Benefits of living in Manhattan?

If you don't get it, it's so not worth explaining it.

Have a super-swell-unicorn-sunshine-flower-sniffin'-kitty-pettin'-snowflakes-on-your-tongue-rainbow-day in Westchester!!!

OP(me) Why am I not surprised by that answer. Is a little self reflection to much to ask? It's an anonymous message board, I promise not to tell anyone.

Dear OP, my husband and I live in an idyllic place near the beach in Nassau County. 6 beds, 3 baths, 2 new cars, only 2 people in the house. I want to buy a pied a terre so we can experience Manhattan without the exhaustion of getting home in the wee hours via train or car. Years ago I was a volunteer in privately run homeless shelters, and for me it was always magical to wake up in Manhattan on a Sunday morning--despite the simple surroundings I was sleeping in. You and your significant other should spend a few days in a boutique Manhattan hotel in a residential area and see if you pick up the vibe. Peace.

OP, I think you answered your own question - cars. Living in manhattan is all about a pedestrian way of life.. Granted there are those in mnahattan that own cars, but it's by far the extreme minority. Something about the vibe of a truly pedestrian city is what gives manhattan it's unique place in this world. For example - your "short trip" to the city to visit a museum is confined to you alone in your car. Mine on the other hand, involves walking thru various neighborhoods and experiencing everything around me. Priceless.

If you have to ask, and you LOVE your cars, you belong in Westchester.

Seriously, the differences between a suburban, lily-white, non diverse life and the City are huge.

But, most simply stated it is a reflection on the challenge facing America today:

The suburban, sprawling, oversized (waistline, cars, McMansion) commoditized, American Idol watching, WalMart Shopping, Applebees eating "real" America
vs.
The urban, pedestrian, lower impact, pseudo-snobby, more diverse, culuture hound, remnants of euro-centric "old America"

Westchester is no different than Shaker Heights or Buckehead or . . . and sadly Manhattan is beginning to morph into the same bank/Starbucks/Duane Read on every corner as other major cities . . . all sad.

I live in Manhattan, and honestly, I don't which mangaes to be funnier AND stupider at the same time - the OP, or these unicorn themed lists - ("PLACES UNICORNS LOOK AWESOME OR MAGNIFICENT - Wandering the parking lot of a Stevie Nicks concert" - ohmygod, ROTFLMAO!!!! - keep 'em coming...).

I think the UNICORN poster is pretty funny.Just read this thread out-loud to my hubby and we both cracked up. OP, there's just something about NYC that gets under your skin. If you've ever lived here for a significant amount of time (anything over 5-7 years), I think you'd really get it. Yes, we urbanites 'put up with' a lot less space, crowded subways, sometimes hostile cabby's and the occassional wackos, but believe me, that's what makes life INTERESTING! I grew up in a beautiful small town but nothing - not having kids, more space, more cars - could make me leave the city. What's better than a 24 hour bodega, right around the corner, when you need emergency diapers? Or, 'the local' where you can get a beer for a few bucks anytime you want, day or night?? These are not highbrow example, I know. But, that's the point. NYC is about a lifestyle, not just a day trip for a show.

Benefit of living in Manhattan:
1) You don't need a car. Mass transportation is cheap and good. If you need a car you can rent one. Think about how much all your cars REALLY cost in gas, maint, price, parking(?) etc.
2) I can be at work downtown near Wall from UWS in 20 minutes door to door with no driving and no traffic. That's almost 2 extra hours a day in saved time, 730 hours or 30 days a year.
3) Lots of things to do, places to eat, and parks all in walking distance.
4) Doormen are extremely helpful (if you've never had one) to receive packages, keep an eye on the apt, let family in, etc.
5) Maid/cleaning, dogwalker, nanny/daycare very accessible and lots of choices.
6) Always something to do, always something open.

I currently am back in Boston after decades in Los Angeles & a few years in San Francisco & I've always thought of myself as a city person. I grew up in a white suburb just south of Boston & I hated it, though it is a gorgeous old town. Lately I've really had the hots for Manhattan but I haven't been there in years so I'll have to come soon. I wonder, though, if I'll really be passionate for it & consider moving there when my elderly aunt goes or if I'll see & do all the things I want on my trip but think, "This is too much for me!" My brother recently visited his son in the East Village for the weekend & said, "I like grass!" (as in lawns) so I think it really depends on what feels right to you.

REACTIONS OVERHEARD UPON RIDING A UNICORN INTO ONE'S TEN-YEAR HIGH SCHOOL REUNION

"You haven't changed a bit."

