New York Is #1 or is it?

Lonely Planet is running a survey - NYC attractions v/s SF attractions

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/usa/new-york-city/travel-tips-and-articles/76423

vote to see the results
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hhusted 2yrs+
Well it looks like I'm not the only one who thinks less of NYC than you do. According to the survey, San Fran ranked number one over NYC in every category.
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JenMac 2yrs+
I was just reading a Forbes article last month on the 100 most expensive zip codes. The bay area had 52 of them. Manhattan didn't come in until half down the list. It was pretty shocking. SF is, apparently, point blank winning in one category: expenses.
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uptowngirl 2yrs+
@hhusted did you hear what JenMac said San Francisco is way more expensive than NYC! That's reason enough to prefer NYC..A girlfriend of mine actually moved to San Francisco last year from NY because she believed that she would never be able to buy an apartment here and she didnt want to be 60 yrs old and renting. Wonder what she feels now..
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hhusted 2yrs+
@Uptowngirl: Wrong. Don't believe everything you read. I've been to San Francisco. I went there for vacation last year and found the prices of food items to be a whole lot less than NYC prices. Go ahead and throw your pearls into a dying pond. I will place my pearls in a pond that is flourishing. NYC's economic system is about to collapse, while San Fran's is blossoming. I know this because I was there and witnessed it first hand. Plus, I have a good friend who lives there and he keeps me updated on the conditions there. He told me the population is increasing there. In fact, he was talking to a neighbor the other day, and the neighbor said he came from NYC. So my friend asked him why he moved from a famous city like NY to come to San Fran. His very remarks were, "Because it is cheaper to live in San Francisco and the people are nicer."

By the way, the Forbes Magazine is known to exaggerate sometimes. I'm not saying that the price of food or any item is cheap there in San Fran. I am just saying it is cheaper than NYC. If you go to Entrepreneur magazine, they have a survey that shows NYC as the most expensive place to live. So who do you believe. Actually, Forbes Magazine had done a profile on me last year, and misrepresented me somewhat. I told them about and they told me they would write an announcement in future issues about the mistake. I have no idea if they corrected it or not.
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hhusted 2yrs+
@uptowngirl: I contacted my friend yesterday. He told me he goes to Meetup meetings there and he ran into this lady, who just started coming to the meetings. He introduced himself and asked where she came from. She told him she came from NYC. He asked her what brought her to San Francisco. She told him she heard the cost of living was cheaper and that she could get a job and live better. He asked her how long she had been in San Fran. She told him about three months. She told him she found an apartment in two weeks. He told me the rent she paid for the one bedroom was about $700 a month, or something like that. She claims she paid over $1500 for a studio in NYC. He told he he wasn't surprised.

She went on to tell him she landed a job a couple of days later. She said she was getting paid an annual salary of $60,000. This was actually less than where she did the same job in NYC, but her expenses of living in San Fran is half what she spent in NYC, so she could easily budget her money better.

I think you can hear negative comments from people no matter what state or city they live in. There are people who will defend NYC to their dying day, while there are those who could careless about this city and speak negatively about it. The same holds true for San Fran. My girlfriend went to San Fran and she absolutely loved it.

So, say what you will, but San Fran rates high on the scale of better places to live than NYC. In fact, my friend told me when my next surgery is over in March, and I am allowed to travel, I can come back to San Fran and stay at his house.

As a side note, I just contacted my friend and he told me the gay section of the city is very expensive compared to other area of San Francisco. This area is the highest area to live in if you want to live in San Francisco. But he also said, they are the ones with a lot of the money. But he still said that even if the gay area is more expensive than any other area of the city, it is still cheaper than NYC.
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hhusted 2yrs+
Do me a favor guys and gals. I promise not to put down NYC, if you don't put down San Francisco or Los Angeles, as I have very good friends who live there and feel insulted when you talk against the cities.
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uptowngirl 2yrs+
@hhusted there is no need to feel slighted its merely a discussion .. btw I think JenMac lived in LA and we all have friends who live on the West Coast .. in fact some of the biggest South Asian populations live in the Bay Area for they are all involved in the tech sector and just yesterday a friend told me via Facebook that her local Costco has a slew of Indian delicacies which are somewhat hard to find in NYC..
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JenMac 2yrs+
@hhusted: no one is putting down west coast cities. I'm from Los Angeles and San Francisco. I spent my entire life in each city, going back and forth between my parents. And, I go there several times a year now. I'm not talking about what a friend said. I'm from there; so, I'm pretty sure I can say better than anyone on this forum what it costs to live in the Bay Area. And, I love both cities -- I'm not knocking either of them. But, it is without a doubt, hands down more expensive to live in San Francisco proper than Manhattan. It isn't an opinion. It's a fact.

