New York City or Los Angeles?

New York City (NYC) and Los Angeles (LA) are both well-known cities, yet different in culture and lifestyle. In the article “Los Angeles and Its Booming Creative Class Lures New Yorkers,” Alex Williams discusses migration from NYC to LA. New Yorkers who can no longer afford rent or who seek different opportunities than those offered in NYC move to Los Angeles, where they can solve both or either of those problems. Los Angeles has a scene much more suited for the creative class. There are more bloggers, artists, and content creators on the west coast. People tend to meet up based on creative interests, and people are friendlier. New York, on the other hand, is full of people who have 9 to 5 jobs and don’t care much about their neighbors. While both these cities are successful and growing, people of a certain mindset leave NYC and head west for different opportunities.

Williams’s article reminded me of both readings for this week. Cities must nurture the creative class, as they are an important part of the economy. They help a city thrive and become more desirable. But real estate plays a large role in the people that live in certain areas. As the land value in a city increases, the creative class will be less able to afford to live there, as well as less willing to try. Williams discusses how many New Yorkers who once scorned Los Angeles for a lack of culture are now moving there after being attracted by “a burgeoning art, fashion and food scene that has become irresistible to the culturally attuned.” Those who moved there could also afford to rent prettier and nicer homes for less than the price of their cramped NYC apartments. The lure of Los Angeles to creative New Yorkers caused a lot of people to move there.

While I think NYC has a lot to offer, and isn’t necessarily stifling the creative class, I agree that LA seems to be the place to be for a lot of creative minds. However, LA is more lacking than NYC when it comes to less creative and more technical work. There should be a balance between a city’s creative side and its more technical “9-to-5 job” side. While this is difficult to achieve, it would optimize both of those sides of a city and draw even more people to visit.

Williams, Alex. “Los Angeles and Its Booming Creative Class Lures New Yorkers.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 1 May 2015, www.nytimes.com/2015/05/03/style/los-angeles-and-its-booming-creative-class-lures-new-yorkers.html.