"Chris, right? Wait a second...Pat?"

"Do they really believe that this is going to take away from the fact that they're losing their hair?"

"From Westchester, right?"

"Ha! They're riding the same type of unicorn as Mort Eggers', except Mort's is bigger and prettier"

is park slope the suburbs?

Park slope, eeewwwwww, thats brooklyn.

I am going to try to answer a few posters at the same time because there is a general conception (or misconceptions) building that is not what I was aiming at or wanted to imply.

A few thing about me-----

I like cars because I like cars ---- and I am a partial investor (not involved in day to day operations) in an auto related business --- I do understand the pedestrian urban philosophy..... I mention (my interest in cars) it because I feel it has relevance and to give you some background on myself...... but for now forget the cars as a factor (not all my neighbors love their cars..... but they still find reasons to live in Westchester.)

As for Manhattan being anymore ethnically or racially diverse than Westchester (for all of you trying to paint Westchester as if it were an almost rascist suburb) you all know that's a croc. I have many diverse neighbors, more so than many Manhattan Co-ops. I do not see Manhattan dwellers rushing to live in truly ethnically diverse areas like Brooklyn or the Bronx (I live right next to the Bronx and spend quite a bit of time there) so I am little surprised by what some comments are starting to hint at. Manhattan buildings have a long history of denying prospective buyers residence based on race.... it is very well known....... and there are many high profile examples ( I do not want to start a battle based on race here so I wont list example after example)

Where I live in Westchester, people do not watch American Idol, shop at Walmart ( I haven't set foot in a Walmart in years, the last time I did it was on a road trip through Pennsylvania) or eat at Applebees ( I have never, nor has anyone in my family eaten there).

When I go to Manhattan, I do not drive there (maybe once a year late at night I do, but very very rarely), I take the railroad.

I have spent weeks at time living in Manhattan over the years. Twice in a hotel and many times with friends.

I and most of my friends are very, very euro-centric and travel to Europe quite a bit. I have taken some very long vacations to Europe and am still in frequent contact with distant relatives I have tracked down.

I have no problem with cabbies or what some people call occasional "wackos", they were not a factor in my original post.

At the very end of my post I mentioned I basically understood why some people do want to live there. What I do not understand is why it is just an overriding obsession to have it right away. There are lot of people I meet, who can barely afford it given all the tough requirements to live in many buildings and that seems to be the case in this forum as well. I meet professionals who spend 60 to 70% of their income on rent and wealthier people who turn down many great long term investments in order to stay "liquid" enough to live at that "must have" address.

All of you people who are stuffed into these claustrophobic buildings, do you go down the hall to meet your neighbors? or the ones a few floors above or below?

Don't your kids need room to around? (I know........ Central Park has plenty of room to run around)

All these great people you meet, are they only other Manhattan dwellers (you may think they are)? When I travel (and worked) to Manhattan, some of the most interesting people have been tourists and people from other counties. If my former workplace dumped all the commuters we would have had a very boring place.

Young people who live in Westchester and see someone at a local place (club, restaurant, whatever, etc) actually have a chance of running into them again if they want to meet. (And at the same time have an influx of new people and fresh faces).

How many restaurants do you need? I have my three favorites I go to. Are your culinary apetites so hard to satisfy that you have to go to a new place every week?

So aside from the standard answers of great clubs, great restaurants, my doorman gets the mail (There are doorman buildings in Westchester too) is there anything else so compelling?

Or is it all about down to having to have that right address?

Take your time, think about it, it may be hard to self reflect sometimes. Some of the people who answer "you just dont get it" seem to not know themselves and are basing their own lifestyle about misconceptions and oversimplifications they have of places outside of Manhattan.

why ewwwwwwwww? thats just so mean, how about brooklybn heights or park slope they are great neighborhoods so close to manhattan

What's great about it?: energy, intensity, convenience, metropolis (read: you can get access to almost any opportunity available: career, personal, material things, artistic, you name it - it is here and this is the capital of whatever you want (overstating a bit, but not by much and I think you'll get the point)) - there's nothing like immersing yourself in all of that, if that is what you want. There are so many incredible places in the world, and there is no place like Manhattan (no deference to the outer boroughs of Westchester). I grew up in a small town in NH and love it there and miss the country, mountains, trees, fresh air, natural beauty, etc., though still cherish the opportunity I have had to live in Manhattan (9 years and counting).

so whats wrong with park slope!

would you stop with ewwwwwwwwwww. just explain yourself. my cousin just moved into a 3mil townhouse in park slope which i would harldy call ewwwwwwwwwwwwww. now i am on the market for one

Well from the other responses I have read here #31, I do not think people want to explain, they expect you to just "get it".

get that living 10minutes away in manhattan is different from park slope? what the hell are you talking about . park slope is still NYC!!!!

