Promotion
Use code DAD23 for 20% off + Free shipping on $45+ Shop Now!
The New Yorker's Guide to LA, The Angeleno's Guide to NYC
Contributors
By Henry Owens
Formats and Prices
Price
$18.00Price
$23.00 CADFormat
Format:
- Hardcover $18.00 $23.00 CAD
- ebook $2.99 $3.99 CAD
This item is a preorder. Your payment method will be charged immediately, and the product is expected to ship on or around December 3, 2019. This date is subject to change due to shipping delays beyond our control.
Also available from:
Excerpt
Explore book giveaways, sneak peeks, deals, and more.
INTRODUCTION
My friends and I blasted The Strokes in the car as we crept over the George Washington Bridge on my first trip to Manhattan since moving from Los Angeles to attend college on the East Coast. I was a freshman in college and buzzing with excitement at the thought of my first “adult” trip to “The City.” The skyscrapers loomed, sounds boomed, and the traffic was terrible. I couldn’t comprehend how someone could drive safely through the busy streets of Manhattan. But there we were.
That night, we met up with a few friends and snuck into some bars in Alphabet City. Blocks, streets, avenues, restaurants, neighborhoods—they all blurred together. I was disoriented to say the least.
The next morning, we took the L train out east to Williamsburg to see a vintage clothing store we had heard about. (Apparently, The Strokes shopped there.) As I walked down Bedford, passing a coffee shop and a record store, walking among hipsters in skinny jeans and leather jackets, a thought struck my mind: Williamsburg looked exactly like Silver Lake, the cool Eastside enclave from my native Los Angeles. Suddenly, after a couple of overwhelming, disoriented days, the city started coming into focus.
Williamsburg is the Silver Lake of New York.
As I continued to explore New York over the next few days, the one-to-one comparisons started swirling: the posh Upper East Side feels like the celebrity enclave of Beverly Hills; Chelsea is like West Hollywood; Greenwich Village is like Santa Monica; the tourists in Times Square look like those on the Walk of Fame; and on and on and on. Drawing simple comparisons between specific streets, restaurants, sights, and attractions helped orient me in this new place.
Since then, I’ve come to hear the New York–Los Angeles thing most often stated as a rivalry: It’s Letterman versus Leno. It’s Biggie versus Tupac. It’s the Knicks versus the Lakers; art versus entertainment; Wall Street versus Hollywood. Or it’s more general:
No culture in LA!
No space in NYC!
No pizza in LA!
No tacos in NYC!
No walking in LA!
Too much noise in NYC!
No one reads in LA!
No one relaxes in NYC!
No seasons in LA!
Terrible weather in NYC!
Everyone’s lazy in LA!
Everyone’s neurotic in NYC!
Nothing’s open past 10:00 p.m. in LA!
No one’s awake before 10:00 a.m. in NYC!
But really, it’s a pointless debate. Instead, it’s these dichotomies that make both places so great.
Sure, we all know New York doesn’t have tacos quite like those in Los Angeles… but New York has way better pizza. Of course Los Angeles doesn’t have Central Park, but it does have miles of amazing beaches. By thinking about these one-to-ones more carefully, you can understand each city better—and maybe even learn to love each in its own way.
That’s how we arrived at this book. It’s a travel guide for any Angeleno heading east or any New Yorker looking west. It’s a tool for anyone new to either city. It’s an overview, a glimpse, a taste of two cities—all from one guy’s point of view (with a lot of input from many opinionated friends on each coast).
You might think of it as a comparative atlas that’ll at once orient newbies to the particulars of a new coast and also introduce diehards on either side to find something admirable on the opposite coast.
Maybe you’re hankering for Apple Pan while in NYC. This book will point you to the equivalent burger. (Hint: it’s at Corner Bistro.) Or maybe you’re desperate for some modern art, but you feel stranded out in LA. (Why don’t you check out the Broad?) Need your pizza fix while in LA or your taco fix while in NYC? Wondering what to do in NYC if you love hiking on Runyon, or where to catch an indie flick in LA when you’re away from your beloved Angelika? Flip through this book’s pages for one-to-one comparisons and side-by-side explanations as well as tips, tricks, and guidance on these quintessential American opposites.
This is, after all, the Angeleno’s guide to New York and the New Yorker’s guide to Los Angeles. It’s a “comparative travel guide,” like an English–to–foreign language dictionary for the best two cities on the planet.
With neighborhood overviews and guides on food, art, music, shopping, transportation, and outings, this book will not only explain how to navigate and survive the opposite coast, but also how to thrive there.
