and it reminded me of how I feel about the City:

“There are roughly three New Yorks. There is, first, the New York of the man or woman who was born there, who takes the city for granted and accepts its size, its turbulence as natural and inevitable. Second, there is the New York of the commuter - the city that is devoured by locusts each day and spat out each night. Third, there is the New York of the person who was born somewhere else and came to New York in search of something . . . Commuters give the city its tidal restlessness, natives give it solidity and continuity, but the settlers give it passion.”

E. B. White (1899-1985) Here is New York

I am definitely a combination of the first and third New York. I wasn’t born here but my parents and I moved here when I was ten. I had lived in San Francisco and Washington DC prior to NYC, so it was easy for me to take the way the city operated for granted. I assumed the loud noise, size, and opportunities you could find here were natural. I did move away a few times to college (only 20 minutes away) then San Francisco. I assumed the second move would be permanent, not in SF per se but a permanent detachment from the city. I was wrong. I came back six months later but came with a quest to find a home for myself and fiance. To live amongst my friends who were on their own quests. The second New York I found was different than my childhood. I suddenly realized how much money you needed to get by and that you had to have desire for something here to make it work. I began to find that I didn’t have the ambition to want to live in NYC but I still loved it.

As I get ready to depart for literally greener pastures, I know I am not leaving permanently. I will reside in another state (my home state) but I will always have a life here. I think there should be a fourth New York, those come here, live her for over fifteen years, and then move away for personal or professional reasons but always hold onto their new yorkerhood. I am ready to move on but I know I will miss it like hell!