the restaurants. I wouldn't mind living there if I had to, but don't have any desire to.
New York...man New York brings up a lot of mixed feelings that I have a hard time describing. I grew up idolizing (not sure if that's the right word) NYC, and I'm of the age that my first visits were in the "bad old days". I used to absolutely LOVE the feeling of just getting out on the street there, just felt the energy pulsing through it. I really felt like it would be the best place in the world to live. I felt that way from visits from the 80s through the late 90s.
On visits since...I'm just not feeling it anymore. I'm not one of the "New York was better when it was a shithole" people. I'm not extoling the virtues of stepping over a vagrant shooting up smack outside a porno theater to go see "My Fair Lady." It's good that's passed. HOWEVER, the city doesn't really feel "real" to me any more. There's just something about the corporatization of every inch of Manhattan that leaves me feeling a lot more like I'm visiting the Vegas Strip or Universal City Walk than what I used to feel in NY.
I don't know. There's something that sits really weird about taking a tour and everything is like:
"This is the famous Carmichael Building. In the 1920s, Tammany Hall politicians met here to plan campaigns. In 1956 Lito "Pig Nose" Carpose was murdered on the front steps in a gangland slaying. A fire in 1970 gutted the inside, and it was condemned, but a community of squatting artists grew up around the building, that would eventually lead to the Clambeyo movement of modern sculpture. It was purchased by Associated conglomerated holdings in 2001 for 900k, and currently consists of 38 micro-lofts that sell for $9M a piece. South Korean Billionaire Ky Sun Hoon owns the entire penthouse floor.
"Please note the brownstone at the corner. In 1840 this was built by Irish and German immigrants who raised pigs in the basement level and slaughtered them in front of the building. In 1863, the entire block burned down in the draft riots. Rebuilt in 1890, this block became the center piece of first the Italian immigrant community, and then the Puerto Rican community. Broadway legend Peter Santos lived in a closet at 122b, and sold pencils on the corner while teaching himself to tap dance to drum up customers. It was spared during the race riots in 1969 because of the efforts of Wilson Tool and Die, who employed most of the residents on the factory line, who hired Chinese Tong to guard the perimeter from rioters. In 1999 the entire block was purchased by Shlagel Corporation for $1.2 million. Unit 22b is 1400 square feet and sold to Elon Musk's brother 2019 for $18.5M."
It's like that over and over, and it is just makes my stomach queasy. So much history, so much "real" history, and it's just been gobbled up to this ultra-expensive real estate. In like a generation or two places have gone from a place where an immigrant or an orphan might find a roof over their head to start a new life, to a "map of the stars" where you ogle at a home Knicks owner James Dolan once bought for a mistress. Restaurants that used to be hole in the wall miracles are now wrapped around the block with tourists spending three hours of a 48 hour stay in NYC waiting in line of a bacon donut featured on a Rachel Ray show.
Obviously, that's not everything. There are still plenty of cool, neat places to go and see and eat. But to me, those things are now the exception, not the rule. They're more like knowing you can order a beer on the secret menu at Goofy's Gut House in Disney World or something. The OVERALL vibe and energy of the City is just not the same, it just doesn't feel like the real deal anymore, it feels like a cynical and manufactured product. I used to feel like being in NYC was like being right in history while it was happening, while now it just feels like another tourist or sightseeing destination.
LA was probably my favorite. I enjoy the LA alt-comedy scene vicariously through podcasts, and I could easily spend every night out at shows. I caught several when I was there for a few days. I generally enjoyed the vibe there, I think I could enjoy living there.
Chicago was cool, I really enjoyed the food a lot, and I wouldn't mind going again. I guess I missed whatever the magic is that people love about it, but it didn't strike me as super special. Would never be able to handle the weather.
Houston, being from Atlanta, felt surprisingly "comfortable". I did like the restaurants. I wouldn't mind living there if I had to, but don't have any desire to.
New York...man New York brings up a lot of mixed feelings that I have a hard time describing. I grew up idolizing (not sure if that's the right word) NYC, and I'm of the age that my first visits were in the "bad old days". I used to absolutely LOVE the feeling of just getting out on the street there, just felt the energy pulsing through it. I really felt like it would be the best place in the world to live. I felt that way from visits from the 80s through the late 90s.
On visits since...I'm just not feeling it anymore. I'm not one of the "New York was better when it was a shithole" people. I'm not extoling the virtues of stepping over a vagrant shooting up smack outside a porno theater to go see "My Fair Lady." It's good that's passed. HOWEVER, the city doesn't really feel "real" to me any more. There's just something about the corporatization of every inch of Manhattan that leaves me feeling a lot more like I'm visiting the Vegas Strip or Universal City Walk than what I used to feel in NY.
I don't know. There's something that sits really weird about taking a tour and everything is like:
"This is the famous Carmichael Building. In the 1920s, Tammany Hall politicians met here to plan campaigns. In 1956 Lito "Pig Nose" Carpose was murdered on the front steps in a gangland slaying. A fire in 1970 gutted the inside, and it was condemned, but a community of squatting artists grew up around the building, that would eventually lead to the Clambeyo movement of modern sculpture. It was purchased by Associated conglomerated holdings in 2001 for 900k, and currently consists of 38 micro-lofts that sell for $9M a piece. South Korean Billionaire Ky Sun Hoon owns the entire penthouse floor.
"Please note the brownstone at the corner. In 1840 this was built by Irish and German immigrants who raised pigs in the basement level and slaughtered them in front of the building. In 1863, the entire block burned down in the draft riots. Rebuilt in 1890, this block became the center piece of first the Italian immigrant community, and then the Puerto Rican community. Broadway legend Peter Santos lived in a closet at 122b, and sold pencils on the corner while teaching himself to tap dance to drum up customers. It was spared during the race riots in 1969 because of the efforts of Wilson Tool and Die, who employed most of the residents on the factory line, who hired Chinese Tong to guard the perimeter from rioters. In 1999 the entire block was purchased by Shlagel Corporation for $1.2 million. Unit 22b is 1400 square feet and sold to Elon Musk's brother 2019 for $18.5M."
It's like that over and over, and it is just makes my stomach queasy. So much history, so much "real" history, and it's just been gobbled up to this ultra-expensive real estate. In like a generation or two places have gone from a place where an immigrant or an orphan might find a roof over their head to start a new life, to a "map of the stars" where you ogle at a home Knicks owner James Dolan once bought for a mistress. Restaurants that used to be hole in the wall miracles are now wrapped around the block with tourists spending three hours of a 48 hour stay in NYC waiting in line of a bacon donut featured on a Rachel Ray show.
Obviously, that's not everything. There are still plenty of cool, neat places to go and see and eat. But to me, those things are now the exception, not the rule. They're more like knowing you can order a beer on the secret menu at Goofy's Gut House in Disney World or something. The OVERALL vibe and energy of the City is just not the same, it just doesn't feel like the real deal anymore, it feels like a cynical and manufactured product. I used to feel like being in NYC was like being right in history while it was happening, while now it just feels like another tourist or sightseeing destination.
