Image via Complex Original
Nowadays, it seems like New Yorkers who were actually born and raised in the city are as rare as Anthony Weiner supporters. But they do exist (native New Yorkers, not necessarily Weiner supporters). You might find it weird that anyone would want to stay in the city where they grew up—it's the place where their parents live, for God’s sake! And yes, anywhere else, if you never leave your hometown, you’re a little strange. But native New Yorkers are different. They learned early on that NYC is the coolest city in the Western Hemisphere, if not the world. So why leave when anything else is a step down? Here are ten compelling reasons why it's better being born and bred in the Big Apple.
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10. The high cost of living isn't high, it's normal.
One of the first things most transplanted New Yorkers notice about Fun City is how damn expensive it is. This instant ramen costs 79 cents? Back at my town's Stop-N-Shop it was 50 cents! But to dyed-in-the-wool New Yorkers like you, this isn't highway robbery, it's just what stuff costs. And on the occasions when you're forced to venture outside the city, at least it's nice that you don't have to pay as much for stuff in the vast wasteland that is the continental United States.
9. You're never tempted by tourist spots.
The Statue Of Liberty. The Empire State Building. Broadway musicals. If you're a tourist, you make a point of visiting them. If you've lived in New York all your life, why would you bother? By now it's probably too late anyway; you've known since you were a kid, and know that there are far more interesting places to check out in the city. Besides, even if you had a desire to see the standby tourist attractions, you couldn't risk being seen in line with a bunch of goofy tourists; that's the kind of thing that could damage a native New Yorker's rep.
8. You're not a cliché.
The story of the fresh-faced, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed actor/musician/writer/designer/I-banker, moving to Metropolis with a head full of dreams and a heart full of ambition (or is it vice-versa?), is probably as old as New York City itself. And it's probably been played out for almost as long. Still, it doesn't stop the young and the fearless from setting up their tents here, year after year, generation after generation. You think it's cute. After all, you've been jaded since you were a kid. You've known the Big Apple (or at least your little part of it) your entire life. Sure, it undoubtedly beats wherever the hell these newbies came from, but what's the fuss about?
7. You've never been starved for culture.
No matter where you grew up in the five boroughs, you were never more than a subway ride away from world class art museums, hipster rock clubs, movie revival houses, off-Broadway theater—you name it. Not that you necessarily took advantage of it as a kid or even as a teenager. But having access and not taking advantage trumps growing up in Nowheresville and not even knowing what you're missing. Or worse yet, knowing what you're missing.
6. Traveling for the holidays means taking the subway.
There are a lot of reasons to leave the city where you grew up, not least of which is that you get to escape your parents. But for holidays and family occasions when all the non-natives have to schlep back to where they came from to visit the folks, you've got it made. Native New Yorkers have another reason to celebrate—a quick trip by public transit for birthdays or Thanksgiving or Christmukkah dinner, with a super-simple exit strategy. Hell, if things get desperate enough you could walk home. No muss, no fuss, and best of all, no overnight visits.
5. You remember the city when...
If you're over 30, it's fun to ask transplants when they moved here, and then give a that's-so-cute condescending smile and say, "Ah, so you moved here after Giuliani took office." You remember the days when you took your life into your hands if you wandered into Alphabet City. When kids were given "mug money" just in case...you know. When the Lower East Side was a ghost town after dark. When the Meatpacking District actually had meatpackers. When the World Trade Center was still just two ugly buildings downtown. In other words, you remember the New York that people who come here now think they're moving to, but which in reality doesn't exist anymore.
4. Cramped apartments don't seem as cramped.
Your typical shoebox-sized Hipsterville-area NYC starter apartment would probably fit into a closet in the suburban home of many a newly-minted New Yorker. But, hey, you've been here all your life. To you, space is a little extra elbow room on the L train or six square-inches of uncluttered desk in your cubicle. Unless you're a European who bought a 5,000 foot pied-a-terre that you use three weeks a year, "space in New York" is an oxymoron. But unlike the New Yorker-come-latelies, you know how to deal with it. It's in your blood.
3. It's harder to be a racist.
There are plenty of places in this fine country of ours where you can grow up without ever knowing a person of a different ethnicity. In New York, you don't have that option. From the Japanese restaurant down the block to the Yemeni-run magazine stand on the corner to the Haitians at the checkout counter of the local supermarket, you will by necessity interact, if only on a very simple level, with a lot of people of different races and nationalities. To say nothing of a little thing called the subway, where Latinos and blacks and WASPs and Jews and Muslims, to name a few, get shoehorned together every rush hour. Heaven knows there's plenty of prejudice in New York, but forced interaction means that at the very least, you know how to get along with everyone without getting your ass kicked.
2. Crappy suburban chain restaurants are exotic.
Jack In The Box. Long John Silver's. Cracker Barrel. Hell, even Denny's. You've seen commercials for them all your life, but you have to travel outside the city limits to eat there. For NYC kids who have been raised on everything from Szechuan takeout to falafel to lobster at the Palm, a Grand Slam Breakfast or Cod & Shrimp 3 Ways seems pretty cool, exciting even. Of course the spell would be instantly broken if any of them actually opened within the five boroughs—you don't find yourself trekking to Times Square for Applebee's or Olive Garden, after all. It's the unattainability—and the commercials—that make them so enticing.
1. You've never had to get a driver's license. Ever.
With the possible exception of San Francisco, there’s no other city in America where learning how to drive is purely optional. Sure, it pays to pass your road test if you ever want to, you know, leave NYC without getting someone to chauffeur you. But there are just so many compelling reasons to not drive within the five boroughs (garages cost as much as studio apartments, subways and bikes are usually faster, your carbon footprint is so much smaller). If you do go through with it and get your license, by the time you’re called on to motor somewhere in an emergency, you may have forgotten which pedal is the gas and which one is the brake.