After living in Manhattan now for about seven months I’ve noticed quite a few differences between the biggest city in the country and the city I’m used to, San Francisco. The main differences I’ve noticed between the Big Apple and the City by the Bay are as follows:
1. San Franciscans and probably Californians in general are more conscious of their environmental footprint compared to New Yorkers. It’s rare to find a recycling bin on the street here but it’s slowly improving.
2. The Bay Area has a larger tech scene but New York has claims to almost everything else.
3. When you go on vacation to New York you go for the unique and bustling atmosphere and the many adventures that come with the vast city. When you go on vacation to San Francisco you not only go for the city but for the coast, wine country, and the laid-back vibes.
4. New York City is the mecca for new food creations from rainbow bagels to crazy decked-out milkshakes but San Francisco has inarguably the best gourmet food in the country. The best Mexican food, seafood, and Chinese food galore.
5. Bacon, egg and cheeses are a thing in New York. It’s a foreign language to someone from the West Coast.
6. New York: Bagels. San Francisco: avocado toast? Kale smoothie? Anything green?
7. In New York you exercise at the gym and in the Bay Area you have that option but the surrounding mountains are also at our disposal for hiking.
8. New York has Smorgasburg, San Francisco has food trucks.
9. New York doesn’t really have a beach, San Francisco has plenty.
10. New York: deadass Bay Area: hella
11. Summers in New York are humid and sticky; San Francisco is sunny with an ever-present breeze.
12. New York has snow; we just have fog.
13. The dress code in New York is all black everything; San Francisco is more laid back.
14. New Yorker’s are in a rush, always. Again, San Francisco is more laid back.
15. SF: ferries, car, BART, cable car, literally any transportation method ever NY: subway, subway, occasional taxi when desperate, subway, walk
16. New York and San Francisco both lose in the areas of traffic and housing prices.
Recommended for you
17. New York does not have a bedtime. San Franciscans do.
18. New York has an abundance of parks spread out throughout the city but San Francisco is one with nature pretty consistently. You’re consciously aware at all times that you aren’t far from the ocean, even when you’re in the center of it all.
While New York and San Francisco are both very different I have an appreciation for both of them and their unique quirks. While the Bay Area may be my home, New York definitely has a piece of my heart.
