Monday, May 17, 2004
compare & contrast
i was thinking about this topic last week. maybe i was inspired by our gov granholm's 'cool cities' initiative, that always profiles some diamond in the rough city in michigan, & trys to spin it as 'young & hip' to try & keep michigan's young talent from moving out of state. i chose to compare & contrast nyc & the d. don't mis-understand, i love detroit--but if i were to move somewhere, nyc is up there.
nyc vs detroit
cabs
nyc-can't go 5 sec's w/out seeing cab downtown.
detroit-you can go 5 days w/out seeing a single cab in the d.
advantage: nyc
bands
nyc-has walkmen, strokes, fow, interpol, rapture, yyy's, sea ray, stellastarr* etc etc etc.
detroit- has the white stripes, von bondies, sights, the nice device, brendan benson, kid rock, eminem
advantage: nyc--hand's-down. detroit's garage rock scene is sooo 2002, & it's white-boy rap scene w/ eminem & kid rock is embarrassing to many. although the nice device w/ the lovely alicia gbur & brendan benson alone could go head-to-head up against any city's 2 best up-&-comers.
sports
nyc-has the yanks, mets, rangers, islanders, giants, jets, & the knicks.
detroit- pistons, lions, tigers, & red wings
advantage: even. nyc wins w/ giants/jets over the lions, yankees over the tigers, but they've got nothing else. red wings stomp the rangers & islanders, pistons do the same to the knicks. nyc has more teams, but a large portion of them flirt w/ mediocrity, despite large payrolls (rangers, mets, giants, jets). & who really cares about hockey anymore?
cost of living
nyc-the one major downer of any good big city is the cost of living. $1500 a month doesn't get you much by way of apartments. live there & you'll have roommates for life, & not much money left over to save or do much else, unless you make a ton of cash. $225,000 is a good start for a down-payment on a condo/house in ny.
detroit-$225,000 buys you a really nice house in the burbs. if you rent, $700/mo can get you a nice 1000 sq ft flat in the burbs.
advantage: detroit
nightlife
advantage: nyc
not even worth comparing/contrasting. nightlife in the d blows. how many nights/year are spent at the magic stick? far too many. no one (except nme) cares about the jack white vs jason von bondie fight that took place there. morrissey plays 5 gigs in 5 days in nyc, celebs hang-out at post-show parties. in detroit, we go to morrissey release parties, where the biggest celebs are bloggers (UG & peabs)--'aren't you uncle grambo?'.
the only edge the d has is that you can still smoke in bars, which actually blows even if you are a smoker.
blogs
nyc-too many to list out, but boasts blogger pros gawker, karen+1, stereogum, ultragrrrl, real janelle, gothamist, spiers, tmftml, etc etc etc. nyc= blogger capital.
detroit-whatevs & peabs are daily must-reads (if firewalls don't already BLOCK! access). whatevs is probably the top blog going these days. motor city rocks & glamorama are good for the music scene. other than that, it's pretty slim.
advantage: nyc-more is more is more.
charm
nyc-good public transportation systems, tradition, sex appeal, diverse industries/companies located there, better looking people, son of sam, art & culture.
detroit-so blue-collar, so run-down. some might say dilapidated, i like to call it 'rustic'. if you don't like cars, don't move here. public transportation is awful. we even built a 3rd rate monorail here in the 80's caled the 'people mover'. how's that working out these days? detroit...the new north haverbrook. professionally, you'll be tied to the auto industry in some way. if you don't like boring, slow, & unoriginal, the auto industry & detroit aren't for you. take that milwaukee!
advantage: nyc
tv shows
nyc-features the daily show, letterman, conan, & the apprentice, friends (tru calling is based there too).
detroit-so lame they created a trump rip-off called 'the intern', where people try to win an internship w/ attorney jeffery feiger. don't forget 'pass the mic', an american idol rip-off that features detroiters. it's bad, & i'll leave it at that.
advantage: nyc, duh
landmarks
nyc-ground zero, numerous museums, rockafeller plaza, central park, empire state bldg, etc.
detroit-the ren cen, a giant fist of joe louis, & a giant clit-ring in hart plaza.
advantage: nyc-although major creativity points awarded to d-town-bovs.
