a third generation new yorker who moved away 15 ye
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9/5/2006
everyone who dreams of it should live in new york just once. it's an experience like no other. it's tough, gritty, demanding, exhausting, and very expensive and sometimes just cruel. but it is also filled with some of the greatest opportunities and most brilliant and talented people. it's a place to put yourself way out there on the edge.
after moving away while still a baby, i returned in my 20s and left in my 30s, just as the city was finally becoming livable again. i still visit family and friends once a year or so, and it always feels like home. sometimes i think i should live there again, but there is no way i could afford to return.
living there changes you forever, and in some ways makes you unsuited to live anywhere else. because most other places, things are mediocre. it's a good place to go if you have a dream, because new york is a place where you can make your dreams become real. it's a tough place to live if you need to be in the outdoors, though. that was the reason i left. i live in the rockies now, and while i love the wide open spaces, lack of crime, and no people around, there are lots of days i get frustrated that people here do not know what excellence is and you can't get good thai food.
it's a tradeoff.
alice | Missoula, MT