anyone who says LA isn’t diverse is definitely just telling on themselves that they’re only choosing to engage with Very Specific Parts of this city that appeal to them💀
The US as a whole is diverse. So many different cultures -it doesn’t even have an official language. I hate when people stereotype americans as dumb & uneducated about everyone else, like you’ve obviously never been to america.
@@всемпривет-и1щ In terms of ratio of immigration, the US is beat by multiple countries. American's general idea of "culture" amounts to people of different skin tones of each other, rather than actual cultural differences, i.e. an American is going to think a black and white american who grew up in the same town is a "more diverse" pairing than a Bulgarian and Portuguese person who actually have two different cultures. Because for some odd reason you all think culture is genetic lol and different skin tones means you're part of a completely different culture even if you grew up in the same culture, same city, speaking the same language and whatnot. Also Japan doesn't have an official language either. Not having an official language isn't indicative of anything relevant lol.
@VERLAN - I said it’s diverse not the MOST diverse. no need to over-analyze my comment over something I never said. And Spanish, English, and in very small communities French and Chinese is spoken in the US alone. Next N. American country, has two official languages: Canada. (French & English)
As someone born and raised in LA, it's always irked me how all these influencers who move to LA are so quick to talk negatively about it. There's nothing wrong with them speaking about their negative experiences but the fact that they're generalizing an entire city solely based on their own perspectives is ridiculous. It creates the narrative that LA is this big toxic place only filled with snobby rich influencers. Obviously that's true for them but only because they all live in their own little influencer bubble. In reality, LA is huge and it's filled with so much culture and history that is always overlooked.
100% agree. I would even say they've only ever been to a corner of West LA and surround themselves with other narcissistic social climbers who aren't from here. LA is one of the most diverse cultural cities in the world with so many neighborhoods to explore. Some of the largest diasporic communities live here. You can go to the beach, forest, mountains, and desert in 1 day. It's sad they can't appreciate that.
Could not agree more!! As a native LA person also, I still feel like there's sooo much to this city I haven't discovered. I know a lot of different pockets because I grew up here but I don't know every part of LA and I love that about this city! There's so much to it and so much life and diversity. It really bothers me to hear ppl not from here shit talk it when they've only spent a short amount of time here in a small bubble.
@@ireniic I agree! LA is an amazing area! And, so much to discover. I went to areas in my 20s i didn't visit as a kid!. Overall, california is one of the best states to me and u can visit San Diego to San Francisco to other amazing cities. California has everything. I also think the major issue is these influencers are living beyonds their means. I like influencers- no shade to them! They make millions and make a good living to support their lives/family. But, for me there will always be a big difference between actors/singers/legit models vs UA-cam/IG/Tik tock influencers. And, in LA it's a tough competition- therefor anyone who talks shit just got over their heads being in LA.
I'm from san francisco and i feel the same way about my city! there's a scene from the movie "the last black man in san francisco" where transplants/gentrifiers are complaining and the main character says "you can't hate it unless you love it" which is exactly how I feel lol
One of my theories is that LA fits in closely with the 2010’s boho, bright filters, flower child aesthetic. New York is sooooo 2020’s, leaving the pandemic behind and moving to a big, connected city that fits the dark, hustle culture, repairing your life vibe. So cutesy
does anyone think it's dystopian to choose the city you're going to live in based on the content you can make in it? also the way creators talk about l.a as if its just a location they rented to film videos in instead of an actual city where people live in and are born and raised at... so weird to me! the commodification of a whole city!!
I do wonder whether this is something that's quite specific to LA though - from what i've heard it's pretty common to treat it as "I need to live here to make films/music", rather than somewhere you want to settle and live.
@@isabellamorris7902 there is a massive disconnect between people who are native to LA/don't work in entertainment vs. Those who move here for the industry Personally, I steer clear of those kind of transplants, they're often very rude and dismissive of the fact that LA is a place people actually LIVE and turn negative quick when their career doesn't take off.
@@sweetembrace6706 People literally in this comment thread are talking about how they dislike the attitudes of people who move to LA for "the industry" or "the content". It's not the first story I've heard of this by any stretch either. Idk if this goes far beyond LA, or if it's strictly commodification, but it's sort of disingenuous to act like going on work trips is the same.
Ironically: I noticed a lot of people moving from NY (specifically Brooklyn) to LA 👀 As someone who’s lived in NY my entire life and works in the city, seeing the huge disparity between privileged transplants and the average born and raised NYer is enough to make my head spin. People really think you can move here and just find a cute little apartment and friends from day one. NYC is a very lonely place when you’re new. Especially if you’re from a much smaller town. It’s also very expensive and there’s a culture here that’s very heavily focused on self reliance. People will help you, yeah. There’s kindness everywhere. But at the end of the day, you have to figure it out.
Yeah, I don't think this girl reads much news. People are leaving both cities in droves. Probably more from NYC because the covid restrictions have been more harsh and the crime is harder to avoid because it's a smaller place.
I've always wondered why Chicago, Atlanta, Houston etc didn't get the same amount of attention. I lived in Chicago for 5 years, and compared to my peers in NYC, didn't feel like I missed anything about that big city experience and my cost of living was cut in half.
@@caitlin_menosky don't inspire them to come here! Lol I enjoy living in a big, walkable city with reasonable rent prices. NYC has no allyways, and any mega city that throws all its trash on the sidewalk is a big no-go imo. Imagine that smell in the summer.
I knew this was gonna happen when we started bringing back 90s and early 2000s trends. It seems like every show/sitcom, that came out during that time had the premise of a group of 20 something-year-old friends living their lives in an NYC fantasy
this is why I love seeing location glimpses in videos by people like Karolina Zebrowska. The media makes us feel like English-speaking cities are the be-all and end-all and the world is so much vaster than that.
Yeah I love following along with both native English-speaking content creators and their lifestyle, but as someone from Europe where most of our big city’s are much older than the big American cities, you kind of have to open your eyes to the charm of small narrow houses, that are like 300 years old compared to the impressive skylines of many American cities
I'm a native New Yorker, and I hope this trend dies quickly. Us working class NYers have been slowly getting pushed out of our own city for the past decade. 90% of my family has left, everyone moved to a different state because even a ONE BEDROOM apartment in a decent neighborhood could easily be $2,000. I work in sales and I ask almost every customer I talk to "where are you from?" and I swear maybe 80% of them are transplants from elsewhere. I barely run into anyone that's a native New Yorker. One time I asked and the person said "oh I'm from West Virginia I moved here because I thought it looked cool on TV/instagram." I'm sorry you moved because it LOOKED COOL? It's so sad to me.
I’m a native from the Bronx, and I went to school for Fashion in my first two years of college. The kids I went to school with, the majority of them are gone and gotten better opportunities outside of NYC than from within, and overall, internally, the working class is dying out slowly because it’s just not feasible to live in a city that never was for its own people, but of course for those with the money and who can afford one bathroom places for $2000 on average. It’s ridiculous, yet, it’s expected since it’s the natives that made NYC what it is, and even they have moved away. I honestly believe that with every other trend, living in NYC will fade away, and so will the city with it.