#32 Here..... do not know myself..... you'll have to ask the others, I was just predicting the response.

OP, you don't work in manhattan, that is why. If you had to go into manhattan 5 days a week, how would you feel?

I use to wrok in Manhattan and it felt fine, got plent of work done on the train, was more productive than the office..... and if I wasnt working I had time to read the paper and catch up on whats going on in the world.... or learned some things from some good books I brought along.

i work in downtwon manhattan and live in park slope.

cool if you guys love westchester so much, why aren't you on streeteasy.com/westchester?

OP here---- I know enough about Westchester already......

You have way too much weekend time writing long blog questions. Go work on your
lawn.

OP- A lot of young people like to come to NYC for a few years to see if they like it. Plus, there are a LOT of jobs here... and a LOT of single people. I have never ever heard anyone say, hey let's go party in westchester. Or oh hey, lets head to westchester to grab a bite to eat. Thus, you pay a premium for the convenience and lifestyle. If you like to eat at the same 3 places, that awesome.. but a lot of people don't. And they like the diversity in food. As for space, you don't really need that much space or else you just accumulate junk anyway.

"missed out on the fantastic appreciation we had in many very nice communities" its
over hope you sold.

Let's be fair to the OP number 45, some junk is important.

He makes his kids do the lawn

I bet pied a terres are flying off the shelf in Westchester!

I have breakfast with my children every morning after an hour gym workout or two hour bike ride in CP. Then I ride 6 minutes to work to put in a 10 hour day. Then ride home to have dinner with my kids and read them both books before bed. Now that is quality of life.

#50 - read poster #2's response to OP.... and I agree with #14 - ab-so-f*ckin-lute-ly HILARIOUS (particularly #16)! It's SO CLEAR that OP doesn't 'get it' ('it' being r-e-a-l-l-y dry irony) and therefore, doesn't 'get' Manhattan....

#58 here again - jesus h. christ - just read post #53 - LMAO!!!!

#50 again here----- uhhhh, sorry, I understand what #2 means when he mentions OP doesnt get it, but I am still ....... trying to understand, the unicorns? Do people in Westchester have them in their yards as some king of tacky decoration?

I think it was #2's "...Have a super-swell-unicorn-sunshine-flower-sniffin'-kitty-pettin'-snowflakes-on-your-tongue-rainbow-day in Westchester!!!..." that mentioned the unicorn, and things just snowballed from there....

I dont think it is suppose to make sense #60

The OP's long, long questions and self answering just gave me a massive headache.

Poor guy, I think the OP is genuine even if a little misguided and you guys eat him alive. This board can be a little rough from time to time.

feels like a Unicorn horn splitting my forehead.

OP #1 Here...... Though I disagree with your characterization of my post as misguided, I appreciate the half-positive sentiment. I would answer some of these juveniles but I see they have difficulty reading long posts.

STUPID JOKES THAT UNICORNS DO NOT FIND FUNNY

Does your horn grow if you tell a lie?

If you're so magical why don't you stop world hunger?

I bet you probably like Westchester way more than Manhattan, huh?

Is that a horn on your head or are you just glad to see me?

Can I hang my coat there?

Wanna play ring toss?

rolfmao!!!!!!!!!!!

long silly posts...

#50 again........ I still dont get the unicorn jokes.........

OP, sounds like you live in Pelham. True?

OP must be the Mayor of Westnutchester

OP Here - No, I live much further up (using a city dweller's sense of distance)...... When I mentioned I consider the Bronx next door, it is because it is a short car ride away.

#50 - do you live in Westchester?!?

For people who live in Manhattan, there is no amount of space that can make up for the 2.5 hours spent commuting per day from West. to the city. That is a huge amount of time and is often not worth the small plot of land and ok house. We moved from Manhattan to Westchester in 2004 and moved back to the city 8 months later.

op how long of a train ride is it door to door?

I am laughing so f'ing hard I can barely catch my breath. Best thread EVER on streeteasy. Honestly, I'm gonna have to put on Depends undergarments now.... as far as the OP goes, my god, if you don't get 'it' (whatever 'it' is), than just wlak away, already!

