New York vs. LA
Tales from the Road
Kendrick Bales
Issue date: 10/11/05 Section: Voices
Who wins in a head-to-head bout between New York City and Los Angeles? New York has a height advantage, but LA has a reach advantage. Knockouts? Wins and Losses? They both have many. My answer is that they are even. However, I think LA gets a bad rap, and I want to defend my hometown.
I will start with the assumption that human civilization began in Africa and the Middle East. Somewhere during the course of human events, a split emerged separating the Eastern and Western traditions. (For those students of Anthropology please forgive my gross oversimplification for the sake of argument.) If you accept this framework, then we can safely state that the west coast of the United States represents the most recent development of Western Civilization. It is no accident that the Internet boom was born in California, that Microsoft is based in Seattle, that Boeing (until recently) was based in Seattle, that the "moving pictures" industry, the most modern and technologically advanced form of entertainment, is based in California.
The driving forces of Western Civilization (empires) have evolved in a manner that is relatively easy to observe: Macedonians and Mesopotamians evolved into the Greeks, into the Romans, into the Papacy, into the Ottomans, into the Spanish, into the French, into the English, and finally into the (short-lived) Pax Americana. If you accept this trajectory, then it follows that the west coast of the United States is final front of Western Civilization. There is a reason why people in California say they want to move "back east" and that people in New York want to move "out west." The early 20th century clash with Japan and the early 21st century clash with China make sense in this context, as they are the final fronts of Eastern Civilization. We have come full-circle - literally.
Back to LA. Or should I say, "out" to LA. Los Angeles is what it is. Nothing more, nothing less. People's expectations of America's #2 city are what give it the bad reputation that it has. LA is no New York, it is no London, it is no Paris, it is LA, and no city is like LA either. If you want museums, stay in New York or go to Paris. But if you want pure self-indulgence; the triumph of individual over group, go to LA. As long as you take it for what it is, then you won't be disappointed.
I will start with the assumption that human civilization began in Africa and the Middle East. Somewhere during the course of human events, a split emerged separating the Eastern and Western traditions. (For those students of Anthropology please forgive my gross oversimplification for the sake of argument.) If you accept this framework, then we can safely state that the west coast of the United States represents the most recent development of Western Civilization. It is no accident that the Internet boom was born in California, that Microsoft is based in Seattle, that Boeing (until recently) was based in Seattle, that the "moving pictures" industry, the most modern and technologically advanced form of entertainment, is based in California.
The driving forces of Western Civilization (empires) have evolved in a manner that is relatively easy to observe: Macedonians and Mesopotamians evolved into the Greeks, into the Romans, into the Papacy, into the Ottomans, into the Spanish, into the French, into the English, and finally into the (short-lived) Pax Americana. If you accept this trajectory, then it follows that the west coast of the United States is final front of Western Civilization. There is a reason why people in California say they want to move "back east" and that people in New York want to move "out west." The early 20th century clash with Japan and the early 21st century clash with China make sense in this context, as they are the final fronts of Eastern Civilization. We have come full-circle - literally.
Back to LA. Or should I say, "out" to LA. Los Angeles is what it is. Nothing more, nothing less. People's expectations of America's #2 city are what give it the bad reputation that it has. LA is no New York, it is no London, it is no Paris, it is LA, and no city is like LA either. If you want museums, stay in New York or go to Paris. But if you want pure self-indulgence; the triumph of individual over group, go to LA. As long as you take it for what it is, then you won't be disappointed.