By now you’ve probably gathered that I’m involved in a love affair with New York City. And just like a human love affair, it’s riddled with highs and lows. For everything that I love about her, the city seems to have an equal and opposite downside. So far the negatives have been greatly overshadowed by the positive, but sometimes I have to reflect on the big picture, to assure myself that I’ve made the right place my home.

Pro – I live in an apartment building with a 32nd floor roof deck with a glorious midtown view of the city.
Con – I’m almost 30 years old, and share my less than 700 square foot apartment with a man I’m not sleeping with.

Pro – I have access to every musical act that passes through town (and almost all do).
Con – I have to miss some, as the ones I’m going to are breaking me, or it least making it impossible to save for my future.

Pro – There’s a hotbed of cultural and historical interests and events in every neighborhood of the city.
Con – Everyone else wants to see them too, such that, coupled with the communal living situation, you’re rarely alone.

Pro – I’m surrounded by diverse, driven, ambitious people from all walks of life.
Con – They’re driven, ambitious, and ultimately very busy people, therefore making friends is not incredibly easy to do. Once you’re lucky enough to make a friend, their ambition drives them to move away.

Pro – There’s always a store open. In fact, why bother with going to the store? Just about anything you want can be delivered to your door.
Con – In the same way that people in the Midwest shop at 12,000 square foot compounds, we in NYC with our delivery services aplenty could be taking the easy way out.

Pro – With a remedial knowledge of the subway, bus, and train schedules, you can access beaches, swimming pools, state parks, and mountains.
Con – Once you get there and spend a day with suburban families, you want to come right back to the city.

Pro – We have three international airports within 45 minutes from midtown, meaning access to the rest of the country and world is always within our reach.
Con – All of our money goes to rent. Who can afford a vacation?

Pro – We experience diverse seasons, each one filled with its own distinct pleasures (the first day of spring when everyone talks to each other, the technicolored foliage of Central Park in fall…)
Con – It was 95 goddamn degrees today. Subways are as stuffy as saunas. You’re sweaty before 9 am. Sometimes summer in the city just boils down to garbage cooking on the sidewalk.