New York

[mugbull]

Is the best city in the world. Blows everything else out the water. London. Fuck that, not got the density. Paris? Some bullshit, no one under 40 enjoys paris. Berlin's close, but it's all new and has too many kebab shops. And obviously no other American city comes close (Boston would be 2nd, San francisco 3rd)

Just wanted to get this off my chest since im standing in front of the stock exchange in the greatest city that humanity has ever spawned

[GS]

London is an appalling city.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I'd say NY definitely is. Fucking Paris isn't in the top 50 either.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

New York is by far the best.

Paris is the pits.

[Mazuuurk]

I much prefer New Orleans to New York. That said, New York is a glorious city, it's true.
I do really, really like London as well though, and I've got a love/hate relationship to Paris that anyone who's lived there long enough gets, I think.


I still hold Stockholm as the greatest city in the world, mind you.

[phonics]

2 and a half years to cross 'Move to New York' off the Bucketlist.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Living there would be a fucking nightmare. You'd need about fifty dollars a day just to cover breakfast and cwwwwwoooooffee, and their trains out to the 'boroughs' are a disgrace.

[Davgooner]

Proper dirty shithole, though granted it's pretty lively.

[-james-]

Hong Kong pisses on everywhere else I've been. Not been across the pond, mind.

London's probably about fifth on the list of cities I'd like to live in in Europe.

[Jimmy Floyd]

London has its moments but having lived there for three years and buzzed in and out of it for all my other years, I'm content not to live there again. The main problem is it's got a lot worse very quickly and that will continue. Ten years ago it was mustard.

[hfswjyr]

Love New York, but couldn't and wouldn't live there. The disparity between the rich and poor is ridiculous and cruel. Great to visit and enjoy - Manhattan is an unbelievable place given it's relatively short history - but not for settling.

[Mazuuurk]

What happened, Jim?

[Jimmy Floyd]

A lot of things, but mainly Russians and Arabs.

[Mazuuurk]

Alright Harold.

[Boydy]

2 and a half years to cross 'Move to New York' off the Bucketlist.

You're going to die in two and a half years?

[Pepe]

Can't really see the appeal. Some areas are ok to look at but lol at its main attractions being a tall (but not that tall) building and a street full of advertisements. I guess if you really love filth and being constantly surrounded by a sea of people then it's the best city, yes. It does have some excellent museums and I did enjoy the Statue of Liberty but once that's done you are left with fuck all but grime. If I never set foot on that city again I won't be even a bit sad.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

You're going to die in two and a half years?

All his shit is time based.

Have my first wank by 12
Take a photo of my face by 8

Shit like that.

He posted most of his bucket list once.

[Pepe]

Forgot to add that lol at paying $1800 for an 'apartment' the size of my closet.

[niko_cee]

Chicago is better than New York.

New York is just a shit London, with more British people.

[simon]

I've not been to New York and have heard mixed things generally.

London is brilliant, though.

[Pepe]

Chicago is better than New York.

Absolutely right. Everything there is to like about NY, Chicago has. It also has much less of what makes NY shit.

[Kikó]

Living there would be a fucking nightmare. You'd need about fifty dollars a day just to cover breakfast and cwwwwwoooooffee, and their trains out to the 'boroughs' are a disgrace.

Food in New York is one of the cheapest aspects I found.

Of the three cities I've lived it's probably New York>London>Manchester. Shame I could only realistically buy property in one of them.

[mugbull]

Chicago is "filthier" than New York. Plus 70% of the city is off limits which dwarves New York's 30% (mainly Bronx). It's a pretty cool city too though

[Lewis]

Norwich is the only city I've lived in, and it's a very nice one.

[Pepe]

Chicago is "filthier" than New York.

The fuck it is.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Alright Harold.

People always say things like this when I cite it, but I don't think there's anything wrong with resenting the Russians, Arabs, Chinese and Malaysian billionaires who have been systematically buying up half the city's property and not living in it, or turning it into executive flats for their collaborating lackeys. It removes a sense of community from most districts, it makes everything (especially property) more expensive... there's nothing to like about the buggers unless your plan is to get rich as one of their butlers or sex slaves.

[Mazuuurk]

Well with added context like that it makes more sense, see.

[Shindig]

2 and a half years to cross 'Move to New York' off the Bucketlist.