@@maythesciencebewithyou no idea about the decade before because I did not exist lol. But most of the people I grew up with has moved to another state.
as a native new yorker, i hope this trend doesn't continue. I'm so so sick of people moving to new york, gentrifying communities, complaining about how new york is a shithole, and then leaving it once they get sick of it. new york is not just another "chapter in my life" and i definitely have seen more influencers just out and around making content, blocking traffic (yes in streets and in bike lanes), and overall just using new york because it's "trendy." they complain about the prices, but happily pay for it and "discover" places and act like an expert when they've been here for less than a year.
"complain about the prices, but happily pay for it" hit me. So infuriating people just accept it. Normalizes it for those who use to be able to afford services in NYC and now can't because of trend and gentrification inflation.
Yes! Native to nyc as well and I’m tired of people using the city as a disposable playground. Some of us don’t have that luxury as this has been our home our whole lives, but people will come here and drive up prices only to flee back to their home state/mom and dads home once they get bored.
Jesus, the blocking traffic bit. I visited NYC recently and even I was super annoyed by all the people taking videos in the middle of sidewalks. The brooklyn bridge at noon was especially hellish. Just rows and rows of people either dancing, squatting a pose or spinning. No regard for people who just need to get to a place.
Whether you like it or not, cities are free for people to live their experiences as they please. New York is a new chapter in my life now and if I don't like it, I'll talk about my experience. If this is something uncomfortable for you, I advise you to spend your time with useful things like... work?
I think it's weird when people put so much expectation over a city to define how they perceive their state of happiness, instead of focusing on sincere relationships with family and/or friends.
The biggest relationship they neglect is the relationship they have with themselves. Most of them hate themselves so much that they seek out people and places to fill a void. They either get their fill or they don’t, but either way they walk away feeling empty and looking to chase the next thing
I have a lot of feelings about New York, especially after living here for a couple years now and having moved here before I got the youtube gig going on (aka I had a lot less money). It mostly just makes me sad that (most of) these influencers *who have the money* choose to patron and shout-out trendy matcha latte spots rather than support the mom-and-pop shops who've been here for years and who've made NY what it is today. And I also think that people who move here don't see themselves as being here for a long time and therefore disconnect themselves from the community, when actually, just knowing the name of your local barista or your next door neighbor is so important. For those of us who are transplants, it's important to consider how we can give back to the city, not just take from it. Anyways, I just wish there was more """content"" about places other than NYC & LA in general. The creators out there who don't live in "trendy places" feel way more authentic/less like they're glamorizing a particular lifestyle. Rather than looking for what makes them unique, a lot of influencers choose to copy a formula (e.g. moving to LA, moving to NYC), which will always lead to over-saturation and more migration once again. Like, I really don't need to see another Lucien or Met Museum hang-out, but that's just me!
I don't necessarily disagree with you, but I don't think it's fair to impose your values on other people. I think supporting small businesses that do important things is great and places like those always have a really unique and special vibe that I adore, but I also love the consistency of Starbucks. I also have, from a lot of people, gotten the sense that disconnection is the norm for cities. There's nothing wrong with getting to know your local barista or next-door neighbor but it's certainly more common not to know them and you are by no means expected to. Getting to know your barista and/or neighbors seems to be much more common and/or expected in small towns, suburbs, or rural areas.
I’m from the Chicago suburbs and while I love the area, good luck convincing people to move here with the crazy taxes lol that’s why so many people I know have left.
@@mt3930 no, she's imposing her values. she said specifically that " knowing the name of you next door neighbor is so important". Weird statement, like people who are intrverted or shy are morally wrong
If you look across American trend history in general, the 'south west coast vs north east coast' trend flip has been going on LONG before the internet. Every decade or so it flips, pretty much like clockwork. I think there's a lot that goes into that; some of it political, some of it cultural, and some of it just capitalism needing us to always be yearning.
YES! I noticed that too. I noticed that 80s media revolved around New York. The 90s and early 2000s was all about Hollywood lifestyle for younger people, and New York for adult life (rom coms were ALWAYS set in New York)
I’m an LA native and I was particularly irked by bestdressed video on LA being overrated (and I generally quite enjoy her videos). So many of these influencers don’t bother going west of the 405 and assume the entire city is athleisure and smoothies. But the majority of the city are hardworking immigrants who you never hear about. There’s amazing food and diverse culture. It’s one of the very few places in the world you can meet so many different kinds of people and immerse yourself in so much diversity. People who say LA is overrated never even try to experience that. Or they can’t relate to people who aren’t like them to bother trying. I think there’s also the negative experiences of being a transplant and the stress and loneliness of being an influencer that they project those feelings toward the city. It’s not really the city’s fault that they were in a bad place in their life.
It baffles me because I met so many hardworking and respectable immigrants who have lived in LA for 20+ years. I don't think these influencers see people unless they're young and working in adjacent careers as them.
I stopped supporting bestdressed immediately after that video. I’m a LA transplant but I really care about the city and hate the bad rep it gets from these youtubers.
Fully agree! I'm a community organizer here in LA, immigrated at a young age & raised in South LA. I couldn't have more love for my community and it saddens me to see others disparage our city as "fake" or "uncaring". LA is so full of caring individuals who work day in and day out for their loved ones. There's so much love in each community out here. If you haven't found community, you haven't taken the time to invest in it. Additionally, I think LA can very much be a mirror for transplants, it reflects the baggage you bring with you. If you think you'll move out here and your life will immediately change for the better, the things you struggled with in your hometown will almost certainly be back to haunt you.
I find it weird that a lot of peoples main complaints with LA, bad traffic, overpriced housing etc, are problems New York City is infamous for also having. This just makes it seem even more like the real reason why so many influencers are moving there is because of burn out and NYC being the new "It" city for influencers. Unfortunately, all that could easily change in a couple of years and I wouldn't be surprised if, in a couple of years perhaps, we see this whole thing repeat itself and everyone is moving back to LA or some other city in California.
Well with the "bad traffic" thing, at least, public transportation is a much easier and comprehensive option in NYC compared to LA. Traffic is certainly bad, in some ways arguably even worse, but it's also a lot easier to avoid.
Yeah, to be fair and if I'm not misremembering, when Ashley from bestdressed moved out of LA (because she finished her career in LA) said that the places she was thinking of moving were as expensive, if not more expensive, than LA but she didn't had a reason to stay since she was there because she was studying and while doing that she realized that the lifestyle she wanted to live wasn't the one of LA
I was already impressed that Safiya, Chloe Ting and Mr Kate moved to cities other than LA and NY. Definitely not middle of nowhere cities, but doesn’t seem to be places for “influencer”.
Honestly, even just unconventional big cities would be great to watch. Where are the Chicago people (well, maybe Danny Gonzalez counts)? The Boston folks? And what about the southern cities like New Orleans or Miami?
I'm from England so I feel like both LA and NYC are romanticized to the point I'm almost bored of seeing them, no matter how much I adored NYC when I was lucky enough to visit. It's the same jaded view a lot of people in the UK have of London, I'd say, where the cost of living there is weighed up against the benefits of living there and things just aren't adding up the same way anymore.