And, California cities are prospering while New York is in the dump? Have you seen what is going on in California right now? The public schools are some of the worst in the country. It has the highest state tax out of any other state and the highest unemployment rate. I want to end up living back over in Cali, and I hope they figure something out because right now that state is drowning. Fact.
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uptowngirl 2yrs+
@JenMac What you say is absolutely true!
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hhusted 2yrs+
@JenMac: I don't care if you did come from there. That is why you are stating things in the negative. It is just like someone who was born and raised in NYC. They will state negative things about the city because they care to.

I was there in San Fran and I found prices to be much cheaper than in NYC. So I have no idea where you came up with the idea that it is a fact San Fran is more expensive than NYC. There have been many surveys done that clearly show NYC as the most expensive city to live and this is undeniable fact. Look it up.

Fact: California is doing better than NYC. NYC is on the verge of bankruptcy. When was the last time you were in
California for any extended time.
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JenMac 2yrs+
Thank you very much, uptowngirl.

hhusted: I don't have one single bad thing to say about California. If you must know, I very much prefer it to New York. You're asking me when was the last time I was there for an extended period of time? I was there for the month of December. My family still lives there. My entire family. And, my entire life until two years ago is a pretty extended period of time. You visited there for how long?

You are stating an OPINION. Not a fact. If you want facts, why don't you peruse the articles uptown just posted or refer to the Forbes article to which I referred rather than passing off a romanticized view of a place after spending a week or two there as a fact.
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hhusted 2yrs+
@Uptowngirl: The NYT is a right-wing paper. They are prejudice against every city but NY. Of course, they will talk bad about California. That's their rival. If you are an actor, it's either there in LA or in NYC. NYT is also the paper that fired a few reporters for plagiarism the last two years, remember. I wouldn't trust that paper if my life depended on it.
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hhusted 2yrs+
@JenMac: I agree with you that I would rather be there than here. In fact, once my surgery has been completed, I plan to move to either San Francisco or LA. You said your family lives there. Does your family live in LA or San Fran. I'm confused.

If you lived in that area your entire life, why in the world would you take up stakes and come here. If I had lived there, I would never have done that.

It's not how long I visited there. I have friends who lived there for over 40 years and I do keep in contact with them on a regular basis. They keep asking me when I am moving out there. One of my friends told me to stay with him. So I do have a place to stay.

I do not state opinions. I state facts. I don't live by opinions. When I open my mouth, I speak the truth based on facts, not hearsay crap. I don't pay attention to what others write, especially if they never lived at the place. I only go by those who have lived or currently live in the place and can tell me first hand what the area is about.
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BroadwayBK 2yrs+
I also lived in LA and I was pretty shocked at the real estate prices there - I totally agree with what you are saying, @JenMac. Also have visited friends from the Bay Area, and the rent there is not cheap either. Not saying I didn't love Cali, either - I am probably the only resident of NYC I know who truly misses west coast LA living (cars! mountains! smog! In-N-Out!).

And, how is the Times a right-wing paper?
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JenMac 2yrs+
Yeah, real estate is no different in SF than it is in NY. And, it's slightly less in LA but you also can't live without a car, car insurance, parking and gas so it just about evens out. I miss West Coast Living very muchl.

hhusted: my mother lives in SF and my father lives in LA. I went out to LA for good when I was 17. I live here now to get my conservatory degree and do theatre work while I'm studying. And, I'm sorry, but stating that New York is more expensive than SF isn't a fact. There are numerous published facts that would beg to differ. It sounds like you're expressing a romanticized opinion because of your disillusioned view of New York. It's like you want it to be more expensive so you can have another reason to dislike it.
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