Other places

Often New Yorkers - including myself more than I like to admit - think of and talk about the city as the center of the world, the greatest and even the only real city in the world. This New Yorker cartoon illustrates this better than anything else: that's how New Yorkers see the world.

Every once in a while I travel somewhere and see how wrong that world-view really is. And it's not only with cities back in Europe, which are just different, livable in a way few American cities can claim to be. But I am here now, permanently it seems. And especially now that things are sort of up in the air, going through some transitions in my life, could be moving basically anywhere in a year or less, well, the question often crosses my mind: what if it's not New York? Would I be happy living somewhere else in the US? A small city? Maybe in the Midwest? West Coast?

Well, it turns out that New York is far from being the only city in the US. Turns out I really liked Minneapolis. It has a unique character: artsy, calm, green, bike trails everywhere and a bike-share system that works, lakes to run around, art fairs, cute little restaurants and coffees hops, lofts that are actually affordable and nice, grilling on roof decks; overall, livable. Of course, after living in NYC for years, it seems weird when there aren't crowds on the streets ad it might even seem deserted with my eyes. But is it deserted or is it just not crowded? Am I so used to crowds everywhere that I can't even imagine living in a calm place? Well, we'll see. I didn't apply to school in Minneapolis, which has a something to do with the horrific winters there, but I am beginning to feel that New York is not everything, that there might be even be a place I could call a better home.

Flying back here, we circled around Manhattan and looking down on the lego pieces rising towards the sky, it seemed absurd to me, how all that can be crammed into such a small space. And then there is the oasis in the middle, Central Park, without which I think this city would be completely unlivable. So I got home, changed into my running gear and spent an hour in the steamy park, away from the huge lego pieces. That was nice :)