He Said, She Said #1: Living in New York City

Introducing He Said, She Said… Spousal perspectives on a common topic.

He Said, She Said is a new feature where we will each write an article exploring an identical topic or question from our unique perspective: husband/wife, male/female.

He Said, She Said #1: How Do You Like Living in New York City?

We are asked this one question often and regularly. People think we’re crazy for voluntarily moving to New York City and they want to know: how do we like it?

HE SAID. New York is a bastion of spiritual darkness, politically liberal, and decidedly non-traditional on family values. And yet, I love it!

I love the compact living. Sure, the housing and yards are small, but neighbors and shops are brought close as well. Coffee shops, restaurants, bars, food stores, and specialty stores can be found in walking distance. And people do walk!

Walking makes a large city small. Brooklyn may be more Maybury than Maybury. You can and do run into people you know on a regular basis. You develop routine hang outs where you can know and be known. I in particular have the priveledge of a walking commute.

Incredible architecture and sights abound. My local walks take me past beautiful brownstones, churches, monuments, and parks. I often stop to focus on a random building and I realize details are often lost on me given the sheer volume of things to see. Any given building in Brooklyn could be a landmark anywhere else.

I love the things to do, and I don’t mean shows, museums, or any of the thousand activities that come to mind when you think of New York. I love the open air markets, the street musicians, the parks, the free books and random items to be found on stoops, etc.

The food is top notch. From the unique pizza, endless ethnic restaurant variety, and amazing bakeries down to the street vendors. But we’ll never taste most of it, because the first dozen or so have us hooked as regulars.

In life Susanna and I have always preferred experiences over having things and there is no greater place for life experiences than New York.

SHE SAID. Check back tomorrow for Susanna’s thoughts on NY.

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5 Responses to He Said, She Said #1: Living in New York City

Grace says:

September 23, 2010 at 9:11 am

I think it’s awesome that you moved there…am going to try to figure out when we can visit again…:) What I envy the most…how you walk everywhere!

maryanne helms says:

September 23, 2010 at 11:25 am

i love the “he said, she said”. i love that you love the city. and i so appreciate the unique and diverse ways god has used you there!

Adrienne says:

September 23, 2010 at 1:36 pm

I second that! When living in NY you come to value different things. Not necessarily better, just different. And you learn that you can live without so many things we think are essential, yet still be perfectly content.

Susanna says:

September 23, 2010 at 3:52 pm

“I love the things to do, and I don’t mean shows, museums, or any of the thousand activities that come to mind when you think of New York. I love the open air markets, the street musicians, the parks, the free books and random items to be found on stoops, etc.”

I second this as one of my favorite things about living in New York! The museums and touristy things are fun for a time but once settled here, the every day charms of living here become more precious and like you said, being able to walk everywhere is such a blessing!

bchallies says:

September 25, 2010 at 9:00 am

Nothing makes a family happy like an interesting and vital neighborhood.