New York / LA: A Comparative(ly Foolish) Study

brooklyn bridgeFellow denizens, I’ve just returned from New York. New York! God damn it. What a city. All these “neighborhoods”… All this “walking”… All this “walking from neighborhood to neighborhood” … All this “riding the subway to get around” … God damn it. I love it. We don’t have it. We drive. So?

New York has working names for all its little areas. We do too. New York has hot dog shacks. Damn it, we have hot dog shacks. New York has a big park. Damn it, we have a big park. It’s uncanny, I tell you. God damn it. I’m going to side-by-side this one. It’s not comprehensive but it’s a start. I said it.

Neighborhoods
They Have… Which Means… We Have… Which Means…
NoLIta North of Little Italy NoLIta No Little Italy (Does Maggiano’s count?)
SoHo South of Houston WeHo West Hollywood
NoHo North Hollywood
BeHo Beneath the Hollywood Sign (formerly Beachwood. Ask around, it is totally uncool to say Beachwood)
TriBeCa Triangle Below Canal Culver City Culver City
Chinatown Chinatown Chinatown Chinatown
Bowery Crazy Shit, Pricey Lofts Venice tiny harrySunny Crazy Shit, Pricey Lofts
Brooklyn Brooklyn Van Nuys Van Nuys (?)
Williamsburg Silverlake Silverlake Williamsburg
World Trade Center Financial district near Ground Zero Celebrity Centre Eighteen-block radius surrounding Celeb Centre. BeHo adjacent.
Parks
They Have… Which Means… We Have… Which Means…
Central Park Drugs, Bicycles, Ice Skating, Paul Simon concerts, Garth Brooks concerts Griffith Park Drugs, Ponies, Batcaves, Gipsy Kings concerts, Jack Johnson concerts
Elysian Park Drugs, Dodgers
MacArthur Park Drugs, pastrami
Food
They Have… Which Means… We Have… Which Means…
Katz’s Pastrami, dive bars Langer’s Pastrami, fake IDs
Gray’s Papaya Cheap hangover helper Oki-Dog Scares You Sober

the littlesIt’s getting out of hand. I’m stopping. But think about it. Along with our Towns (China, Korea, Thai, Historic Filipino) we have a scattering of Littles: India, Tokyo, Armenia, Saigon. Then the non-littles come into play: Crenshaw, South Central, Long Beach, Boyle Heights, Highland Park, East LA, LA Proper. SG Valley. Hills Hollywood and Beverly. Suburbank. West Valley. Pasadena, Palms, South Bay. Aw hell, I quit. I’m no expert on either city. I just know how to put together a fancypants chart. Feel free to add categories and I’ll update as needed. Have a time of it.