The Comparisons

Although my recent search for a treasure trove of bicoastal resources yielded shockingly little, I did unearth a handful of entertaining stories comparing NYC and SF. Written after the last Internet boom created a corps of tech workers who shuttled between the two cities, these pieces are unevenly reported, snarky and not without merit.

My favorite, a thoughtful article written by Rachel Lehmann-Haupt in 2000, suggests that back in the day, The Well had exactly the kind of bicoastally focused forum I've been looking for. The Well is now a paid service, and I don't want to spring for a month's subscription just to find out if the forum still exists. Still, when Lehmann-Haupt points out that perhaps the place bicoastal dwellers truly live is online, I can't decide whether that's a pre-bust artifact or a deep truth.

This 2005 East-v.-West smack down is obnoxious, but it makes the good point that, in New York, "The subway takes you just about anywhere you need to go." While in San Francisco, "The subway takes you just about anywhere you need to go, as long as it’s along Market Street."

Written just back in February, this blog post includes a map in which Manhattan has become Treasure Island, or San Francisco has become northern New Jersey, depending how you look at it. Either way, the reconfiguration looks so natural, it's a jolt to realize it's fantasy. Also included is a list correlating SF and NY neighborhoods. Among the ridiculous suggestions (Sunset/Brooklyn) are some surprisingly apt pairings (Marina/Murray Hill).

Finally, I don't agree with everything written in this 2004 blog post. But I've been thinking for days about his point that people in SF have many more acquaintances than people in NY. That does reflect my experience, the subject of a future bicoastalist post or three.

Comments

[Steve Rhodes]

I don't think there was ever a bicoastal conference on the well.

But for a long time (and it may still be the case), the most members were in San Francisco followed by NYC (where the best known online community was echo for many years).

So there are active San Francisco and NYC conferences plus the melting pot of the media conference where Steve (who was quoted in the article) could maintain ties to SF (where he has since moved back to).

There are topics on SF vs NYC (as well as LA) and there is a city slickers conference.