I live in NYC and I don't like how NYC is romanticized as THE place to go...I am sick of many things about the city, but at the same time, I really don't want to leave!
as another english person, i'm sick of the new york trend for a similar reason, its just always been too boring to be a form of teen girl escapism i like. i think new york influencers being such a particular brand of skinny, wealthy-looking, pinterest party girls really works to draw others into this idea as it just coincides so well with fashion/'body trends' right now. also the rise in tiktok fashion influencers and, as outdated as it sounds, the whole main character ideation still seems to have a big hold on internet spaces for young women... think short clips of immaculately dressed girls girls going to dinners, hanging out of taxis, walking to clubs, always surrounded by a group of equally well- dressed, confident friends (the confidence and carefree attitude is crucial in this, i think) holy shit tiff verbalised everything i was thinking later in the video lmao
@@eleanor9878 London doesn't even make the top ten. It's 17th. Apparently this is the latest Top 10 from 2021: 1. Tel Aviv 2. = Paris 2. = Singapore 4. Zurich 5. Hong Kong 6. New York 7. Geneva 8. Copenhagen 9. Los Angeles 10. Osaka
As a native New Yorker, I wish the concern of gentrification was acknowledged more for all these people that romanticize it and move here. They don't care that their moving is actively displacing so many natives and raising rent, creating transit/street congestion and over all pissing average New Yorkers off with their informal customs/ refusal to adjust to unspoken etiquette for New Yorkers that literally keeps our city running (especially in the terms of waste management/conservation). Once they get the fatigue, they'll just leave and the rest of us will have to deal with whats left.
@@wildcatste thank you for the well wishes, because people are still leaving the city like never before. I moved out from my family’s house in NYC back in 2018, only to come back due to some personal hardships just several months ago. NYC is MASSIVELY than I’ve known it to be, and the way it’s been portrayed online by these influencers is both unrealistic and unnatural. The gentrification has gotten so much worse, people laid off of their jobs because of the enforcement of taking the needle, the crime is up by like 110% since the protest and violence last year and the numbers keep climbing, like whoa…my native family and I are ready to bounce. I feel more comfortable sitting in my house than to go outside, that’s how crazy NYC has been. But these influencers make it otherwise, like someone’s lying…
the same thing is slowly happening in Philly, they buy off blocks and build apartments for college kids to live in but it’s still clashing with the hood, so University kids keep getting shot or robbed and everyone acts confused? bitch y’all r tryna move INTO the hood and push all the ppl out, then act stupid when the locals don’t accept it💀
As an elder Los Angeles native, I've seen the pendulum swing between NYC and LA being hip about every 10 years. It's a cycle that repeats itself over and over. There are so many things to love and appreciate about both cities. Each has their own unique magic. But the influencers who can't find the magic act like there IS no magic. And they act like the magic leaves when they leave. lol. I, for one, am happy to see them go.
i remember visiting new york for the first time and being SHOCKED by how different it was from what i expected based on tv. i feel like there’s a similar disconnect between reality and influencer content too. even here in toronto i find it interesting to see the completely different lives/experiences “toronto influencers” have. it’s like a totally different city!
feel the same about Portland. I just discovered a Portland influencer who posts about her "city life" and I am like girl.......... you're representing about 3 total blocks of Portland and making it look like a dreamland.. Like I know the exact location that her penthouse is in (she posts photos frequently) and I KNOW what it looks like, conveniently cutting out the boarded up LV store, homeless camp in the middle of the square, and graffiti on everything :,) the culture shock is crazy when you go to these places for yourself.
i'm a torontonian and i was literally about to comment the same thing lol !! i feel like parts of toronto are VERY grind culture and others are very much not and the influencers i see for the city cross the whole spectrum but never seem to really embody the way i see the city having lived here my whole life lol
@@lanilynn1227 I lived in Portland for 5 years, moved a year and a half ago, and have missed it ever since. To me it was a magical place to live in. I didn’t have a ton of money and didn’t live in a penthouse. To me it’s all about what you make of where you live. Nowhere is a true fairytale. And peoples issue with the homeless is a personal problem, mind your business honestly, the reason they live there is because it’s a good place to be homeless.
It’s wild to me people don’t think Los Angeles is diverse. I feel safe as a Latina and Asian here, you walk around and you see way more Black and Brow folks. We have such a rich diverse food culture out here, that was contributed by the local immigrant population .There are tons of different ethnic groups here, even just exploring LA you can find pockets of all different communities. Los Angeles that these influencers or even media depicts is not the place I grew up in. It was the mom and pop Cuban, Mexican, Filipino, Thai, Cambodian, Armenian, Korean, and Chinese restaurants. It was my school of predominantly Latino and Asian students. It was the block with the Korean Christian church, near a Catholic church attended by Mexican Americans and Filipinos. We are a very diverse city. If there are critiques to be made it’s La’s history of gentrification, rising costs, and our growing population of homeless people, not the lack of diversity.
I watched the video and I don't recall seeing anywhere where someone said LA wasn't diverse. no one explicitly said LA was diverse but I don't recall anyone saying that it wasn't, only that New York was. I just assumed the point trying to be made there by saying NY was diverse and LA wasn't was that New York was *more* diverse Even then that's debatable since it's neighbourhood dependent in both areas and especially considering Los Angeles isn't even really a city in terms of cohesiveness and more of a metropolitan area with a collection of suburbs within it
Same, living my whole life here in LA. I never once felt excluded for my ethnicity. In every school I went to a huge majority were Hispanic especially in ktown.
I think when they say that LA or the west coast lacks "culture" they mean it lacks the European influence the east coast has. I grew up on the west coast more up north, and Im so glad my parents chose this side of the country than the east coast. the east coast seems glamourous because of shows like gossip girl and others but I live how chill and down-to-earth west-coasters are. things are more spread out. the west coast is known for its beautiful landscape. the pacific northwest is just breathtaking. I think popculture made me wish I lived on the east coast but as I grew older I learned to count my blessings and appreciate where I come from
Some other reasons New York was more appealing to move to for influencers: 1) NY couldn't really uphold its lockdown restrictions and opened up sooner than LA did. For influencers who wanted to party and didn't really respect the pandemic anyways (living 1000s of miles away from their elderly family members), this was a better scenario for them. 2) There has been an increase in Idolizing European lifestyle. This sort of eating brunch on your city apartment terrace in a sundress. Los Angeles is the land of urban sprawl and most places are single family zoned. The east coast, historically, is closest to European architecture and urban planning. Europeans walk and bike everywhere, that is simply not an option in LA aside from a few beach towns. 3) TikTok made quirky fashion expression more mainstream and NY has always been the city for fashion. There is a huge market for fashion right now and influencers can benefit from proximity to New York fashion week and the likes. 4) NY is actually more tax friendly than CA for the influencers. Lower sales tax, lower income tax, lower taxes for business operations. 5) The price tag on CA and on LA is for its weather and its opportunities/networking. The pandemic changed what LA/CA had to offer. It's interesting to see how SF/LA haven't recovered their populations but NY mostly has.