You're not planning to live longer?

[Spoonsky]

San Francisco is the best city in the world, and it's not really close in my eyes, but New York is great, and if things turn out for the best I'll be going to school there. It's just got so much going on all the time, and it's so massive that I really feel like I'd have to live there to discover it properly. It is getting more gentrified, which makes it simultaneously more boring and less dangerous (Central Park, for example, has become absolutely brilliant).

London is great for its parks, and Paris is great for the Seine, but I'm not sure I'd want to live in either long-term. Not that I could afford to (nor San Francisco or New York, really). I've not been to Boston (we drove straight through it on the way to Vermont but didn't stop), I've heard it's great as well.

[Waffdon]

I think Edinburgh wins this.

[Lewis]

Speaking of gentrification, Hull got a BrewDog pub the other week. I ordered a milk, because I'm just too much, and within minutes my picture was on the wall and I was running a masterclass on standing out from the crowd.

[mugbull]

I'm surprised they even had milk, probably weaned it from the bartender's tit.

[Chrissy]

Glasgow is clearly the best city in the world. 4+ football teams for the locals to fight over, free museums to take the kids to when you can't afford to feed them, most folk die in their sixties preventing a drain on the NHS of an aging population, we export shit comedians, we import chip fat in an industrial scale and last but not least we have the best looking women in the world until the smile or speak.

[Pepe]

People always say things like this when I cite it, but I don't think there's anything wrong with resenting the Russians, Arabs, Chinese and Malaysian billionaires who have been systematically buying up half the city's property and not living in it, or turning it into executive flats for their collaborating lackeys. It removes a sense of community from most districts, it makes everything (especially property) more expensive... there's nothing to like about the buggers unless your plan is to get rich as one of their butlers or sex slaves.

Maybe some (not me) have issue with their nationality being mentioned as part of the issue. Would it make any difference if those were British billionaires doing the purchasing?

[ItalAussie]

New York is amazing. I couldn't live there though; it's got too much going on, and is just too big for me. But spending anything less than about six months there would be absolutely incredible.

It's definitely got London and Paris beat, as brilliant as both of them are. London would be fantastic if you were rich, but it's become a city for the rich people. Everyone else kind of supports the structure that makes that happen. New York certainly has a subset of experiences for the wealthy, but there's plenty there if you aren't as well.


EDIT: I love Sydney more than any other city in the world, mind. The city has plenty going on, but it also has the beaches and mountain hikes which you don't get in other major cities. The harbour is stunning, and I find that there's always plenty to do (obviously not nearly as much cultural stuff as New York or London, but enough to get me by). But I appreciate that this isn't going to be true for everyone.

[Luca]

New York is amazing. I couldn't live there though; it's got too much going on, and is just too big for me. But spending anything less than about six months there would be absolutely incredible.

It's definitely got London and Paris beat, as brilliant as both of them are. London would be fantastic if you were rich, but it's become a city for the rich people. Everyone else kind of supports the structure that makes that happen. New York certainly has a subset of experiences for the wealthy, but there's plenty there if you aren't as well.


EDIT: I love Sydney more than any other city in the world, mind. The city has plenty going on, but it also has the beaches and mountain hikes which you don't get in other major cities. The harbour is stunning, and I find that there's always plenty to do (obviously not nearly as much cultural stuff as New York or London, but enough to get me by). But I appreciate that this isn't going to be true for everyone.

'mon. :cool:

I love New York, as it happens. It really is an incredible (and incredibly diverse) city. Even some of the 'seedier' areas (Brooklyn, for instance) are ace.

[niko_cee]

Yeah, Sydney's good, as long as you stay on The Peninsula.

[Mazuuurk]

Does Brooklyn really qualify as "seedy" these days?

[Henry]

I'm going to say London is the best. My familiarity with it is only passing though. A handful of visits per year doesn't really aquaint me with the type of problems that Jimmy describes, which from reading about I'm sure are real.

All of these places are absurdly expensive of course.

[Boydy]

I wonder what the best 'affordable' city is. Although I'm not sure how to define affordable.

[phonics]

Berlin would smash it by a country mile.

[Boydy]

Vancouver seems like it'd be a cool place.

Although that opinion is based almost entirely off two people I know from uni having moved there and who seem to be having a great time judging by facebook.

