5 Reasons Why New Yorkers are Jealous of Yakima

I was in New York not too long ago. This was my second time there. Both times I only spent a couple of hours in the city before traveling to our next destination. That was about the right amount of time before I was ready to move on. Cool to see stuff you often see on TV shows like the Empire State Building, Time Square, Radio City Music Hall and more. The sidewalks full of people doing their own thing. Even in that short time and speaking to people, telling them where I'm from, I found many longed for what we probably take for granted. Here are 5 reasons people from New York are jealous of us here in good ol' Yakima, Washington.

No Traffic
The traffic is real. You just take any chance to get to change lanes, turn left when people are crossing the road (avoiding the pedestrians, of course), we parked somewhere for a couple hours, it cost me about $50 to park downtown. It's insane. Living in a town where the absolute worst thing might be to have to wait for a second rotation of a red light would be a dream for many in New York.

Trees
"Welcome to New York, concrete jungle where dreams are made of." When I was there it took me a moment to realize it's true, there are no trees or grass parks or things like that downtown. Sure, there's Central Park where it seems they put every ounce of foliage outside the occasional window garden but it's odd not seeing trees and nature everywhere, just building after building.

Sidewalks
Well, to be fair, New York has sidewalks, too. But they were always busy with tons of people. It's as if everyone decided to leave their house all at the same time and go for a walk. Our sidewalks in Yakima, for the most part, are nice and open to walk or even jog.

Cost of Living
The after cost of a 2-bedroom apartment in downtown New York is probably a million dollars a month. I'm sure it's not accurate but according to Google it is closer to $4,000 if it's Manhattan (where I was). When you tell them what it costs to live in Yakima it's a deal, especially mentioned how much extra space we have compared to them.

Air Quality
No trees and extra traffic means the air isn't the best. It was a nice day on this particular day but I have to figure the air quality in New York doesn't compare to open skies we have in Yakima. Better for your children and pets, too.

I'll stay here, thanks.