NEW YORK AND LOS ANGELES: BY THE NUMBERS
POPULATION
NEW YORK: 8.6 MILLION
LOS ANGELES: 4 MILLION
SIZE
NEW YORK: 302.64 SQUARE MILES
LOS ANGELES: 468.67 SQUARE MILES
YEAR FOUNDED
NEW YORK: INCORPORATED 1624
LOS ANGELES: INCORPORATED 1850
LANGUAGES SPOKEN
NEW YORK: APPROX. 800
LOS ANGELES: APPROX. 225
NO. OF TREES
NEW YORK: 5.2 MILLION
LOS ANGELES: 10 MILLION
NO. OF AIRPORTS
NEW YORK: 5 (JFK, LGA, EWR, ISP, HPN)
LOS ANGELES: 5 (LAX, ONT, SNA, BUR, LGB)
NO. OF RESTAURANTS
NEW YORK: APPROXIMATELY 8,282
LOS ANGELES: APPROXIMATELY 8,500
NO. OF HOTEL ROOMS
NEW YORK: 107,000+
LOS ANGELES: 98,600+
AVG. HIGH TEMP IN JAN.
NEW YORK: 39°F
LOS ANGELES: 68°F
AVERAGE SNOWFALL
NEW YORK: 2–3 FEET
LOS ANGELES: 0 INCHES
PERCENTAGE OF POP. OVER 25 WITH HIGH SCHOOL DIPOLOMA
NEW YORK: 81%
LOS ANGELES: 76.4%
PERCENTAGE OF POP. OVER 25 WITH COLLEGE DEGREE
NEW YORK: 36.7%
LOS ANGELES: 33%
AVERAGE TRAVEL TIME TO WORK
NEW YORK: 40.8 MINUTES
LOS ANGELES: 30.9 MINUTES
PERCENTAGE OF POP. THAT’S FOREIGN BORN
NEW YORK: 37.6%
LOS ANGELES: 37.2%
TALLEST BUILDING
NEW YORK: ONE WORLD TRADE AT 1,776 FEET
LOS ANGELES: WILSHIRE GRAND CENTER AT 1,099 FEET
MEDIAN HOUSEHOLD INCOME
NEW YORK: $57,782
LOS ANGELES: $54,501
POPULATION PER SQUARE MILE
NEW YORK: 27,012.5
LOS ANGELES: 8,092.3
MOST POPULAR BABY NAMES (2017)
NEW YORK: LIAM & OLIVIA
LOS ANGELES: NOAH & EMMA
U.S. PRESIDENTS WHO WERE BORN IN THE CITY
NEW YORK: Teddy Roosevelt & Donald Trump (plus three more from the state: Franklin D. Roosevelt, Millard Fillmore & Martin Van Buren)
LOS ANGELES: None (but Richard Nixon Hails from Yorba Linda, California, a suburb in Orange County)
TRANSPORTATION
Perhaps no aspect of either city defines its character more than how its denizens get from A to B.
Everybody walks in New York
Everybody drives in Los Angeles
It’s exercise versus A/C
Convenience of public transportation versus the comfort of your own car
So, how can you begin to compare the two? How can a New Yorker find her way in Los Angeles? How will an Angeleno know what train to take in New York?
“I WAS BORN THE DAY I GOT MY LICENSE.”
—Jay Leno
THE LAY OF THE LAND
First things first, it’s important to understand the basic geography of each city.
New York is famous for its grid system: Avenues divide the town like columns and streets intersect it like rows. It’s easy to remember and simple to navigate.
Los Angeles also has a grid of its very own—just one with more to remember. Mastering it will vastly improve your enjoyment and understanding of the city.
“I’M AN L.A. GUY. I DRIVE. I AM MY TRUCK. MY TRUCK IS ME.”
—Jonathan Gold
Begin with the major freeways:
The 10 cuts straight across town from the beach on the West Coast past downtown to the east. The 405 intersects the 10, drawing a line between West LA and, well, everything else, running north from the San Fernando Valley all the way down to Irvine in the south.
WALL STREET IS THE ONLY PLACE THAT PEOPLE RIDE TO IN A ROLLS ROYCE TO GET ADVICE FROM THOSE WHO TAKE THE SUBWAY.
—Warren Buffett
Following the 10 eastbound, you’ll reach the 101, which wraps around downtown to separate Hollywood from Silver Lake before snaking over the Hills and carving a path through the Valley—from Studio City through Sherman Oaks, Encino, Tarzana, Woodland Hills, and Calabasas all the way up to Ventura County and straight out of town. Okay, so it’s not quite as simple as First, Second, Third, Lexington, Park, Madison… but it’s a start.