[phonics]

Vancouver? With the French? No thanks. Give me Toronto or give me death.

[Kikó]

I reckon Berlin is a cracking shout. Maybe places in Asia as well. Not HK or Tokyo though as they're just as pricey.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Maybe some (not me) have issue with their nationality being mentioned as part of the issue. Would it make any difference if those were British billionaires doing the purchasing?

Billionaires from the countries I mention act in fundamentally different ways to western billionaires. If you think that pointing this out is racist then I'm afraid it's your problem and not mine.

[Henry]

How do they act differently from British millionaires?

[Jimmy Floyd]

Are all of your eyes really this closed?

Russian oligarchs, Chinese billionaires etc buy things up for a couple of reasons, one being money laundering and the other being insuring themselves against either falling out of favour politically at home, or their natural resource empires running out of juice (the latter is basically state policy in Qatar and the French in particular absolutely adore flogging them their wares).

These things are not investments that benefit anyone else or the local population, which, like or loathe Donald Trump, his burgeoning Scottish golf course empire does.

[Boydy]

Jim is right.

[Toby]

Hong Kong is the only "global city" I've spent serious time in as an adult. I've only ever been to Paris with family, with somebody else deciding almost everything we did, and in adulthood have only really passed through London for a couple of days en route to somewhere else. Berlin was brilliant and I think I would enjoy living there, but it doesn't feel like it's on the same scale as those three and presumably New York.

I get the impression all four will have similar ups and downs to them though. You could sub in Hong Kong to the comments about any of the other three in this thread and nearly all would still stand.

[Boydy]

Vancouver? With the French? No thanks. Give me Toronto or give me death.

Aren't you thinking of Montreal?

[Henry]

Are all of your eyes really this closed?

Russian oligarchs, Chinese billionaires etc buy things up for a couple of reasons, one being money laundering and the other being insuring themselves against either falling out of favour politically at home, or their natural resource empires running out of juice (the latter is basically state policy in Qatar and the French in particular absolutely adore flogging them their wares).

These things are not investments that benefit anyone else or the local population, which, like or loathe Donald Trump, his burgeoning Scottish golf course empire does.

I accept that you're probably mostly right about this, but I want to understand it. What ways do the investments of Trump and other westerners benefit locals in the way that Abramovich and whoever don't?

[Jimmy Floyd]

Trump, like most billionaire tycoons, invests in things to make money. In order to make money from his investments he needs to add value to what is already there, and in order to do that he needs to employ more people, spend on the local infrastructure and so on. As such the post Trump world somewhere like Turnberry is better (give or take) than what was there before, for pretty much everyone concerned.

When a Malaysian billionaire buys a row of houses, knocks it down and turns it into luxury executive flats, he's not improving anything. He's effectively asset-stripping the city and turning it away from being a normally functioning market. And I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt there - many of them do this not even to sell on for profit, but just because they need their money to be tied up in it.

[Sam]

Chicago > all.

Fantastic city, as already said, it's NY without all the crap of NY.

San Francisco being up there is a crime though, that place was utter shite, couldn't stand the place. Perhaps I didn't get the 'vibe' of there but it generally didn't offer much outside 2-3days of being there. When I was travelling it was the one place I couldn't wait to leave.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Aren't you thinking of Montreal?

Yes, Vancouver isn't very French at all.

[Byron]

Pretty sure Vancouver is the furthest away place from French Canada.

[ItalAussie]

Pretty sure Vancouver is the furthest away place from French Canada.
It's in British Columbia. I interviewed for a job at UBC there.

I really like the city. I think if I had to live anywhere in North America, that'd be it.

[hfswjyr]

Trump, like most billionaire tycoons, invests in things to make money. In order to make money from his investments he needs to add value to what is already there, and in order to do that he needs to employ more people, spend on the local infrastructure and so on. As such the post Trump world somewhere like Turnberry is better (give or take) than what was there before, for pretty much everyone concerned.

When a Malaysian billionaire buys a row of houses, knocks it down and turns it into luxury executive flats, he's not improving anything. He's effectively asset-stripping the city and turning it away from being a normally functioning market. And I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt there - many of them do this not even to sell on for profit, but just because they need their money to be tied up in it.
Does the Malaysian not need labour and infrastructure to demolish, design, supply, and build the need luxury executive flats? Interested to hear why you chose the "flats" example also, as flats generally provide more housing which is what London is crying out for (and as such would go against your point).

