{"id":4946,"date":"2019-12-15T17:17:30","date_gmt":"2019-12-15T17:17:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs-staging.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/?p=4946"},"modified":"2019-12-15T17:17:30","modified_gmt":"2019-12-15T17:17:30","slug":"london-vs-nyc-how-do-they-stack-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs-staging.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/2019\/12\/15\/london-vs-nyc-how-do-they-stack-up\/","title":{"rendered":"London vs NYC: how do they stack up?"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the 3 months since I moved to London the number one question that I\u2019ve been asked by everyone from classmates to relatives to strangers is how it compares to New York<\/span>\u00a0City, my hometown<\/span>. Overall, I think the two cities have very similar vibes but some aspects I just can\u2019t help but compare.\u00a0<\/span>So, for the curious,\u00a0<\/span>I\u2019m pleased to present the definitive comparison list:\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Subway System:<\/span><\/b>\u00a0Londoners are shocked when I proclaim my undying love for the Tube, but it\u2019s true. The NYC subway may run 24\/7 (ostensibly) but you lose a little piece of your soul every time you miss your train and see that the next one isn\u2019t for another 18 minutes. Or when one of the nigh-omnipresent signal malfunctions strands your train between Manhattan and Queens during rush hour. Or when the train goes express with no warning. Miss a train here and the next one will arrive in 2 minutes and you won\u2019t have to stare at the sea of garbage on the tracks while you wait. Also, the Tube has adorable mice<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u2014the NYC subway has rats the size of your forearm and they are not afraid of you. WINNER: LONDON\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Shops:<\/span><\/b>\u00a0I saw an ad on the Tube calling London \u201cthe city that never sleeps\u201d and I just can\u2019t take that from a town where\u00a0<\/span>a majority of<\/span>\u00a0stores close at 5 pm on Saturdays. WINNER: NYC<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Weather:\u00a0<\/span><\/b>This one\u2019s a no-brainer<\/span>\u2014drizzle and fog have a certain mystery-novel appeal, but sometimes a girl just wants to see some sunlight, you know? The odds of that here seem\u00a0<\/span>pretty slim<\/span>, especially considering that the sun set at 3:50 pm today. Plus, the air quality can make me feel like I\u2019m constantly standing behind a city bus. WINNER: NYC<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Parks:<\/span><\/b>\u00a0This is a tough one. Many people assume that the only park in NYC is Central Park, which is simply not true. New York has no shortage of beautiful green spaces to let you get some distance from city life. One the other hand, London is 47% parkland and green space in church courtyards and even graveyards is much more accessible to the public. It doesn\u2019t hurt that Imperial\u2019s South Kensington campus is just minutes away from Hyde Park. WINNER: LONDON<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Pizza:\u00a0<\/span><\/b>Just to clarify, when I say\u00a0<\/span>pizza<\/span>\u00a0I don\u2019t mean the \u201csit down at a restaurant and order a whole pie\u201d variety. The best pizza in my book is the kind you can buy by the slice and eat with one hand while walking down the street.\u00a0<\/span>You can get that anywhere in NYC; the closest I\u2019ve found here is Voodoo Ray\u2019s.\u00a0<\/span>Plus, NYC<\/span>\u00a0has an extra level<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>of pizza greatness in the form of\u00a0<\/span>99-cent pizza<\/span>, which is basically its own institution<\/span>. WINNER: NYC<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Museums:<\/span><\/b>\u00a0You had me at \u201cfree admission\u201d. WINNER: LONDON<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Monetary Transactions:<\/span><\/b>\u00a0Contactless cards have yet to become mainstream in the US, so it is a welcome and satisfying change to be able to make nearly every purchase here with just a tap of my card. On the other h<\/span>and, I do use cash for some things and the UK has an excessive amount of coinage. Those one and two-pound coins really weigh you down. WINNER: DRAW<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Groceries:<\/span><\/b>\u00a0I love UK supermarkets to the point where I could write an entire post solely dedicated to them (and maybe will, so keep an eye out). The meal deals are a lifesaver when I\u2019m in a hurry. The only downside is that snacks are far too affordable\u2014what do you mean\u00a0<\/span>I\u00a0<\/span>can get a packet of custard creams for 19p? WINNER: LONDON<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Overall winner? Hard to say\u2014<\/span>the pizza thing is a pretty big deal breaker for me. Regardless, I\u2019ve loved getting to know London and can\u2019t wait to keep exploring throughout the rest of my course. Arbitrary comparisons aside, it’s an amazing city and I count myself truly lucky to be able to study here.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the 3 months since I moved to London the number one question that I\u2019ve been asked by everyone from classmates to relatives to strangers is how it compares to New York\u00a0City, my hometown. Overall, I think the two cities have very similar vibes but some aspects I just can\u2019t help but compare.\u00a0So, for the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1414,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[317,142],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4946","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-international","category-london"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs-staging.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4946","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs-staging.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs-staging.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs-staging.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1414"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs-staging.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4946"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs-staging.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4946\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4947,"href":"https:\/\/blogs-staging.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4946\/revisions\/4947"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs-staging.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4946"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs-staging.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4946"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs-staging.imperial.ac.uk\/student-blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4946"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}