I think people wanting walkable cities with other transportation options than car isn't necessarily because they fetishize the European lifestyle (wouldn't Influencers just move to Europe if that was so?), people, in general, are simultaneously recognizing that European cities are better designed and Europeans have higher quality of life than North Americans who live with urban sprawl. Strongtowns have failed the US and Canada.
Can confirm. I have an address in San Diego and in NYC. I work as a contractor and travel for work. When i used my CA address for my tax form i got deboed with taxes. That 10K a month turned to 6-7K. Sure that's still a decent amount of money to make but i don't work year round because I'm a disabled vet as well.
@@PamsPrettyPlants never in that comment did I say moving to another country is easy nor simple. I was saying, if influencers were really coveting the “European lifestyle,” they have the means to move there and would try to do so. But they aren’t. Additionally, they likely have a better chance at obtaining a work visa than a typical person due to their digital visibility. Please don’t make assumptions!
@@PamsPrettyPlants I feel like European countries are more likely to offer a visa to an American (USA has a pretty strong passport power) than someone they view as having a less attractive passport e.g a an African or Southern American.
i’ve seen so many people on apps like tiktok romanticizing new york. but as someone from ny it’s more than just lattes and leather jackets. there’s a lot of people struggling. and most people don’t live in giant aesthetically pleasing apartments. i can understand how someone from other parts of the country can see the appeal. it’s very intense and energetic. but remember that if you’re struggling in another place moving to ny isn’t necessarily a cure to your problems.
i moved to nyc from rural illinois at 18 to “live the dream” and go to college there, and the one thing that stayed with me was how different your life is there depending on your income. i was living off of student loans and a part time job, and i didn’t have any money to go out to clubs, restaurants, see the sights… i didn’t even order take out…. but some of my classmates who came from wealthy families and didn’t have to work were living this luxurious influencer lifestyle. i eventually moved back home because i couldn’t make rent and bills anymore but i always feel sad that i never got to fully experience the city because i didn’t have money. at this point i would never go back unless i knew i’d be comfortably making enough money to enjoy everything the city has to offer. i can’t healthily live on the “grind” mindset…
Honestly, the only point is if your job is in the city. Get rich and move to NY? move somewhere else and the money will last longer. Get a good WFH job? Move somewhere else and the money will last longer. Broke as shit? Move somewhere else and the money will last longer. I don't know why so many people try to "grind" out in NYC.
I had a similar experience in Europe living in London working double shifts as a nurse to pay exorbitant rent too tired and too broke to experience the city.i lived there a year without ever seeing the sights.gladly left and never want to go back there. Cities are the same all over the world only for the rich
@@murielmoloney1043 - If you’re willing to share, from what country did you move from? I’m a native Londoner and I’m tired of this city now, I want to leave it
I feel like clothing trends are very representative of this aswell, the 2010s being very influenced by the LA girl vsco beachy coachella vibe and 2020s much more new yorky stylish leather coats etc
There's also the Dark Academia and Art Hoe trends on TikTok. Both those are more suited for NYC because it has the artsy, intellectual reputation vs LA being seen as more shallow and casual.
This is so annoying. Everything is so performative now. People choose an aesthetic and limit theirselves to it and apply it to their whole life even down to the city they live. Maybe its not that serious but it really seems that way
On "new york and main character syndrome", back in like August/September, I remember seeing people posting tiktoks of the annoying kids who just moved to the city being loud and obnoxious on their rooftops at 5am and multiple locals verbally destroying them like "some of us have jobs we're trying to sleep for you coked up little fucks"
As a native NYer, it gave me great satisfaction to see that happen. We don’t fuck around with obnoxious people and will tell you to your face. I hate having to walk in Soho even though I love hanging out around there and the village nearby because there’s a bunch of influencers taking pictures and blocking traffic. Then they have the gall to get upset that I ruined their shot even though they’re on the freaking sidewalk. Comical lol.
I met bestdressed (ashley) a few days before she moved to nyc and I asked her if she had a chance to visit some local landmarks/do some legendary activities before moving and she hadn't yet. It made me realize how influencers truly do live in a separate world, the LA they know is wayyyy different than the LA angelenos know.
As someone who knows a couple of small local influencers (who in turn know big influencers), the influencer lifestyle means that most of them just travel to do things according to their "theme" and rarely visit landmarks, historical places or do "touristy" stuff. They see that as pointless, as their whole lives revolve around creating "new" content.
To me, this honestly doesn’t seem like a bad thing/a character flaw/a bad look/etc. I don’t live in LA or NYC, but my town is within driving distance to some iconic spots in the PNW and California. I’ve lived here most of my life, but I only started visiting those places more recently, and I haven’t even gotten to everything yet. Ashley talked a lot on her channel about struggling to make friends in LA, and she was also a full time student and youtuber, all of which has held me back from doing all of the sight seeing and travelling I wish I could. It seems weird to me to think she did something wrong by not doing those things? I’m sorry if I misunderstood what you meant, but that’s how I interpreted it. I’d love to hear clarification if you meant something else.
@@aricarly my personal issue with best dressed and influencers like her is that they make LA out to be some horrific place where no one likes you and is super vapid. And the only reason she got that part of LA is probably because she is like that herself. I’m from LA born and raised and the number of transplants that complain its horrible and full of users are the same people solely mingling with people who will get them somewhere.
I grew up just outside of Queens and it’s always interesting when people say they want to move to NYC for diversity, while primarily moving in spaces where most POC don’t and can’t live. It also kind of irks me how influencers (or really any transplant) utilize city resources while having huge blindspots in broader city systems: they aestheticize public transit, but don’t understand that the city still has so many transit deserts; they engage in public spaces, but don’t acknowledge hostile architecture, etc. I just think the romanticization of cities distances people from what becomes important in their day to day- clean water, green spaces, access to food and healthcare- so much so that they can’t advocate that for others.
I think it's unfair to hold transplants to a higher standard than native-born New Yorkers. I mean, so many natives aren't invested in any of those issues either.
@@salami7677 I agree. It is kot their responsability to point out these issues. I mean it would be great because they have a huge plattform but it is not their task. And like you said, the locals don't talk about it that much either 😅
I remember watching bestdressed’s video about leaving LA, and as someone born & raised in SoCal feeling incredibly frustrated. Painting a wide brush to call a diverse city with rich history (and plenty of legitimate flaws that fail vulnerable communities), an overrated place with shallow, vain, people...that’s an INFLUENCER and gentrification problem, not something inherent to LA. If you’re unhappy in any one city, work on yourself and the circles you keep first before throwing any one city under the bus while ignoring the reality of its majority.
10000000 % agree. I was super disappointed watching that vid but also surprisingly relieved because I knew a lot of people would be influenced to leave or hold off on coming to LA lol and thats just fine with me
re: feeling like you don't exist if you don't live in LA or NYC, part of this is also just US cultural imperialism - even if you live in a different country, because of US media's prevalence in movies and tv and social media that are aired everywhere, you're pretty likely to have seen media about living in those cities and that becomes aspirational even if it's completely unrealistic that you'd ever live there.
