The list considered are mainly cities that we've visited in the last 5 years, so cities like Shanghai, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney, Guangzhou etc I've left out because although I love them, I haven't been there recently enough to make a judgement. Also, the cities I'm considering must primarily be English speaking and their populations must be over a million. Too small a population limits the number of things I can do for leisure and unless I want a drastically slow pace of life (like watching cows roam the fields) I would still want a relatively varied lifestyle, with investment opportunities, entrepreneural ventures, potentially doing work such as lecturing on a part time basis etc.
Of the entire list, New York, London, Singapore, Hong Kong and Beijing ranked in the top tier. Let's run through the list of top tiered cities:
1. New York:
a. Job opportunities in Wall Street used to be plentiful, but not anymore as banking is on a decline there in the near term. Nevertheless, the US is a hot bed of innovation and entrepreneurship. It has a market of over 300 million so most young innovators turn into billionaires, within a few years, like Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Apple.
b. In terms of the arts and entertainment, the number of things you could do in New York is far more than in Singapore. There's the Broadway for musicals, there are scenic walks in Central Park, by FDR Drive or Lincoln Drive. You could visit Brooklyn bridge if you're an artcghitecture lover. The list goes on. The buildings in New York are probably among the most artistic, surpassing Singapore's (which made leaps and bounds in architectural annovations).
c. Food is amazingly good, except for the Chinese food that we've tried (we should bring Crystal Jade franchise to New York). Pizza is one of the best we've tried, and so are burgers and fries. Good food is at a fraction of London's and surprisingly, sometimes cheaper than in Singapore. A meal in Keen's Steakhouse cost around USD 155 for two. In Morten's Singapore, it would cost around SGD 200 so it would be same to slightly more. What raises the cost of food in New York is the tipping culture, which ranges from 15 - 25% of the food bill! But in Singapore, 10% tax is added regardless of the level of service.
d. Climate wise, New York is colder than London or Tokyo during winter. If you like four seasons, NYC is by far the best.
e. Amazing architectures. I'm a big fan of architure and city planning. When cities have wide, straight streets with ample pavement, I can have a clear line of sight of the buildings far along the street. The trees along the streets add variety into the scenary. The skyline of NYC is mixed with buildings from every decade. You can see buildings of various heights, with different styles, built in different periods. The most impressive buildings are along the Highline, http://www.thehighline.org/ which was previously a rail way track suspended above ground, converted into a garden. Central Park is another brilliant stroke of town planning. It rivals Hyde Park of London and is as amazing as Singapore's green belt (Gardens by the Bay). See pictures below on the Highline.
A residential building along High Line, which is between 14th to 28th Street in the West Side of Manhattan
View of Hudson River from a section of High Line
A magnificant hotel over the High Line, which is called the Standard I believe.
Buildings along Rector Street, lower Manhattan, near Battery Park
e. Now for the negative parts of New York. The city has been ravaged with increasing frequency by hurricanes, the latest being Hurricane Sandy, where over 120 people died. When we went across to Jersey city, we were told by Starbucks staff along Hudson Street that the water reached 1.6m high! I think the intensity of hurricanes will grow over time and if NYC doesn't build a flood defence system like London, large parts of Lower Manhattan, Brooklyn, Statten Island, Jersey City, Hoboken will be damaged and flooded constantly. Eventually, offices will move up the city. NYC also suffered a mild earth quake of Richter Scale 3 recently. No one knows if the tectonic plates have formed new cracks, but it is a concern.
f. The subway system is archaic and in some parts unsafe. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324669104578206330147606730.html?mod=googlenews_wsj The stations are very old and not maintained very well. There are cracks on the walls and one feels that they have not been painted for years. The MTA staff are not very helpful when tourists ask for directions, to the extent that some are extremely rude if you don't speak with an American accent. but a good thing is they are air conditioned so in the summer commuters don't suffocate in the stifling heat.
g. As with most European countries, taxes in the US are extremely high. If you are working in NYC, be prepared for up to 40% of your income taxed. On top of that, what bugs me the most is that even if I am financially free and decide to live in the US around 3 months in a year, add a few US stocks and houses in my portfolio, I will be taxed heavily on my capital gains and dividends. It reduces my Internal Rate of Return heavily and the only time I would buy houses in the US is after a mega crash like the one seen between 2006 to 2011. High taxes reduce the incentive to work hard. For entrepreneurs, it disincentivizes them to expand their businesses and increase hiring. For investors, it reduces the potential returns via dividends and capital gains, make US a less attractive place to invest and push capital out of the country. This is my only fault I have with Obama's administration. All other policies, such as standing up against the power gun lobby NRA, foreign policies I support.
h. National Rifle Association or the NRA in the US is a very powerful lobby. http://www.bloomberg.com/video/flag-waving-protester-interrupts-nra-presser-EH4STklnSD6qdXtpAdZzBQ.html I never understood why the US allows ordinary people to carry guns. It might be appropriate in the 1800s or 1700s, when society was less orderly and citizens were turned into freedom fighters against British colonialists. But in modern society, the only ones licensed to carry guns should be the police and no one else. All it takes is one mad person like in the New Town incident to vent his frustrations against the innocents. The carnage will be unimaginable. I was stunned when the spokesperson for NRA advocated that armed guards be stationed in every school to prevent future shooting incidents! Can you believe Wayne LaPierre's suggestion? An armed guard may be a deterrent for some gun man, but when faced with a derranged mad man who intends to kills himself at the end of a shooting spree, an armed guard will not save every life. The US needs to stand up against the NRA and ban guns totally so as to make the country a much safer place. I checked that homicide by firearms is 4 times more likely in the US than in the UK, a country that does not allow its citizens to own firearms.
i. Extremely rude New Yorkers. We've come across many gracious Americans, but we have our equal share of extremely rude people. From the immigration people at the US airports to the sales girls at shopping centres, half of them readily give us a tongue lashing or make sarcastic remarks when we ask too many questions or make requests that are reasonable but not usual. Perhaps it's their preoccupation with the freedom of speech, or the right to say what they want or feel. What about the right of others'? With freedom comes responsibility right? Even in the smaller cities in Europe have I not experienced such poor levels of service at such a high frequency.
Conclusion:
NYC is definitely rich in culture, has fabulous architecture (especially along the High Line), and fantastic food. It's climate is also nice if you like four seasons. The negatives are rude people, high taxes, natural disasters and lack of safety in some areas (thanks to NRA). It is definitely a place to return and explore in more detail. The condos are great to live in and I will explain in a later article. Facilities are comparable to Singapore's condos, even better because they have children's playroom, 24-hour concierge. But as investments they are too costly. Happy Holidays, till we meet again!
