sebb@pyuxss.UUCP (S Badian) (09/28/83)
I thought I'd start a little trouble in this group. Since the net extends from sea to shining sea ( and beyond) we should be able to generate some fairly lively discussion. I am SICK of Westerners ( the Rockies and beyond) championing the West while maligning the East. To talk to most Westerners you'd think the East Coast was the armpit of the world. And NJ! Well, NJ is even worse! (I won't go into what it is.) I've been both places and a few in between and I'd say both of them have their good and bad points. Being a native New Yorker I'd rather live here right now. But I can see the allure of the West ( wide open spaces, buffalo roaming, smog and all that). Do Westerners think there is nothing worthwhile East of those majestic Rockies?! Talk about ethnocentrism! S.Badian from the dirty,crowded,crime-ridden,ugly, and little to offer East
rkp@drufl.UUCP (Pierce) (09/28/83)
I am a Tennesseean now living in Colorado. I have been to New York City, but I don't think it was anything to write home about. My Grandmother was from Cortland, NY, and I think that area of the state is beautiful. (Cortland is not really on the east coast, but it is in [UGH!] New York.) One of my aunts lives in Hartford, Conn., and I always thought it was a nice place. I think that most people get a bad impression of the east coast (or at least I have) by some of the people you meet. And also the media in NYCity seems to forget there is anything west of the Mississippi. TRUE STORY: When I was in NJ on business once, it was a Saturday night during pre-season football. The only scores the sports reporter gave was the for the Jets and Giants--nothing else! Then the weather came on. The weather map only went to the Mississippi River! And this wasn't some independent station, this was WNBC, the main NBC affiliate. This kind of teed me off. On other east coast places, Norfolk seemed like a pretty bad place to live. Even the beaches were dirty (and this was many years ago, I couldn't imagine them being any cleaner now). The North Carolina beaches seemed pretty nice. I have also been to central New Jersey. I really think there are some nice places there. In fact, I wouldn't mind living in some of those areas (Holmdel, Lincroft, etc). One of my aunts lives in Hartford, Conn., and I always thought it was a nice place. In general, there are good and bad to all places. Russ Pierce Denver WECo P.S. By the way, for all you New York deli SNOBS, I challenge your best deli to my favorite deli--TIME OUT in Knoxville, Tennessee. :-; (Licking my lips after a Cheddar Met from TIME OUT.)
mark@cbosgd.UUCP (09/29/83)
I don't find the Eastern Seaboard (e.g. BosNYWash) distasteful because
of the allegedly strange people. (The people I've actually met there
struck me as very nice - completely different from the stereotypes.)
I find BosNYWash distasteful because
(a) It's incredibly crowded. At 2 AM there is a 15 minute wait in the
checkout line at the grocery store.
(b) It's expensive. There are enough people living in this area to create
a demand, and this demand drives up all the prices. Housing and car
insurance are the worst offenders, but food and transportation are
more expensive there for some reason also.
(c) It's old and run down. That part of the country has been there for
hundreds of years, and much of what you see has been there since the
early 1900's.
(d) It's in the "north", and thus has hot humid summers and cold winters.
There's no question it's very different from the west coast. You either
love New York or hate it, and I personally don't love it.rlr@pyuxn.UUCP (09/29/83)
Like, I went to New York City, and, boy, was it gross, I mean I saw someone like, throw up, and, boy, was it disgusting, 'cause in Eh Lay, like, we would NEVER let that happen, I'm sure, I mean if someone, like, even looks like he's going to throw up they wouldn't even, like, let him into the Galleria or ANYTHING, they'd, like, put him in a truck so that no one could be grossed out or something, but anyway, like, my girlfriend, she's a Val, but if you think she talks funny, like (SNIFF) [thanx, man] you should go to New York 'cause they all talk with this, like, accent, as if they were from some foreign country, UGGH, gross, like, and boy was it dirty, I mean, I had these new shoes on and, like, I almost stepped in some DOG POOP, gross, I mean don't know about plastic dogs or having special surgery performed on their pets so they don't, like, gross everybody out, I mean, I have this plastic poodle my mom got me on Ro-day-o Drive in this shop, like, and I never have to walk it or clean it up or anything, 'cause we used to have this, like, real poodle but my brother, the one with the purple mohawk that he got at Jon Peters' salon, like, he fed it some of my mom's pills, and boy did he get punished, having to sit in his room and play PacMan all day, but my dad thinks he'll be able to write a made-for-TV movie about it, if he can remember my brother's name, like, my dad's the one who wrote that really great science fiction movie about this guy and this princess in outer space---no, not, like, Star Wars, it was YEARS after that, but it didn't make any money so they re-released it in 3D, and now it's going to be a TV series, it'll go in Taxi's, like, time-slot, that is, like, I don't know why he always has to go on business to New York, like, I mean, why would anyone want to live, like, THERE, when there's so much out here, I mea
bees@drux3.UUCP (09/30/83)
The only thing worthwhile east of the "majestic Rockies" is Boulder!
:-)
Ray Davis AT&T Information Systems Labs @ Denver (303)538-3991
{ihnp4|hogpc}!druxy!beessteve@dartvax.UUCP (10/01/83)
Hold on a second, Mark. Your reasons for finding the East Coast distasteful
are a bit wide of the mark (heh, heh). Let's run down your list.
(a) "It's incredibly crowded." So is Chicago, Seattle, Los Angeles, and
Houston. Crowding is an urban phenomenon, not an eastern one.
(b) "It's expensive." Ditto.
(c) "It's old and run down." It's perhaps understandable that someone
from the coast would tend to equate the two. The South Bronx and Watts
could both be called run down, and age has little to do with it. Here
in New England there are lots of houses that are 200 years old, and
the quality of most of them puts your post-1950 construction to shame.
Lots of things back East are old - buildings, institutions, customs -
and it's a mark of their value.
(d) "It's in the 'north', and thus has hot humid summers and cold winters."
Well, yes and no. Summers in the southern sections are pretty brutal,
but in the north, especially New England, they're delightful. Days in
the 80's and nights in the 60's are our norm. As to winter, they're
SUPPOSED to be cold, else what good are they? Try stepping outside
on a January night when it's 20 below, dry, crisp, still, clear. You
can do it with only a sweater. It's magical. Who wants just one
season all year long?
Ayah love the Eastjdb@qubix.UUCP (Jeff Bulf) (10/04/83)
I'm a born-and-raised Westerner who enjoys visiting my friends in the east. Minnesota, Pennsylvania, NooYawk, ... The most sever and constant put-downs of NuJoughsy that I ever hear (well, mostly) come from -- you guessed it -- born and bred refugees from NJ! pardon the spelling above. My terminal does not have the umlauts you to that sound correctly. Anyway I suggest a workable framework for all this E/W rivalry: Friendship First Competition Second All of either, none ot the other isnt realistic. Reversing the order loses the Friendship somehow. -- Dr Memory decwrl!qubix!jdb
steven@qubix.UUCP (Steven Maurer) (10/05/83)
Did I just read, on this forum, that WEST COAST cities
are overcrowded?? What is this persons examples???
Chicago -- First time I have ever heard this city being
called a West-coast one....
Seattle -- Probably one of the most uncrowded urban areas
in the entire US.
L.A. -- If you are actually IN L.A., yes its overcrowded.
But most people who live in that area don't live
in the city...
Steven Maurerjtm@syteka.UUCP (10/20/83)
Yeah, I lived in Knoxville for a few years. Definitely the best delis in the world @ Sam&Andy's, TimeOut et al. Californie is the place ya wanna be JTM