The major boulevards of Los Angeles can also provide a useful grid to the city. Each runs from the ocean to downtown. From the Hills in the north progressing south, you have:
*Note: Wilshire and Santa Monica cross in Beverly Hills.
RULES OF THUMB
Twenty city blocks in NYC equals one mile.
New York has the subway.
New York’s “across town” means going east or west.
New Yorkers always specify an address by street and then avenue (as in, “the corner of Twenty-Third and Fifth,” for Twenty-Third Street and Fifth Avenue).
New York has highways—for which you pay tolls.
New York has Citi Bike.
It takes twenty minutes to drive anywhere in LA. (Even if it’s one mile away.)
Los Angeles has valet.
Los Angeles’s “across town” means crossing the 405.
Angelenos say “the” in front of every freeway name—and refer to them by their number, rather than name. (It’s the 405, the 101, the 10.)
In LA, at least it’s free to sit hours on end in traffic.
Los Angeles has Bird scooters. And the weather for them.
“DRIVING A BENTLEY TO TARGET—ONLY IN LA DOES THIS MAKE SENSE.”
—A. M. Homes, This Book Will Save Your Life
NAVIGATING
Now, how to get around these grids?
The 4/5/6 train and the A/C/E train are like Sunset and Olympic Boulevards. Each provides a straight shot to traverse the city.
The 4/5/6 runs north-south along the East Side of Manhattan, while the A/C/E runs north-south along the West Side. In Los Angeles, Sunset and Olympic both run from the beach to downtown, with Sunset being the farthest north before the Hills and Olympic a bit farther south.
Find either of these main subway lines or boulevards, hop on, and you’ll find an easy path to traverse the city. That is, assuming everything’s running smoothly. New York’s “train delays”—the catchall term for the subways’ inevitable route changes and irregular intervals due to construction, inclement weather, maintenance, and, unfortunately, jumpers—are like “traffic” in Los Angeles, which never seems to cease.
If you want to circumvent the main drag or avoid these woes?
“I LIKE TO WATCH PEOPLE. SOMETIMES I RIDE THE SUBWAY ALL DAY AND LOOK AT THEM AND LISTEN TO THEM. I JUST WANT TO FIGURE OUT WHO THEY ARE AND WHAT THEY WANT AND WHERE THEY’RE GOING.”
—Ray Bradbury
For starters, in Los Angeles, never ever—seriously, never—drive east to west (or west to east) during rush hour, generally between about 4:30 and 7:00 p.m. on weekdays. You’ll get caught in insanely long lines on any avenue approaching the 405 for miles in either direction. Make plans to stay local accordingly.
In New York, check Twitter for train delays and always have a backup plan. Check the map and figure out which alternate train will get you close enough—and then walk the rest. And to that end: If you’re less than one mile away (or less than two stops) from your destination, just walk.
“IN LA PEOPLE DON’T HAVE TIME TO STOP; ANYWHERE THEY HAVE TO GO THEY GO THERE IN A CAR. THE POOREST MAN HAS A CAR IN LOS ANGELES; HE MIGHT NOT HAVE A ROOF OVER HIS HEAD BUT HE HAS A CAR. AND HE KNOWS WHERE HE’S GOING TOO.”
—Walter Mosley, Devil in a Blue Dress
NEIGHBORHOODS
How do you begin to understand and navigate the two largest cities in America? The best way to tackle it—to make it more manageable—is by breaking it down into sections or, well, neighborhoods.
But even that can be formidable. While NYC has fifty-nine official “community districts,” it has, by some accounts, up to three hundred distinct neighborhoods. The Los Angeles Times’ similarly divides LA into 272 distinct neighborhoods—while writer Eric Brightwell created an incredible map of more than 472 clearly defined and distinct neighborhoods in Los Angeles. Needless to say, the borders between neighborhoods aren’t so clearly drawn—and can evolve over time.
One reason for the complexity is that neighborhoods can be defined by such a broad set of criteria—from their ethnic and cultural histories to their physical and geographical boundaries, from the lines drawn by real estate developers to the restrictions set by city planners. On top of that, the people who live and work in any given neighborhood are constantly changing.
“MOST CITIES ARE NOUNS. NEW YORK’S A VERB.”
—John F. Kennedy
“LOS ANGELES IS A LARGE CITY-LIKE AREA SURROUNDING THE BEVERLY HILLS HOTEL.”
—Fran Lebowitz
Genre:
- On Sale
- Dec 3, 2019
- Page Count
- 168 pages
- Publisher
- Running Press
- ISBN-13
- 9780762466894
You May Also Like
Newsletter Signup
By clicking ‘Sign Up,’ I acknowledge that I have read and agree to Hachette Book Group’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Use