[Jimmy Floyd]

They need (cheap, transient, dare I say Polish) labour but the housing point is redundant because they're sticking up luxury housing, not housing that people can live in on a normal salary. Ask Sama for more details.

The headline numbers probably add up to London being a more 'prosperous' city than before, but it's a much less pleasant one.

[Spoonsky]

EDIT: I love Sydney more than any other city in the world, mind. The city has plenty going on, but it also has the beaches and mountain hikes which you don't get in other major cities. The harbour is stunning, and I find that there's always plenty to do (obviously not nearly as much cultural stuff as New York or London, but enough to get me by). But I appreciate that this isn't going to be true for everyone.

That's basically how I'd describe San Francisco, with the addition that block-for-block San Francisco is as or more beautiful than any other city in the world.

[John Arne]

Well, it's not Beijing that's for sure.

[niko_cee]

"block-for-block"

:harold:

I can see the similarities, although I prefer Sydney to San Fran. Nicer beaches and better weather beat odd buildings and even odder people. Many years ago I rode the funny transport thing (don't know if it was the BART - the one that turns from a train into a overground type bus thing) all the way to the end of the line to a place called Judah I think it was. What an odd place. There was literally tumbleweed in the street and I had a walk in, walk out experience in a coffee shop there. It's probably totally normal there now.

Muir Woods probably beats the Blue Mountains/Katoomba and maybe San Francisco wins the battle of the bridges, mind. Lacking a Manly, but then there's Monterrey Bay and it's mega aquarium. Tough choices.

Twin Peaks as well. I know a couple of people who live in 'The Bay Area', should probably have visited them more often.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I've been to Penrith. Not sure how, but I have. I'm giving this to San Fran as a result, although I preferred Melbourne anyway like a pervert.

[ItalAussie]

Why would you go to Penrith? :cab:

[Serj]

Judging from this thread, I really should visit my relatives in Australia in some point. I properly hate flying though, so I'm not sure when that's going to happen.

As for the most beautiful city "block-for-block" that I've been to, it's probably Copenhagen. If it wasn't so incredibly expensive I'd be up there more often. Great-looking, surprisingly friendly people everywhere too, and even the weather seems to be always nice when I go there.

In the US (I've only been to the East Coast, mind) it's probably Boston. I could definitely see myself living there, as opposed to New York. It's cleaner, less hectic, and the public transport doesn't suck as much as in New York, even though it's still shit compared to glorious Central Europe.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Why would you go to Penrith? :cab:
I really can't remember. I've definitely been though as I had sausage and chips in the Penrith Panthers club restaurant. Think it might have been a lunchtime stop on the way to Katoomba although I've no idea if the geography of that adds up.

[ItalAussie]

I really can't remember. I've definitely been though as I had sausage and chips in the Penrith Panthers club restaurant. Think it might have been a lunchtime stop on the way to Katoomba although I've no idea if the geography of that adds up.Yeah, that scans.

I think you should come back and poke around a little more. :D

[Sam]

That's basically how I'd describe San Francisco, with the addition that block-for-block San Francisco is as or more beautiful than any other city in the world.

Really?

Generally thought it was rather overhyped, cold as fuck and a miserable place. Golden Gate Park was very nice that being said and the Bridge area was pretty fun, but the back ends of Market St (sp?) towards to Civic centre were just run down and over-run with homeless, in what was a real dingy neighbourhood.

It was also ridiculously expensive.

[Samadini]

Jim has been spot on about London. The city is absolutely fucked.

The labour being used really is a fucking joke too. On one job I worked on, the builders there had been shipped in from Italy and fucking lived in the house whilst it was a building site, the kitchen hadn't even had its wall built yet. Three to a room, made beds out of fucking palettes. Grim.

I paid £650 a month for a tiny single bed (I had to remove my chair to be able to open my wardrobe) in a flat share, whilst earning £12k. Elephant and Castle isn't even a fancy area, it's just surrounded by dickhead cityboy places and unfortunately now for the area it's its own turn to go through the 'Luxury Apartments' redevelopment, so prices are probably about to double.

