Quite an interesting read.
Spoiler alert: London won or tied in every category except for nightlife and “vibes” where it was docked marks for early closure of venues vs the 24/7 nature of NYC and almost half the annual sunshine hours of NYC.
NYC on the other hand was docked marks for lack of green spaces, being way more expensive for almost everything, poor cleanliness/higher crime and rats on the subway.
Be interesting to hear from other people who’ve lived in both cities!
by pelican678
32 comments
Lived in NYC in 2016 and in London since 2021. I would say that London has nearly all the amenities of NYC without the insanity of NYC. After living in London, I don’t think I could go back to living in NYC. Though, I do miss authentic Mexican food (but better Mexican food can be found outside of NYC – CA, AZ, TX, etc.)
London is NYC but with manners. It’s just missing the tacos and the chaos.
There’s loads of places central that stay open late – Meatliquor, Oxford Circus open till 3am, Sketch and Blood Sports, Covent Garden open till 2am. Free entry and dj most nights and not crazy expensive drinks. Scotch of st James / Dear Darling / Tape / Sexy Fish but these are expensive and douchey. London could do with more late live venues for sure.
Was in a relationship with a New Yorker pre-pandemic so spent months there at a time, was always a place I loved visiting but never felt like I wanted to live there.
Manhattan has a far more attractive and open night life. There are a seemingly endless number of bars where you can go without being a member and meet cool people. London has nothing like that.
We need more Mexican food in London, it’s slowly happening, but we need more.
Struggling to find somewhere to drink after 1am is one of my genuine gripes with London.
NYC edges out London on food, imo.
I’ve never lived in NYC, but I have visited maybe 20 times. I rate them both very highly, but It’s really difficult to compare them. They’re very different places.
Nightlife is the one metric where NYC is way ahead of London and it’s sad because it was probably the other way around 15 years ago. London is a complete shadow of its former self in that regard.
Have spent my entire life in only these 2 cities.
NYC food is better x1,000,000 and for anyone who’s only lived in London, you can’t quite grasp the impact on mental health that the doubled annual hours of sunlight provide
But London’s green spaces and access to convenient travel within the UK and to Europe are much better
So overall I think it’s a tie
Don’t they have a ridiculous tipping culture in New York? I watched a YouTube video of someone paying over 30 dollars for a beef sandwich. Having to tip twice.
I can walk places in London. NYC is disconnected in that regard. Therefore, imho, I’d never live there
Felt Brooklyn was like a decent facsimile of Shoreditch, so was a fan. Gyms are so expensive and groceries far more for similar to worse quality. Great fun though loved Manhattan too. Can’t speak on BX or Queens
London nightlife is only worse if you’re straight tbh
London parks, London shops (especially the bookshops), and Indian food…
Need I say more?
Nightlife in London is embarrassing for such a major capital city…
Disclaimer: all personal opinions before anyone comes at me.
Spent a significant amount of time in both cities and Mexican sucks in both places, especially after CDMX/Texas/California too. However, if you find the right spots you’ll find that Mexican is on par in both NY and London.
East Asian food in NY is far better than London. South Asian food in London is miles and miles better. The only thing I can think of is that New York has quite a bit of variety in each neighbourhood at a decent quality, whereas you go to different neighbourhoods in London for a particular cuisine. But that’s because certain groups have made the area theirs, that is part of the charm.
The cold in NY is beyond brutal. Didn’t feel that cold in any Scandinavian country even. The accessible nightlife is amazing. London has died down for that but there’s still plenty of underground parties and raves but it’s not as accessible to people.
As another commenter mentioned, the access to green spaces and travel to other countries gives London an advantage.
ETA: it’s just so bloody expensive too. Makes me realise London has it pretty good!
I’m a native New Yorker who lives in London, so I’ll say this: New York is better in two specific categories, namely nightlife and pay.
Outside of that, London is by far the winner when it comes to quality of life, accessibility, green space, infrastructure, cleanliness and climate. They’re tied for food in my view: London’s strengths in South and South East Asian food encountered by New York’s edge for East Asian and Latin American cuisine.
I live in New York and have visited London a few times. I plan on staying in the New York area because pay is so much higher in my specific case, but otherwise I’d love to live in London. The New York chaos is just too much to deal with.
Lived in both, and I’d say NYC has better food but is more expensive to get the good quality food. If you’re eating at food trucks or those delis, you’ll get big portions but real low quality stuff lol.
