On My Mind: How NYC Dodged A Bullet

I remember how disappointed New Yorkers were when they lost the bid for the 2012 Olympics, but after seeing last night's opening ceremony (NY Times Photo above), I have to say I don't think we could have done better. In fact, I feel sorry for London for having to follow up in 2012 with something even grander. I don't think it can be done. Cities like NYC and London just don't have as much to prove, and therefore as much fire in their bellies, as Beijing does.

Plus, can you imagine if NYC had hosted the Olympics? With our filthy subways stations? The congestion in the city? Where would the sports complex have been built? The Bronx? We couldn't have built the equivalent of the Birdsnest in four years--we can't even get the World Trade Center site built in seven!

I really have developed a tenderness for NYC, but I'm happy for Beijing. NYC is the world's greatest city in a lot of ways, but I'm not sure that hosting the Olympics would have cast this city in the best light. Could it have survived the kind of scrutiny Beijing has endured in the lead-up to the event? Or would the world have enjoyed an inside view of how much this city and America is struggling right now? Let's work towards a better future at home and stop worrying so much about what other countries aren't doing right.

On My Mind: 5 Reasons I'm Grateful To Be In NYC

Today, I'm happy to be a New Yorker. Today, the city feels open and full of possibility. So, thank you, NYC, for....

1. City Guy, my husband whom I adore. This is the city that brought us together, and without him, I would never have become as interesting a person as I am today.
   
2. Being a foodie heaven. LA has great food and a diversity of flavor, but New Yorkers just take their love of food more seriously. Food festivals, world-class chefs, world-class culinary institutes, greenmarkets....what joy!
3. Having a competitive running culture. You don't get to run along the beach, and the weather isn't cooperative most of the year, but I feel myself taking my running more seriously here. I certainly never ran so many races living in LA. And I'm so looking forward to running the legendary NYC marathon this year!
4. Bringing anything and everything here. No matter how niche my interest or desire, I know I'll find what I'm looking for somewhere in the city, and if not, it will come to NY eventually.
5. Always keeping me entertained and teaching me new things. I know I'll never get bored living here!

Can New York City Feel Like Home?

I've been living in the City for four-plus years now, and I'm about to tell you something that will make the skin of real New Yorker crawl--I moved here from Los Angeles...and I still miss California. You have to understand. I loved the visiting New York before I actually moved here. It's an energizing, alive, exciting place, but once I had an address here, it never quite became "home."

My husband--let's call him "City Guy"--loves New York. He's lived here forever, and he can't imagine living anywhere else. We met in NYC, so thank the city for that, but like a lot of newlyweds, we're at that point in our lives where we're wondering if NYC is the kind of place we want to settle down in. Do we really want to pay a million for 800 sq-foot box in Manhattan or move somewhere, like Texas, where we could get our very own McMansion with a pool for that money? Just kidding about Texas, but anyhow...a lot of the friends I've met since moving here have themselves moved away from NY over the years. So I wonder: do most people eventually leave?

I was thinking about this during a bout of insomnia last night, and realized I hated LA when I first moved there, and it took me about four years to "conquer" the city, learn how to navigate the city like a native, find my favorite little shops and restaurants, the quirky little neighborhoods, the doctor and dentist I adored, the friends and neighborhood that felt like "mine"--in effect, to accumulate all the experiences, places and people that made me feel homesick for LA when I left.

So I came to thinking that maybe the same principle works for NYC. Maybe it's time for me to stop kicking and screaming, stop bemoaning my lack of sunshine and warmth (though, yes, spring has sprung in NYC, and I can just feel my brain coming alive again), my lack of swimmable beaches and hikable mountains, my lack of four-wheeled transportation with which to transport my groceries from the supermarket, which I also lack, and really set out to find the New York places, people, experiences, treasures that will make this city feel like home and not just a big, bad indifferent city full of strangers.

So, that's why I'm here. I'm going to give it a real shot. I'm going to walk the streets in search of a sense of "home." Yeah - I should have done this years ago, but there was grad school and work and my nose was so close to the grindstone I couldn't see much. But there's a time and place for everything. Come along and see what I find...