I used to live in Seattle, where I had a 45-minute bus commute, and now live in SF, where I have a 20-minute BART commute.
Strangely, I much preferred the Seattle commute -- in fact, I actually enjoyed it, whereas I hate my current commute. I think it has something to do with the fact that in Seattle, the buses are pretty clean/new/comfortable and you get to look outside (my particular route was very nature-y), but I hate being stuck underground in SF's crowded subway trains.
Is NY really that dirty? I visited for the first time in a couple years last month, and given all I've heard, I found it surprisingly clean (about the same level of cleanliness as SF, where I live).
I'd say it's pretty dirty. The subways are disgusting and the streets often have trash strewn about. SF is certainly not that much better (though the BART stations are far cleaner).
I've been to a number of major US cities, and lived in 4, and NY is by far the dirtiest city I've seen outside the third world. The sanitation system is non-existent. There are no alley ways or trash bins, so there are just bags of garbage littering the streets. It's surreal.
Not true. I lived in both Seattle downtown and Eastside. Just in the 15 streets around Union Square area there's the Union Square, Thompkins Square, Gramercy, Madison and Washington Square parks plus at least ten smaller parks or playgrounds. Try to find a green playground in Seattle downtown.
Strangely, I much preferred the Seattle commute -- in fact, I actually enjoyed it, whereas I hate my current commute. I think it has something to do with the fact that in Seattle, the buses are pretty clean/new/comfortable and you get to look outside (my particular route was very nature-y), but I hate being stuck underground in SF's crowded subway trains.