08.15.10 (posted 08.18.10) - today marks 10 years of living in nyc. ahhhh... a decade. honestly, i don't think i've ever lived anywhere that long. i moved a lot when i was a kid. in fact, i went to 3 different schools for kindergarten. even for the place i consider my hometown, i only lived there for 8 years. i suppose it seems like much longer since it was during a formative time in my life - elementary to high school years.
when i first moved out to nyc in 2000, i only intended to stay for 2 years while i completed grad school. funny how things didn't pan out that way. i kept saying, "ok, maybe a couple of years more than i'll move back to l.a." then another couple more years. then another couple more years after that. next thing i know it's been 10 years.
i remember vividly that i moved with 7 boxes of my possessions. almost all of which i don't own any more. my parents and younger brother made the 3,000+ mile trek with me cross country. i was 22 and didn't have the faintest clue what was in store for me. i remember it hit me like a brick when they left and i realized that i would be here in this big city not having much of a support network. i was bawling and thought, "what the heck have i done!" luckily, my hubby (then boyfriend) joined me about a week later which certainly made the transition easier since we were both learning how to live in a new city together.
a few months ago while organizing my home office, i came across my first lease for a small studio in washington heights... before the neighborhood was known as the tony award-winning musical (ha!). i only paid $690... not too shabby for a furnished apartment with a view of the george washington bridge and the hudson river, laundry in the building, and a security guard in the lobby.
i remember by first year was all about transitions and adapting. trust me a southern california girl used to big, wide-open spaces, easy access to the beach, mountains, and nature (period), and driving a car who was now living in a cramped space in manhattan had plenty of adjusting to do.
10 years later this is a very different city than the one i got to know when i first arrived.
in 2000, a subway ride cost $1.50, tokens were still in circulation, and you could get a one-day pass for only $4.00. people began the mass exodus to a then not as "hip and trendy" brooklyn. cbgb was still open. the price for a slice of pizza was about a dollar and some change. the subway series between the yankees and the mets brought out local pride like no other.
i lived through many significant nyc events namely 9/11, northeast blackout of 2003, mta strike of 2005, great crash of 2008, swine flu outbreak of 2009, and the crazy blizzards of 2009 -- snowpocalypse, snowmageddon, and snowicane.
i guess the city isn't the only one that's changed. i have too.
looking back, i'm glad i took that leap of faith. perhaps my naivete was a good thing. it allowed me to take a chance and move away from the comforts and familiarity of my life in california. this past decade has challenged me in ways i could never imagine. many times it hadn't been easy. this is a city that will push you; but how i've grown as a person and the new things i experienced, people i have met, and places i've seen have enriched my life in ways that are hard to adequately describe. for this i am grateful and i proudly call nyc my home.
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