HOW TO TELL IF A UNICORN IS IN TO YOU

It pays for dinner.

It tells you repeatedly that you have beautiful eyes.

It send you flowers when it isn't your birthday or Valentine's day.

HOW TO TELL IF A UNICORN JUST ISN'T THAT INTO YOU

It says it'll call but it doesn't.

You overhear it telling your coworkers that you're "just friends."

It tells you it's gay.

i must agree - the unicorn posts are the funniest thing ever! Makes me want to move to Wescthester!!!!! - oh, but no gay unicorns there.......

Is everyone that lives in Westchester a nut?

OP -- if you answered your own question and dont like the other responses . . why even ask? Obviously you have doubt and an inferiority complex .. which I guess is the real answer.

If you have to ask -- then that is the answer.

It's really simple, OP - you know that famous Saul Steinberg cartoon from the cover of the New Yorker magazine called "View of the World from Ninth Avenue" that shows Manhattan, then Jersey, then Texas, then a little strip of water, then China?

It's like that, exactly. You either get it, or you don't. No self relection, soul searching, or navel gazing required or needed.

Period.

And poster #2's initial response, along with the cascade of unicorn-related lists, is pure genius. Just the kind of absurdist, smart, and very dry humor (a la Woody Allan) that appeals pretty much to New Yorkers and not many others.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE FIRST 100 DAYS OF A UNICORN PRESIDENT

Universal health care

Simplification of tax code

Overhaul of campaign finance regulations

New laws to protect ancient forests

White House redecorated to look like eight-year-old girl's bedroom

wow this rocks the house

People get defensive when you attack their home. OP, it shouldn't be that hard to imagine that some people like the convenience of the city. If you have the money/income to get a place with enough space, then why not? I grew up in the burbs and often have the burb/city debate with myself... but right now, we're choosing the city.

THINGS UNICORNS WOULD SAY

Yay!

Love me!

Flying is fun!

Let's volunteer at a soup kitchen this Christmas.

My tail is funny!

Eating glitter is fun!

Will you help me think of something nice we can do for Grandma?

Look, a horn!

Let's prevent a forest fire!

Are all people from Westchester so obtuse?

No, *you're* the cutest ever!

Camus is boring. I find Karl Jasper's philosophy much more enlightening.

Wheeeee!

I bet I'll live forever!

OP, can I own a bigger plot of land living in Westchester? - absolutely. Can I miss the extra 20-25 hrs a week away from my 2 young daughters, if I moved there? - not in my lifetime...

UMMM..... I think I am the third person to ask, but I dont see response. How are Westchester and unicorns related.

They aren't, per se - see post #2's response to OP - included snarky but funny passing mention to unicorn - someone grabbed the idea by the horn (sorry for the bad pun!) and ran with it....

park slope

This thread is useless. Stop trying to push your opinions on other people! If one person likes to live in the city, that's what they like and they're not going to change because you think Westchester is better and vice versa! Everyone just shut the hell up! No one cares about what any of you think! Your opinions do not matter. No one cares.

OP Here - I am going to try to answer some of the replies, though I too see some responses missing so have lost some track. It's a work week so I wont be able to reply to everything but I see some misconceptions building (unintentional or not).

#81 - My questions and attitudes have nothing to do with an inferiority complex....... its more a sense of curiousity and puzzlement........ I want to keep this civil but if you read the posts you would see why I have the questions I do........ In my original posts I mentioned I understand why some people eventually want to live there (in Manhattan)..... that is granted..... I just dont understand why many intelligent people must have it right away and pass up other opportunities to make even more money in order to satisfy the peculiar investment philosophies of Co-op boards.

As for inferiority complex, I hesitate to say this because I do want to keep things civil....... but people who have to spend millions of dollars to live in a tiny box in the sky at the right address seem to have something very strongly resembling an inferiority complex of their own.

#91 - I am not trying to push anything on anyone.........

I get the sense our Unicorn friend is someone who grew up in Westchester but ran away to the city to escape an overbearing family, friends or relatives who may not have been appreciative of his or her artistic skills, so she is making fun of them through me (or my post). I am a good sport and I too find it amusing and I will keep a look out for unicorn yard ornaments. Maybe they are more prevalent they I myself have noticed.

Would like to write more.... but got to run and take care of slightly more serious things......

Bye...... it was a perverse form of fun.

OP HERE again

Note to #92 - lets be a little easier on our friends at streeteasy... I am sure they do their best.