overall:
nyc. as much as i love detroit, it still has much work to do. only this year did we get a hard rock cafe, 15 years after they were no longer cool. next up, planet hollywood & robocop 4.
nyc vs detroit
cabs
nyc-can't go 5 sec's w/out seeing cab downtown.
detroit-you can go 5 days w/out seeing a single cab in the d.
advantage: nyc
bands
nyc-has walkmen, strokes, fow, interpol, rapture, yyy's, sea ray, stellastarr* etc etc etc.
detroit- has the white stripes, von bondies, sights, the nice device, brendan benson, kid rock, eminem
advantage: nyc--hand's-down. detroit's garage rock scene is sooo 2002, & it's white-boy rap scene w/ eminem & kid rock is embarrassing to many. although the nice device w/ the lovely alicia gbur & brendan benson alone could go head-to-head up against any city's 2 best up-&-comers.
sports
nyc-has the yanks, mets, rangers, islanders, giants, jets, & the knicks.
detroit- pistons, lions, tigers, & red wings
advantage: even. nyc wins w/ giants/jets over the lions, yankees over the tigers, but they've got nothing else. red wings stomp the rangers & islanders, pistons do the same to the knicks. nyc has more teams, but a large portion of them flirt w/ mediocrity, despite large payrolls (rangers, mets, giants, jets). & who really cares about hockey anymore?
cost of living
nyc-the one major downer of any good big city is the cost of living. $1500 a month doesn't get you much by way of apartments. live there & you'll have roommates for life, & not much money left over to save or do much else, unless you make a ton of cash. $225,000 is a good start for a down-payment on a condo/house in ny.
detroit-$225,000 buys you a really nice house in the burbs. if you rent, $700/mo can get you a nice 1000 sq ft flat in the burbs.
advantage: detroit
nightlife
advantage: nyc
not even worth comparing/contrasting. nightlife in the d blows. how many nights/year are spent at the magic stick? far too many. no one (except nme) cares about the jack white vs jason von bondie fight that took place there. morrissey plays 5 gigs in 5 days in nyc, celebs hang-out at post-show parties. in detroit, we go to morrissey release parties, where the biggest celebs are bloggers (UG & peabs)--'aren't you uncle grambo?'.
the only edge the d has is that you can still smoke in bars, which actually blows even if you are a smoker.
blogs
nyc-too many to list out, but boasts blogger pros gawker, karen+1, stereogum, ultragrrrl, real janelle, gothamist, spiers, tmftml, etc etc etc. nyc= blogger capital.
detroit-whatevs & peabs are daily must-reads (if firewalls don't already BLOCK! access). whatevs is probably the top blog going these days. motor city rocks & glamorama are good for the music scene. other than that, it's pretty slim.
advantage: nyc-more is more is more.
charm
nyc-good public transportation systems, tradition, sex appeal, diverse industries/companies located there, better looking people, son of sam, art & culture.
detroit-so blue-collar, so run-down. some might say dilapidated, i like to call it 'rustic'. if you don't like cars, don't move here. public transportation is awful. we even built a 3rd rate monorail here in the 80's caled the 'people mover'. how's that working out these days? detroit...the new north haverbrook. professionally, you'll be tied to the auto industry in some way. if you don't like boring, slow, & unoriginal, the auto industry & detroit aren't for you. take that milwaukee!
advantage: nyc
tv shows
nyc-features the daily show, letterman, conan, & the apprentice, friends (tru calling is based there too).
detroit-so lame they created a trump rip-off called 'the intern', where people try to win an internship w/ attorney jeffery feiger. don't forget 'pass the mic', an american idol rip-off that features detroiters. it's bad, & i'll leave it at that.
advantage: nyc, duh
landmarks
nyc-ground zero, numerous museums, rockafeller plaza, central park, empire state bldg, etc.
detroit-the ren cen, a giant fist of joe louis, & a giant clit-ring in hart plaza.
advantage: nyc-although major creativity points awarded to d-town-bovs.
overall:
nyc. as much as i love detroit, it still has much work to do. only this year did we get a hard rock cafe, 15 years after they were no longer cool. next up, planet hollywood & robocop 4.
