Despite what the ubiquitous t-shirts proclaim, I never expected to love New York. I moved here from Chicago, a city that I did love, whole-heartedly and unconditionally, and I just couldn’t imagine New York even holding a candle to Chicago. I considered myself fair in my assessment, noting that New York had some advantages over Chicago, the most important being the public transportation system that was both more comprehensive and without the constant threat of shutting down my bus route. In my personal calculus, though, Chicago always emerged on top.
For one, Chicago doesn’t have the sheer crush of people that New York does. Perhaps even more importantly, in Chicago, tourists are generally confined to the Magnificent Mile, Millennium Park, and the museum campus. Chicagoans are fairly free to roam the remainder of the city without tripping over tourists. This is not so in New York. The tourists are everywhere, in every part of the city. When I first moved to New York, a double-decker tour bus rolled past my apartment no less than twenty times an hour.
For another, Chicago is more neat and orderly. An upside of the Great Chicago Fire that wiped out the city in 1871 was that it allowed for better city planning, and everything else has seemed to follow suit. Traffic moves in an orderly manner, people walk in an orderly manner, even the pigeons in Chicago seem to bob their heads in an orderly manner. Everything is more chaotic in New York: people zig-zag down the sidewalks, trash piles interrupt your path.
Regardless, New York has grown on me. It happened in a stealthy manner, sneaking up and winning me over before I even realized what was happening. It hit home just recently, shortly after I returned from a vacation abroad. I met some of my girlfriends for drinks near Times Square – a location dictated by the placement of their offices and the inclement weather. As I dodged the throngs of tourists and side-stepped the guys trying to sell me a comedy show, I found myself smiling. I had missed the bright lights and the city’s frenetic pace. I had missed riding the train over the bridge. I had missed the billboards and the scent of meat being cooked on the street. I had missed just walking through the crowds, sharing this little stretch of land with thousands of other people.
New York will never replace Chicago in my heart, but it’s managed to carve out a section all its own. I guess I love New York.
Read more from Katie on her blog, Perky to a Fault.

