Mantattan vs. the burbs - all depends on what you want and at what stage of your life you are.

As a single person I love the city, there are so many more activities than in the 'burbs that I find interesting. And the energy & the vibe, and I love to walk. And I find the dating pool to consist of more interesting and sophisticated people than those I've met from the burbs because - based on my experience - the city attracts a certain type of single person. I lived in a rural place for a while and found it boring. If I got married and had kids someday I could see myself living outside of the city....again, it depends on your lifestyle preferences.

ps: LOVE the unicorn lists!

so is park slope the suburbs !!!!!!!!

I know there are some folks who think this discussion is really stupid, but really, it's just funny and harmless.

#97:

It would be nice if the folks at streeteasy.com felt the same way. I've been following this thread since the beginning, and you'll notice they've edited out posts #3,5,6,7,9,11,13,16,18,19,20,21,30,35,36,37,43,46,50,52,53,54,55,57,and 92 (thus far!). The deleted posts were off topic at times, but NEVER off color or in any way offensive in their use of language or meaning - and certainly no more off topic than MANY posts on MANY of the other threads on this board.

Perhaps the genius moderators at streeteasy.com should apply their fabulous editorial skills evenly, or just keep their hands in their laps instead of editing out over 25% of the posts on a given thread (doing that makes it REALLY easy to understand the flow on the information!).

The deleted posts on this thread were VERY funny at times and truly harmless.

Manhattan is one of the greatest cities in the world, Westchester is not.
Its like comparing apples & oranges.

for the record, park slope is not the suburbs. It's not Manhattan, but it's in one of the five boroughs of NYC so technically it qualifies as city, but not as "the" city.

Seems like OP has some unresolved issues about choosing to live in Westchester.

....nah, i think he's arrogant and just likes to rant about his four cars and how people who work and live in manhattan underperform at their jobs.

Which do you think is better:
Living in Westchester or reading Thomas Paine's "The Age of Reason"

park slope is 10minutes to downtown on the subway

Agree with #97.

BRING BACK THE UNICORN POSTS. I logged on to read those posts again and they were gone! Why?

Just for you, poster #106:

THINGS A UNICORN COULD SAY THAT WOULD MAKE ME SMILE

"Excuse me please mister?"

"YUM! Grape juice!"

"Rain, rain, go away!"

"That old OP doesn't scare me one bit!"

"I love you!"

"Karl Rove - what a c*cksucker!"

#106 here - thank you #107 - are you the original unicorn poster?

Yup.

QUOTES FROM THE MOVIE "JAWS" IN WHICH "SHARK" IS REPLACED BY UNICORN

"Understand you're having a little unicorn trouble."

"Don't know what that bastard unicorn's gonna do with it. Might eat it I suppose."

"So, eleven hundred men went into the water, three hundred sixteen men come out. The unicorn took the rest, June 29, 1945."

"You see a barracuda, everyone says, 'Huh? What?' You yell 'unicorn,' we've got a panic on our hands on the 4th of July."

"Why don't we have one more drink and go down there and cut that unicorn open?"

"All this machine does is swim and eat and make little unicorns."

"In recent days a cloud has appeared on the horizon at this beautiful resort community; a cloud in the shape of a killer unicorn."

"And the idea was, unicorn comes to the nearest man, that man, he starts poundin' and hollerin' and screamin', sometime's the unicorn go away, sometimes he wouldn't go away. Sometime's that unicorn he looks right into ya, right into your eyes. And another thing about unicorn. He's got lifeless eyes, black eyes, like a doll's eyes. When he comes at ya, he doesn't seem to be livin'. Until he bites you."

"I'm not saying that this is not unicorn. It probably is, Martin. It probably is."

"You go inside the cage, cage goes into the water, you go in the water, unicorn in the water; our unicorn?"

Now we just have bad unicorn copycats....

I have a home in the suburbs, the shore and the UWS. Why Manhattan? Within a few blocks are Central Park, 3 grocery stores, 3 RX, police, fire, EMT, Post Office and library. A few dozen stores and restaurants. About a minute from my door is a subway that will take me nearly anywhere. From here I can go to Penn Station, Port Authority, Grand Central and 3 international airports. I can walk out my door and be in Europe in the morning a never be inside a car. Excellent medical care, low real estate taxes, no more lawn maintenance or grass cutting. it is one. Yes, Westhchester is beautiful but there is a reason 1.8 million people choose Manhattan including some of the richest and brightest people in the world.