I live IN New York state, a commutable distance to NYC and I feel like I don't exist because I'm not in NYC. I cant imagine how people in middle America feel when it comes to all this NYC vs LA stuff
I would say if youre not in West LA(majority white)you dont exist. The Latino population in LA, although they are the majority and have a huge influence on the city, are practically invisible in Hollywood & Influencer UA-cam.
The single thing that makes the content creators' eastward migration so icky is the mindset of a city as a resource to mine for profit and self betterment rather than a place to continue building into with a community
DING DING we have a winner. Pin the comment! I posted my own comment about how icky this concept makes me but I was unable to articulate it as efficiently as you have here. Thank you.
Yeah I remember that really bothered me about the LA exit video Ashley from bestdressed made where she basically complained that a significant portion of LA was suburban housing. Like imagine that. People actually live here with their children, families, and elderly 🤯 lol it's not just 20 year olds in expensive studio apartments
This whole thing of "LA sucks! I'm gonna move all the way across country" just annoys tf outta me. Like, some of these influencers weren't "feeling inspired" by California anymore honestly shows lack of creativity and ignorance honestly. California is a big state with a lot to offer. There's more to be had than just trendy juice bars and Disneyland. All you have to do is look. I say this as someone who currently lives in the midwest, but was raised in LA County. I understand wanting to get out of California, but the US is a giant country and it feels icky to have it reduced to 2 citites
I feel because a lot of things in LA you can get in neighboring cities and some Infleuncers aren’t going to step foot in an area that is outside their aesthetic. Like immerse themselves with activities outside of their bubble. Like they won’t go to things like a symphony or something as vague as camping.
Agree.., don’t see as many videos about the massive parks and other big cities in Cali vs. sticking to the few square miles in LA. So much to do that it boggles my mind that these creators aren’t willing to explore.
Right! I live in San Francisco and I also understand wanting to move out of California but feel the frustration with the US being reduced to 2 cities on opposite coasts. I’m aware of the issues in SF, but I feel like it can be a happy medium of LA and NYC. Chillier than LA but not as cold as east coast winters, the beach/palm tree aesthetic in addition to the dense urban aesthetic. You can get hustle culture vibes but also the chill vibes and it’s also a diverse city
@@gigi.z. i never been to SF nor live there so it's not my place to give my thoughts on the city so you can correct me on anything, but from what I seen of SF, i think it's a very underrated city when it comes to it's creativity and colorfulness if that makes sense. A lot of the one floor houses have a amazing 60's inspired aesthetic to them and I'll never forget this one house that's lawn is a little golf course. All of the apartments houses that are built into one another like NYC house all have their own flavor because all of them are different colors. From what I could see, SF barely has traffic but i don't primarily know without experience Ofc SF has it's flaws, I automatically noticed the homeless problem when I was on google maps but I think SF is a good city to live in if your a content creator who has the financially privilege (i also heard that housing taxes went down due to the pandemic but i can't confirm) and ofc the rapid racist violence against asian americans because of covid-19 I think SF is a good city if your especially a queer person who is very creative but like with everything else, it has it's pros and cons
@@Chris-ot9bk I can’t speak to whether it’s over/underrated because there are a lot of opinions on that depending on your experience of the city and your preferences. I love it here so of course I think it’s appropriately rated. It’s a beautiful city IMO even with the dirty parts. For me, the colorful houses make up for the foggy days. I don’t drive here but traffic can get a bit congested during rush hours but not as bad as other cities that are known for notorious traffic. Yes, the amount of homeless people is heartbreaking. And real estate is expensive here, so some of my favorite bakeries, coffee shops and other stores in California don’t have locations in the city. The list of pros and cons is longer than that but all in all, it’s a very inclusive city, very diverse, with breathtaking views too because of the hills. You can take a lot of inspiration from SF. I recommend visiting (safely!) if you get a chance, even if it’s just touristy stuff, which I admit I still enjoy from time to time.
from my perspective, this whole ‘main character life in new york’ (focusing more on the overall meaning of life there to us mere mortals and not influencers) it’s just hustle culture but marketed for women. it’s heavily build upon the false idea of meritocracy inside of capitalism that only works if you already financially stable, preferably white and skinny, it also focuses so much on being productive all the time. all these tiktoks just pass the idea that your whole day needs to be bucked and busy otherwise you’re not properly living the lifestyle. they just changed the words “business man” to “fashion student” and called it a day. it’s capitalism, but make it aesthetic (arguably it also can be just another reincarnation of the girlboss trend but that’s talk for another day)
@Annie Mouse thank you so much! the whole think is just another way of making us believe capitalism is functional but trying to make it sound modern also the way that is marketed to young people makes me so mad but again, talk for another day. oh, and glad I could make you smile a little
When that viewer said they felt like they didn’t exist because they never saw their area in the media, I felt that. That used to weigh hard on me as a kid. I grew up in a flyover state in an area that was a popular resort destination during the 50s. Rich people drove in from major cities all the time. When flying became cheaper, traffic slowly dried up. Then when Reagan-era outsourcing and automation hit, the blue collar jobs that supported the local economy vanished. There was no concerted effort to replace those jobs or support the people who were suddenly unemployed. The town was absolutely devastated and has only started to recover in the 2010s. I think people from outside these areas tend to think that “real” culture only exists in a handful of cities and that the rest of America is an ugly rural wasteland of people too stupid to work. The truth is that there is a lot of interesting history and culture in the middle of the country, there are multiple major metropolitan areas in the Midwest, working class problems are kind of the same everywhere and living in an interesting place doesn’t automatically make you an interesting person. Proximity to wealth makes a huge difference in what’s considered cool and relevant. Of all the places in the country with pretty landscapes and fresh air, the Hamptons are the Hamptons because they’re close to NYC, and my hometown struggled because it is not. That’s not a measure of the inherent worthiness of the locals. The idea of “coastal elites” has such staying power because it’s one of the few ways this is openly acknowledged. Thanks for the video, it’s given me a lot to think about.
Even the term "flyover state" feels like a sneer on their lips. I'll agree with you, even as a kid growing up in a rural area in the 80s and 90s, there was this sense that you were somehow "lesser" if you weren't from NYC or LA or the like.
"Living in an interesting city doesn't necessarily make you an interesting person" I like that. So often I feel tempted to tie my identity to where I live but that's just unnecessary
Thank You!! I come from a city with a similar tale (minus the touristy history), and while things have gotten better, it’s still disheartening to either hear the same old jokes that don’t even apply anymore or even an attitude that its continuing issues (such as it’s questionable school system and crime rates) makes it a total no go with nothing worthy to note or to improve. It’s not even a rural town, it’s just another Midwestern Rustbelt city with some great architecture and history. And then there’s just a lot of towns and cities with huge potential and great histories (like Mingo Junction, Ohio) that haven’t even had revitalization efforts yet, but would probably make great towns and would probably help to accommodate those who prefer smaller towns and even alleviate our current housing crisis. And then we wonder why we never seemed to have had a housing crisis. Maybe if we didn’t consolidate big money/industries into fewer and fewer areas, we probably wouldn’t even have things like an Opioid crisis and what not. Why get on meth when your surroundings are good, you’re happy with where you are and your life is generally a-OK and stable?
