What about New York
I am now in year six of living in Brooklyn. There are things that I love about Brooklyn: the endless merges and clashes of cultures, all the free entertainment that is available in the city year round, and Prospect Park.
The bike lane system gets stronger every year, but not all motorists acknowledge our space. Some get violently angry at the thought of having to share a road with a bike.
I get into a lot of arguments with people who don't know how to use a road. Cyclists going the wrong direction down a one way road when 12 seconds away on the next block over is a street with a bike lane going the way they want. Or worse, riding on the sidewalk. Pedestrians who don't even look where their next step is going to take them. And drivers. Drivers drivers drivers. Keep an extra foot away if the plate says new jersey.
My current job, as a line cook, pays what I was making in chapel hill. The cost of living here is considerably higher, plus I have a culinary school loan that's not going anywhere any time soon. A workday is 11 hours, give or take, and I generally get home somewhere between 1:30 and 2am. It's hard to get to sleep before 3. I know that, with the experience I have, I could get a better job that pays the same or more basically anywhere else on the planet.
For my commute to work I can choose between riding my bike or taking the subway. The convenience the subway offers is that my local train, the F, stops two blocks from work. 40 minutes or so there, could be up to an hour and a half at night. I do get a lot of reading done this way. Downside, $4.50 a day to get to work.
By bike, my commute is typically 35 minutes there and 30 minutes home. The difference is having to ride down Jay St and pass through Chinatown in the afternoon. Much faster through there at night. Plus, I love riding my bike. I try to do so every day. I've really had enough of the stress that being in Brooklyn and Manhattan traffic a dozen times a week puts on me. I still prefer ride my bike than take the train generally, but man, have I had enough of the attitude.
I miss being in a place where I could quickly and easily get out of town and take a nice long ride. To get to Nyack, the town up the Hudson that is popular with NYC cyclists, I first have to cross then ride up the length of Manhattan. Some of the pleasure is drained because of that. And it's been a long time since I've taken my mountain bike on a real forest trail. I miss that. I like to ride where cars aren't and it takes a while to get there from here. Other than the park, of course, but 60 miles of laps of the park is not appealing.
I'm tired tired tired of how much rent is here and what I could be living in for the same amount of money in a lot of other places. I miss having a kitchen table. And a backyard. And closets.
Social interaction is much more expensive here as well. A few weeks ago, after the show for the girlfriend's trapeze class, that they had decided to meet up at a bar near the school. The draught Goose Island was $8. Perhaps they consider beer from Chicago to be an import. The shot of Patrón I bought Emily was $15. This made me angry as I, having been a liquor manager for a busy restaurant, know how much a the supplier charges for a bottle of Patrón. Now sure, we left there and went to a less expensive bar, but overall, this is a very expensive place to eat and drink.
The major reason I expect to stay here for a while is my relationship. Emily works on a research grant that has a year and a half left to it. It's a good job, she makes about twice what I do, and she's been told that the job is hers until the grant runs out. The job is here, so this is where she's going to stay. She is willing to move with me, once the job is done, but there's still quite a bit of time left on that clock.
Ok, time to get ready to go to work.
The bike lane system gets stronger every year, but not all motorists acknowledge our space. Some get violently angry at the thought of having to share a road with a bike.
I get into a lot of arguments with people who don't know how to use a road. Cyclists going the wrong direction down a one way road when 12 seconds away on the next block over is a street with a bike lane going the way they want. Or worse, riding on the sidewalk. Pedestrians who don't even look where their next step is going to take them. And drivers. Drivers drivers drivers. Keep an extra foot away if the plate says new jersey.
My current job, as a line cook, pays what I was making in chapel hill. The cost of living here is considerably higher, plus I have a culinary school loan that's not going anywhere any time soon. A workday is 11 hours, give or take, and I generally get home somewhere between 1:30 and 2am. It's hard to get to sleep before 3. I know that, with the experience I have, I could get a better job that pays the same or more basically anywhere else on the planet.
For my commute to work I can choose between riding my bike or taking the subway. The convenience the subway offers is that my local train, the F, stops two blocks from work. 40 minutes or so there, could be up to an hour and a half at night. I do get a lot of reading done this way. Downside, $4.50 a day to get to work.
By bike, my commute is typically 35 minutes there and 30 minutes home. The difference is having to ride down Jay St and pass through Chinatown in the afternoon. Much faster through there at night. Plus, I love riding my bike. I try to do so every day. I've really had enough of the stress that being in Brooklyn and Manhattan traffic a dozen times a week puts on me. I still prefer ride my bike than take the train generally, but man, have I had enough of the attitude.
I miss being in a place where I could quickly and easily get out of town and take a nice long ride. To get to Nyack, the town up the Hudson that is popular with NYC cyclists, I first have to cross then ride up the length of Manhattan. Some of the pleasure is drained because of that. And it's been a long time since I've taken my mountain bike on a real forest trail. I miss that. I like to ride where cars aren't and it takes a while to get there from here. Other than the park, of course, but 60 miles of laps of the park is not appealing.
I'm tired tired tired of how much rent is here and what I could be living in for the same amount of money in a lot of other places. I miss having a kitchen table. And a backyard. And closets.
Social interaction is much more expensive here as well. A few weeks ago, after the show for the girlfriend's trapeze class, that they had decided to meet up at a bar near the school. The draught Goose Island was $8. Perhaps they consider beer from Chicago to be an import. The shot of Patrón I bought Emily was $15. This made me angry as I, having been a liquor manager for a busy restaurant, know how much a the supplier charges for a bottle of Patrón. Now sure, we left there and went to a less expensive bar, but overall, this is a very expensive place to eat and drink.
The major reason I expect to stay here for a while is my relationship. Emily works on a research grant that has a year and a half left to it. It's a good job, she makes about twice what I do, and she's been told that the job is hers until the grant runs out. The job is here, so this is where she's going to stay. She is willing to move with me, once the job is done, but there's still quite a bit of time left on that clock.
Ok, time to get ready to go to work.