But as I said in another comment, the top places are just as good if not better (but more expensive), and you’re chain lunch spots are usually better. Eg a salad at Chopt is better than any salad chain in London.
People in Manhattan typically have more money, and so live a services style life – they never cook, never do their own washing, don’t even shine their own shoes and they take way more weekends away to places like Long Island or Hamptons in the summer. They also are (in my experience), far more willing to go out midweek and often until 2am, before being back to the office the next morning
NYC is more chaos but it gives it a lot more energy
Summer is better in NYC, winter is worse
London is cleaner, feels safer, has more green spaces, it’s easier to chill out too/switch off a bit from city life, it definitely feels easier to start a family here, the people aren’t as superficial and I live in London for a reason
To summarise I’d say NYC is the better city for 2-3 year stint, especially if you’re late 20s/30s and have money. London is better long term
American in London here.
Lived in NYC From 2018-2020. London from 2023-Current
London is NYC for when you’re older imo. Or maybe that’s just me now that I’m older lol.
New York is better for food imo. The slice shops are life and there’s legit mexican food. I lived in Jackson Heights in Queens and had incredible tacos around me. London has Wahaca which is trash. I think for most other cuisines like Indian, Spanish, French, Greek, Mediterranean, etc London might have the upper hand. Japanese + Chinese food goes to NYC.
Now that I’m going out less I actually appreciate London a bit more maybe. I don’t need places to be open at 11PM – Late. London green space is WAY better than NYC (Love Central, Bryant, and Prospect Parks, but there’s no comparison to Hyde, Regents, Green, Battersea, etc etc). The tube is nicer albeit expensive AF.
Both are great cities, but to me there’s no contest. London has nearly everything that New York has to offer, but better and more cultured. Public transport is way better, better international food scene, part of Europe – in a couple of hours you can travel to another country. It’s in the middle of the world, easier to connect to West / East . No tipping culture. Black cabs vs yellow cabs comme on.
I realise that Yanks keep banging on about their skyline and city that never sleeps – but nah It cannot compete.
Londoners don’t get personally offended if other people bash London – if you don’t like London I won’t tell my mum promise. I can handle it.
Oyster Bar in grand central
I was in NYC in 2008.
Everything was half price.
Everyone loved my accent and would buy me drinks/give me free stuff.
Night life was amazing, lots of talent about.
London is home though and feels a lot safer to me.
New York has way better food scene at both the low and high end.
What about wages? Do they differ a lot?
Shit. I used to remember plenty of bars in London past 1-2am, shit even 6-7am. Glambag handbags anyone??
But NYC dies a death at 4am!
My experience is definitely in line with that.
Love both – amazing how things have changed in certain regards
Londons food scene is hands down – on the whole – way better than NYC these days
NYC still does certain things better (Italian, Japanese, for example) but London now has everything at every price point
Professionally, NY – and the states generally – will have more opportunities with better pay
NYC has lost some of its variety as people have been priced out, and it’s doesn’t have the feeling of contrast afforded by londons multiple “villages”
But they’re both incredible cities and people should realize how lucky they are to live in them – and sample them both if they can
My worst disappointment was the air quality. It just sucks. Despite the Hudson river and proximity of the ocean, NY is hard to breathe after London. With more traffic and life comes much more noise as well.
The climate in NY is also much worse. Hotter in summer, feels way colder in winter.
I’ve only lived in London but visited NY several times. I was always rather unimpressed with it, with some exceptions: Brooklyn was nice (more like European cities are like) and Central Park was just amazing. Although I guess you can’t legally have a picnic with wine in it, so not sure what the point of it is..
Nevertheless, I think I’d like it more if I lived there. Knew all those little neighbourhood places etc.
NYC salaries are on another level than London ones as well, at least in many fields. So, the cost comparison should take that into account.
Overall, I haven’t been to a city like London, ever. That’s because they don’t exist. Other places have their own charms, of course. Like, where I’m currently living, from my nice flat that I pay 1K rent for, I could walk 100 meters to go sailing. I don’t sail, of course, but I should probably get into that..
Also, what is the obsession with yanks and mexican food? I get it is a cuisine that americans are familiar with given the close proximity – but in Europe it is honestly not that popular. You are more likely to find Turkish / indian / italian / Greek cuisines.
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