LA is literally a city of immigrants so it really bothers me that people who don't live there / transplants automatically assume that its not...like have you BEEN outside of west la??
This 👏. Every transplant I know lives on the West side and thinks they know LA. I was at a bar in a Hollywood and someone there told me they had never met anyone from LA. Like go to any Dodger game??
As someone who doesn’t live in America these two cities are so romanticised in my head! however it’s interesting that influencers are even INFLUENCING our perception on cities. I wonder if people will follow the influence though and go where the taxes are lower or the aesthetics are aesthetic!
I live in NYC and lol, i never associated what i saw in shows and stuff with the street i'd walk in until recently. it was a cool moment when i connected the two
As someone from California it seems both romanticized yet overlooked at the same time. I'm from Fresno, and so many people ask how I love the beach, not realizing I'm from a valley that's rich in agriculture and 2 hours from the beach. California is rich in resources and experiences, but so many people glamorize a few things that many gems in our state are over looked. This often makes me wonder about other places that get hyped around the world.
" I'm sure locals are not sad to see people move away " personally, the mass influencer exodus is like a giant holiday present I would have never thought to wish for. sorry to all the NYC locals who are going to have to deal with what we've had going on here for almost a decade now.
I think it's just an American thing... I'm happy living in London, I see a lot of UA-camrs moving to Seoul, or Paris, other uropean cities, or Australia etc.
No it’s an Influencer thing. I think most people love their home cities. Also out of 330 million people you will find many who love their home cities that aren’t LA or NY.
What i think is really interesting is that a lot of the things NYC has to offer (walkability, views, parks, etc) many cities in Europe and Asia have to offer as well (I haven't been to other continents, so i;m just going off what I know). Like the subway/walking is a huge thing for me. I can do that in almost any major city in Europe but it's a rare thing in the US to have that be a bonus. The architecture, parks, and basically the "not being in your car" of it all seem really important to these 'vibes' we want to either watch or live. It's crazy that NYC is so unique when we really should have several cities that have the same essence of NYC since we are such a massive freaking country. I'm also writing this as I live in philadelphia and I just visited friends in NYC today and I previously lived in Beijing and Paris! I just can't with american cities!!1 We need more public transport!!! Also I drank a bottle of wine!!! what is up guys!!!!!
The lack of walkability is what KILLS me about living in the US. I feel like I'm wasting my life away in my car because of how much my life centers around it. I've always wanted to live in San Francisco or NYC solely because I wouldn't need to drive every day.
nyami i live in Australia and growing up watching American youtubers, that was something i noticed very early on in vlogs! roads are like 2x the size they are here, shops are HUGE and car parks are even bigger! and everything’s taller too, it’s like (at least from what i’ve seen of major US cities) everything is designed to be driven around in big trucks, like it was never meant to be used by singular humans? instead for a hive-mind of cars and disproportionately large things. i remember seeing photos of a friend’s trip to the states when i was younger, and getting this daunting feeling when looking at photos of highways and streets because of how out of place they looked. and they were the place!!!
Well they are influencers, not public transportation enthusiast 😅. If they are then City Beautiful or Not Just Bikes would have a competition in their niche
For me new york is the one place where I could imagine myself living if I would have to live in the states. I am dutch, born and raised in Amsterdam, I am used to biking and walking everywhere and in LA I don't think that is as easy as in New york.
@@orangeleprachaun4723 Yes! I feel the same, I've never owned a car and when travelling in Europe you don't need one to go places. Walkability is a big plus in my books.
i am from Argentina and I think this is a global trend. there is not room for 'beachy country side' content anymore because big cities aesthetics is trend right now . The 'that girl' content from tik tok where girls shows their lifestyles in the city ( i ve seen a lot from Paris, London, NYC, even TOKIO) it's becoming trendiest. Here in Argentina south america, for example , we have Buenos Aires city that matches the Parisian aesthetic, so fashion content creators get the most out of moving to the big cities... ps I always watch and recommend ur content ! ps 2 sorry 4 my english! Have a great day!
@@shaina8947 I remember for Spanish influences a lot of them we're moving to Bueno Aires but recently it seems theyre all in Mexico city now it's kind of interesting
Idk, here in Brazil the creators usually don’t really move cities, there isn’t really a “going to São Paulo” trend and people usually just stay in their cities, especially after tik tok. But moving countries on other hand is quite common, a lot of influencers go to the United States (always Miami or Orlando) or even Portugal after they get rich
Girl I watched Pixar’s movie “Soul” & the scene where 22 is in Joe’s body & walks out the hospital there were a lot of people walking by & she got overwhelmed & I got overwhelmed with her. I always wanted to move to jersey city & commute to manhattan after college but that scene made me realize I didn’t want to. I definitely had a romanticized view of NYC.
Another thing, you said how NY & LA are portrayed so often in media. I always notice that even though New York seems gritty and tough, it is seen as a cool positive place in movies. Even though LA is portrayed as beautiful and sunny, it is often almost a villain character in shows and movies.
Omg this is so true! The times where LA is a character in a movie is often when you have a character aspiring to be an actor or musician, but is held back and limited by LA and it’s hyper-competitive nature. Think La La Land, A Star is Born. People in these movies succeed DESPITE of LA, not because of it. They have to rise above the city and be persistent and hard-working in order to overcome the fact that the city does not want them to succeed. It really is a villain the characters have to overcome. Versus movies set in New York, the city often helps the character achieve their goals or whims. It helps them to find their soulmate, or encourages them to keep going in achieving their dreams when they have lost motivation. The difference is very obvious.
As someone who’s from LA, it’s frustrating seeing all these influencers come here with unrealistic expectations of the LA influencer style and then complain and talk about how much they hate it. They talk about interactions with fake people and social climbers who are usually other influencers who aren’t from LA. They contribute to the culture they complain about.
A cool series that explores LA's diverse cultures and history is City of Ghosts on Netflix. It is technically a kids show, but it's actually a really interesting look at LA through the lens of a kid and an adult could definitely enjoy it. I certainly did. If you look more into the production, they actually did their research and sought out real people from minority communities in LA.
Oh I watched a few episodes of that in one of my classes! It’s really sweet and I loved how it talked about the city and the sort of “oral storytelling” feel it had
As someone who was born in Northern California in a small farm town and then spent their teen and adult years in San Diego County its annoying that non-Californians act like LA is the entire state. So many people base their opinions of California on LA when LA is very much its own animal.
@@mandyramos1671 at least that is what is perceived of the city, I always wondered if that is a stereotype or a true depiction, I always pictured it as the most depressing city (for mental health)
@@BladeX11883 oh wow really? I've only been once but the weather there is personally way better than the constant Texas heat I grew up with. The mix of city and nature is beautiful, but it really is expensive
@@chi2om nice, I live in Massachusetts so we get a nice mixture as well I guess I always thought that because of tv books and I think there was some weird study about mental health there. this is how sterotypes start lol
It seems like being in NYC is a mandatory for influencers right now. I lived there for 7 years before I eventually left and while it lives up to it’s hype, the way the NYC - specifically Manhattan - is romanticized (because let’s be real, most of these influencers are not moving to Queens or BX) on social media is very off-putting. NYC is a hard city to live in if you’re not making enough money or even if you’re just working a regular job that pays semi-well. I know I hated paying my rent every month! But ultimately, NYC basically acts as its own character and really helps with creating content. As an influencer, you don’t really need to be entertaining if you live in NYC because the city is entertaining enough on its own.
