Wall Street Journal: The New Pranksters

[Cramulus]

The specific thing I hate about NYC is not present in most other cities I've been to. I've been to a handful of large cities, and none of them (save London) made me feel like such an outsider. I think it's the size. Wouldn't be surprised if it was present in Toronto too.

In Portland, I felt like if I did something cool, people would actually notice. I mean, it's small enough of a city that it feels like a big community. I spent a lot of time in Portland just biking around and talking to people, and within three days, the place felt comfortingly familiar.

In New York, nothing is as salient as how tiny and insignificant you are when juxtaposed with the 20 million person greater-metropolitan area.

[hooplala]

So, it's no so much about NYC as it is about you really.  I realize that sentence sounds like a shitty comment, but I don't mean it that way.  It's not intended as a dig of any sort, but it does seem to be about your mindset in a large crowd than it really is about NYC or London or Toronto.

[Cramulus]

well certainly, my brain and how it relates to a city is one of the components of my dislike for New York. But I wouldn't say it's just that.

[hooplala]

Fair enough.

[navkat]

Toronto has it too... most cities do to a certain extent.  I think its because living in huge cities can be so annoying that it literally starts to feel like you are some kind of warrior simply for being able to put up with it on a daily basis.  The, you start to think less of the people who don't go through what you are going through... as I would assume actual soldiers must feel a lot of the time.

Toronto gets a lot of heat from the rest of Canada, which in turn makes Torontoians even more unpleasant to people not from here.  Sort of a "Fuck you before you can say anything" vibe... I would assume its similar in NYC. 

Am I blaming you for the New York headspace?  No.  But I'm not blaming NYC either.  It's quid pro quo.

When I lived in Vancouver, they called Toronto "New York North"

lol

[hooplala]

Toronto has it too... most cities do to a certain extent.  I think its because living in huge cities can be so annoying that it literally starts to feel like you are some kind of warrior simply for being able to put up with it on a daily basis.  The, you start to think less of the people who don't go through what you are going through... as I would assume actual soldiers must feel a lot of the time.

Toronto gets a lot of heat from the rest of Canada, which in turn makes Torontoians even more unpleasant to people not from here.  Sort of a "Fuck you before you can say anything" vibe... I would assume its similar in NYC. 

Am I blaming you for the New York headspace?  No.  But I'm not blaming NYC either.  It's quid pro quo.

When I lived in Vancouver, they called Toronto "New York North"

lol

And we call Vancouver "Frisco North".