[SvN]

Vegas
Sydney
San Francisco
Melbourne
New York
LA
Miami


That's how I'd rank the major cities I visited this summer. Vegas is cheating a bit though, as I imagine the fun would wear off quite quickly if you were there for more than a few weeks. I'd live in Sydney in a heartbeat, it was brilliant.

[ItalAussie]

The biggest negative about Sydney is the lack of proximity to anywhere else. I miss being able to jaunt over to Europe on weekends. Even the big Asian cities are 8+ hours away by plane.

[Boydy]

It's weird to think that there are people who actually live and work in Vegas.

[phonics]

Prostitutes and coke dealers, mainly.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Las Vegas is the worst place I've ever been, and I've been to Sparkbrook.

[Pepe]

Miami is shit to visit as there is fuck all to see but it is actually a decent place to live in, apart from being a bit expensive.

[mugbull]

'San Fran' is the most foreign phrase in existence

[SvN]

Miami is shit to visit as there is fuck all to see but it is actually a decent place to live in, apart from being a bit expensive.

One night we went into bars that had "drinks offers" and three places in a row tried to rip us off when it came to pay the bill. It soured the experience, really.

[Kikó]

I was there for ultra festival and we ended up in some lobster bar. The owner sounded like he'd smoked 50 a day for decades and the dodgy Mexican waiter took us downstairs for a spliff. Top place full of vain idiots.

[Pepe]

One night we went into bars that had "drinks offers" and three places in a row tried to rip us off when it came to pay the bill. It soured the experience, really.

Where was that? Sounds like Ocean Dr. which is probably the worst place in the whole city.


Top place full of vain idiots.

Spot on.

Today I went kayaking in Oleta Park (in Miami.) Got to see dolphins, manta rays, some weird bird and some big ass spiders. Way better than $15 'cocktails.'

[Spoonsky]

Really?

Generally thought it was rather overhyped, cold as fuck and a miserable place. Golden Gate Park was very nice that being said and the Bridge area was pretty fun, but the back ends of Market St (sp?) towards to Civic centre were just run down and over-run with homeless, in what was a real dingy neighbourhood.

It was also ridiculously expensive.

Sounds like you ended up in the Tenderloin. I love the Tenderloin having spent more time there but it's definitely not the place for tourists. What I love about San Francisco is that it's got almost everything: a properly big downtown, more grimy and 'edgy' areas, Chinatown, hippies and free love, beautiful residential areas, several top parks, good museums, two quality waterfronts, two quality bridges (and the Golden Gate honestly deserves its hype), and by virtue of its geography probably more good views than any city I've been to. It would be like if Paris had a half dozen Montmartres instead of just one.

[Jimmy Floyd]

'Gee, Hank, listen to this We're buildin' this city, ok, and Buddy over here had a great idea. It's gon' be like Paris France, but instead of buildin' one Montmartre, we're gon' have SIX.'

'Woohoo! Yeah, boy! Yee-hah! Uhhhh-huh!'

*fires cheeseburger into the air*

'God bless America!'

[Baz]

I like Liverpool the best, no word of a lie.

For a place to be interesting to me, it has to have interesting people. I don't care for nice views or posh restaurants at all, but people who are fun to chat to over a pint are great. Liverpool's full of 'em. Plus it's like 15 minutes away.

[mugbull]

'Gee, Hank, listen to this We're buildin' this city, ok, and Buddy over here had a great idea. It's gon' be like Paris France, but instead of buildin' one Montmartre, we're gon' have SIX.'

'Woohoo! Yeah, boy! Yee-hah! Uhhhh-huh!'

*fires cheeseburger into the air*

'God bless America!'

What the fuck?

[Boydy]

It made me laugh.

[mugbull]

It was just so unexpected.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I suppose I should have you remembered you were American, and put ATTEMPT AT HUMOUR COMING in a preliminary post.

[Dquincy]

London is an appalling city.

Why say that? I work in London..it's good.

[Luke Emia]

I've booked my flights for New York, end of next November. I can't wait it's somewhere I've always wanted to go. Even if I will look like a massive tourist American hIstory doesn't really interest me but it looks like there is a hell of a lot to see and do.

[mugbull]

11 months in advance? How much are tickets going for, like $2?

[Bartholomert]

Would rather live in Raleigh and it's not even close.