My teacher once said to me “New York is for the temporarily privileged and they will soon be eating ramen and debating to pay the water bill or heating bill.” I never moved there lol I’m glad I didn’t because she was right.
I wouldn't be surprised if people with Dark Academia aesthetics were more drawn to New York as well. I would provide a lot for that New England old money vibe. Also - I love how whenever New York is in a movie or TV show, there's like a 50% chance the shooting location is actually Toronto.
Omg I’ve been thinking this too! I feel most of the people I watch have moved to New York in the past year! As someone who was born and raised in SoCal, I’ve never had a want to move to New York (not that I didn’t love it like I’ve always loved the idea but I just knew for myself a city like that wouldn’t make me ultimately happy), but since everyone I’ve been watching has been making content there I did feel myself having a small desire to move there which I hadn’t ever had! Again I know ultimately I wouldn’t be overall happy, but it’s interesting how the influence of the influencer being there does INFLUENCE you 😅
I’ve definitely had the same experience. I’m born and raised in SoCal and have visited NYC several times but never had the desire to live there. Of course there’s that sense of wonder, because the city is filled with many different exciting things. And sources like Humans of New York really make it feel diverse and filled with history. East Coast is still cool, but I’d like to move to Boston than New York.
I wish people would stop moving to places just because everyone else is making a look like it’s the place to be or an influencer opportunistic dreamland. It’s always the places where the natives/ locals who live there struggle just to survive because all of you influencers and gentrifiers keep coming here. Stop moving to Hawaii, LA, and New York. You are making our quality of life go down the drain. Think about your impact you are not just one person sneaking through. Every time one of you move to our home takes away the opportunity for one of us to ever be able to afford to get a decent house. Majority of us don’t even have a livable wage.
same! city life is slightly overwhelming in miami and i’ve lived here all my life, i can’t even begin to imagine new york city. although sometimes i consider it even though i KNOW it’s not for me
I'm from South East Asia and have come across many videos of the homelessness problem in LA. It kinda shocks me tbh. It seems like they never really show 'that side' of the society on the mass media.
Yeah, it’s tough to know what a city is really like if all we see in the media are glamorized views of them or only certain parts of them, whether it be LA, New York, or someplace else. Not everything is glitter and gold or a fair experience for everyone.
yea, actually stats have shown that while overall crime has gone down over the course of the pandemic, homelessness has definitely gone up :/ the city government doesn’t do shit.
The examples of NYC-based Instagram posts you're showing really highlight how conformist and uncreative these people are. A picture of an attractive young white woman crossing the street in NYC? WOW, how original and unique. Let's reward her with wealth.
As someone from Hawaii seeing mainlanders (especially influencers) move to the islands and act like they're still in the mainland/disrespect the culture is so irritating. The thing about privilege of those who move to a new place then shit talk it is also so prevalent here. A lot of us grew up struggling with money - and still do. The people who move here can be so privileged is so frustrating
I hate it when these people move to Hawaii and automatically call themselves a local after a month of living here and then refer to other haoles as “tourists”. Like LOL YOU ARE a tourist and will always be one to us in our eyes. It’s funny when transplants don’t know they’re transplants. They don’t care that no born and raised local can afford to buy a house or that a gallon of milk is $7. They just keep coming here and making life harder for us.
And yes they are rude and disrespectful AF. To us and to the land. Videos of military people partying on the beach and leaving all their rubbish is enough to make my blood boil and take a knee
Was sitting at the beach the other day listening to some hippie share with his friends that “I’ve only been here three months, but in a way, I’ve never not been here.” Wtf does that mean? Go home.
@@gravyall0va @BeckyS OMG ALL THE SENTIMENTS ABOUT THE BEACHES. They go to Hawaii for the beautiful beaches but don't understand that people here take care of the aina and that's why it's still so clean. Also yeah I small kine laugh when people say Hawaii is their favorite place then their favorite beach is Waikiki. LOLOLOL
One of the biggest problems with influencers moving to specific cities is that those cities/areas end up becoming gentrified by virtue of them moving there.
@@joelman1989 Lol no it definitely does not. I was thinking about various other cities (like, I live in this one coastal city in Canada and it's rapidly becoming an issue in a number of neighborhoods here, which was kind of surprising to me the first time I heard about it)
I get what you’re saying and I totally agree with the sentiment. I was about to write a reply backing you up but then I’m like, there’s no way UA-cam influencers ALONE can detectably impact gentrification as a whole. And even though people might like watching it, it doesn’t mean they’re all going to pack up and move to these places.
As an L.A. native, I love to see it. Happy to declutter the state of entitled influencers. L.A. gets a rep for having fake social climbers but honestly the worst ppl are the ppl who aren’t from here, who are so desperate to be in entertainment and who have that me me me attitude.
I was born and raised in a small town and never had the wish to move to New York, Paris, Berlin or some city that big. I did enjoy my time living in a bigger city during university, but honestly, towns are just so much more relaxing to me. All I want in the future is a garden to grow vegetables and feed my chickens in peace.
I'm an NYC native and it's always really weird seeing lifestyle vloggers live in and romanticize the city. I love NYC, but they live so differently from me that it feels like they're living in a completely different city. While many neighborhoods are being gentrified, some, like SoHo, are even being "influencer-fied," where it feels more like a photo-op than a place where real people live. None of my friends hang out in SoHo, unless you're wealthy there's not much to do there!
Okay super silly Q, and maybe over generalized from a LA native. But do you feel NYC is more dangerous than LA? Nowhere is 100% safe- i mean LA has areas of crime obviously and bad people. But, i always read such crazy stories from the Dailymail of someone being stabbed randomly or hit or shot, or people being pushed on the subway. I mean heck Bradley Cooper had said he was held up on the subway a while ago.You need to be street smart wherever you live/visit. Only visited NYC a handful of times to the popular places- but i just always wondered. I mean, NYC is very compact compared to the size of the LA area. I always wondered what it would be like living in NYC for a little while- but my #1 concern has always been the safety there and public transportation. Never took public transport in LA.
@@clisaa6974 i’ve only spent a maybe two weeks’ time in LA, and i’m sure i haven’t seen the full scope of what it has to offer, but what i CAN say is that any discomfort i’ve felt in terms of safety was less about what the danger could’ve been and more about the lack of walkability that would get me away from it in nyc. you know what i mean? you definitely have to be on alert in nyc, but “on alert” for people who have lived here long enough is a special type of alert. it’s so hard to explain lol. basically it’s why i feel fine in other cities that people say are dangerous, you grow a certain sense. idk about more or less dangerous though
@@clisaa6974 I've never been to LA so I can't really compare, but I think the media overstates the crime in NYC. Crime was big in the 70s/80s but it really cleaned up since then, NYC's safer than most other big cities in the US. While there are always sketchy people you just have to know where/what times to avoid and stay alert, don't act stupid/seem like an easy target. I take the subway every day, I like it a lot because I don't have to have a car to get around.
