NYC vs DC Round 1

New York City and Washington DC. Two centers of American intellect, culture, and leadership. With the exception of the movie making mecca of Los Angeles, these are the two most influential cities in the States; and arguably in the world.

I shall objectively compare said bastions of influence across four categories important for anyone looking to visit or move to one of these locales. This is the first of such posts.

Transit

It’s a 5 hour bus ride between NYC and DC. As far as bus rides go it’s not a bad one. Wifi, dvd movie to hold your attention and only one stop along the way. But it’s still a 5 hour bus ride. Negative 3 points for both cities.

When observing the methods of transportation in DC the marked differences between the two cities emerged. DC is a weird city-suburb hybrid. And feels about half the size of NYC. Which works out because their subway system is similarly about half the size of New York’s.

Washington DC

The pros

Padded seats? Carpeting on the subway? Subway cars with less than 8000 people on them? Holy shit this is the jackpot. I’ll just sit here and ride around in the lap of luxury all day. While the map first appears confusing, and faintly reminds of a swastika, the rail system is insanely easy to navigate. Only one train per color line and all routes move in a relative straight line.

Metro stations themselves, with their dimpled and domed ceilings look like submarine sea-labs or moon bases or some futuristic crap. And they’re clean. You don’t feel like you’re entering a crack house when you step inside one. Totally sweet. The crowning achievement of DC’s transit system are the electronic signs informing riders of waiting time and destination. Unlike in New York, you can walk into a random subway stop and know exactly how long your wait is and what the next stop will be. It’s like every train is the L train.

The cons

While the simplicity of the system deserves accolades, it sucks walking across the metropolitan DC area unless you’re dead in the middle. You can’t really get from Point A to Point B without routing yourself through the middle of the city. If you’re on the outer fringes, forget. It’ll take you forever to go into the central city then catch another trail. You might as well walk from Columbia Heights to Woodley Park.

Also, the subway closes. WTF is up with that. The trains stop running? So if I want to go to a bar and casually drink 16 Natty Ices I have to walk/take a cab/have a DD take me back home? Listen, I wouldn’t be so mad if the cabs weren’t absolute ripoffs. The base fare is like 3 bucks plus they charge per person and per piece of luggage. What the hell is that about. It’s only a backpack and a duffel bag you don’t need to charge me an extra 5 bucks, Achmed! And yes, the cabbie’s name was Achmed. And no I wasn’t out drinking Natty Ice with my duffel bag, those were separate incidents, but the point is the cabs still fuck you in the butt; financially speaking.

New York City

The Pros

You’re a smart reader. I trust you to figure out the downsides of DC’s transit system equate to the upsides of NYC’s and vise versa. I am comparing them to each other, after all. The subways in the city never close. Which is great because you can’t get a cab, on account of spending your 10 bucks at on stupid strawberry and butter crepe from some chick on the corner of Rivington and Ludlow. At least that’s better than spending 10 bucks and getting strawberry and butter Herpes from some chick on the corner of Rivington and Ludlow. It’s also good for your friends from Connecticut/Long Island/Jersey. They can always pass out on a bench when they realize they’ve missed the 3:37 train back home.

Similarly, you can get from Point A to Point B without having to do any horizontal walking across NYC (at least in Manhattan. All bets are off in outer boroughs). For the confusing nature of the subway map, with 10 different lines and 26 different trains, its still easier to get from any given point to any other without too much walking (uggh, walking).

The Cons

It takes some time to get the map down. It’s not the easiest. Seriously, look at that thing. But once you do, see above.

Some stations look like heaven (51^st and Lex) and some are just garbage (most station in the Bronx.) This is function of class division within the city, however. The trains are always crowded, the price are steep and will only go higher, and are run by the completely incompetent organization known as the MTA.

The Verdict

I’m a big fan of the creature comforts of padded seats and carpeting, but I don’t want to be walking another 8 blocks from my stop to my destination when its 25 degrees outside.

New York wins round 1.