@@withlove_nikki ahhhh i understand! that is good to know. Well, at least being in NYC preps you for safety and being alert for wherever you go. And, yeah LA is super not walkable like NYC-that i get. I studied abroad in London one semester and felt i was in dreamland- cause their metro system is the best in the world and super clean and nice for the most part. It is so freeing when u dont need to worry about traffic or parking lol.
As a native New Yorker, I learned that just because a city is popular and has a lot to offer objectively, that doesn’t mean it’s right for *you*. My family is bicoastal and I’m happier living in LA than I ever was in NY. NY stresses me out, the shit weather aggravates my chronic illness, it’s crowded, and the landscape lacks greenery, shall we say. On the west side of LA, I have quiet, easy access to nature, stellar weather year round (bye bye seasonal affective disorder), and the lifestyle is much more laid back. This is the first place I got to take care of myself genuinely and it’s not for everyone, but the whole city is not Hollywood and it’s certainly not a monolith. New York is great for some people. That doesn’t mean it’s objectively the best city, let alone right for everyone
I think there's also a generational/age factor to it. The people who watched lifestyle content as teenagers and are still doing so now are also maturing, and New York City definitely feels more "mature" and "grown up" and "serious" than LA.
Kind of reminds me of that old saying- too ugly for LA, too dumb for NYC. Which I think captures the vibe a lot of influencers are trying to get now lol. They had their hot girl phase, now they're going for their smart, arty girl phase.
The social media trend cycle of locations is quite similar to the traditional media trend cycle of locations. I'm an actor and went to school for Theatre with a focus in acting. In one of my classes, Career Seminar, we talked about the cycle of locations that production companies use. Obviously LA and NYC have always been the primary hubs for productions but there is a secondary hub that changes cities every few years. Like for a while it was Chicago (still a big place for theatre), Detroit was big for a little, right now Atlanta has a lot of productions going on, and recently I've seen more and more stuff in North Carolina. I think Social Media will follow the same trajectory of the current trendy city.
Dude I also majored in theatre!! I just graduated in May 2021. I live an hour from LA and don't want to be here forever. I have thought of maybe Boston or DC but I am intrigued by North Carolina. What cities would you recommend there for theatre?
@@LaurenLaass I unfortunately don't know much about the Theatre scene in NC I just know that some film production companies (especially for online stuff) have started popping up there. Boston or DC would be better for Theatre specifically. Best of luck to you friend.
LOVE your explanation about how unrealistic influencer lifestyles are. My daily routine in NYC is waking up when it’s dark, taking the train to work, working until it’s dark again, and heading home to make dinner. Influencers make NYC life look like a fun vacation, but most people in NYC can’t be out all day shopping and going to expensive restaurants.
I remember seeing an influencer on tiktok moving to New York and being very disappointed and they said that it was romanticized a lot They literally talked about walking down the street and dirty water from an ac unit hitting them and air pollution being bad
And that's so crazy to me because as a normal adult, if I am moving somewhere (completely voluntarily; on my own terms) I'm going to do so much research and visit to look at potential housing and see the real side of that city. Like the privilege it takes to just get up and move, especially somewhere as expensive as NYC is impressive.
I entirely believe that the return of 90s culture and fashions has influenced this also. Friends in particular makes living in New York incredibly appealing to a young person seeking that "90s Aesthetic".
Having moved to LA from a tiny town in the Midwest, there was definitely some culture shock. I don’t miss the weather, but it’s weird not having close knit neighbors. People here tell me how “nice” I am, I guess that “Midwest nice” stereotype has some basis. I grew up in a rural area, practically a country song cliche. Sunday church, lots of venison, corn, pine trees, and fresh water lakes, bonfires, back roads. I still love it, but California has been an interesting experience for me. The cultural diversity out here is cool, I have learned a lot. My high school Spanish classes ended up being more useful than I could have imagined. I had my first tamales, and authentic ramen. Had an authentic home cooked Chinese meal. I’ve learned a few Arabic phrases, gained a deeper knowledge of halal, listened to first hand stories about Iraq in the 1980’s. I’ve been to drag shows, and goth/kink clubs. Trying to be open minded/hearted has really made this a good experience.
That's super interesting! I was just in LA this weekend (CA native so go there a lot) and was actively wondering what it was like for someone from the midwest or south to come here. I feel like the LA represented in the media is sooo different from what LA actually is. It makes me wonder about the culture shock experiences people must have
Yes! I am from Wisconsin and I’ve been living in California for 5 years. It’s definitely a culture shock and I probably won’t be here much longer. Others are able to adapt but to each it’s own. ❤️
entertained and informed yet again!! thank you for making another great commentary video. just love how you're able to make these topics so interesting
The same thing is happening in Europe to an extent. London was so hot and trendy for the past decade or so, and now a lot of influencers seem to be moving from to Paris. Paris is like NYC, ie. more urban, more fashionable, more old-school "glamour". London is more like LA, ie. more sprawl, a somewhat more "down-to-earth" vibe. I think the trends are just cycling.
Paris is just cool man! It sucks that it's so expensive, and that people have to live in the sparse suburbs and commute for hours everyday to go to work. Paris' biggest flaw is its radial planning which concentrates everything in one spot.
I think of SF as being more like Paris, and NYC being similar to London, as you say. I guess the sprawl of LA is not unlike Tokyo, but Tokyo has the population density of NYC or London.
This is such a good depiction of how influencer culture is bringing to light a trend that was occurring long before the internet. I love that more people are talking about this phenomenon, because I think culturally we are becoming more self-aware about how our individual needs might clash with a city or culture and that does not inherently mean that the city or culture is bad. This is completely different, obviously, but a lot of people move to Alaska and comment on how there's a lack of social activities, and I say "Well yeah, this is one of the most isolated places in the world, no one lives here because they like people." But in the end, it becomes instinct to place all of the blame on the location rather than taking a moment to look within ourselves and admit that maybe we just weren't cut out for this particular area.
Native Oregonian here. I have contemplated moving to Alaska multiple times but can never pull the trigger because of the isolation. 🤷♀️ It's important to know your own limits and not expect a place to change for you
@@terrisserose I will say there are some areas not so isolated. Anchorage is a proper city, but it is very transient (mainly oil workers and military) so socially it can be very isolating. Fairbanks is filled with real lifelong Alaskans and has benefits of a city, but you would have to be okay with crazy cold Winters. Outside of that, people are very friendly but the town itself will be isolated, and you might not see people every single day. I hope this helps! It is definitely a very different atmosphere.
(Not sure if this is super related) As a New Zealander I was shocked to see the amount of poverty and homelessness covering the streets and parks of LA when I visited. That aspect of the states is not shown on social media, and no influencers ever address the inequality of the locations of their content, it was only from first hand experience I really understood this. Yet many of my peers still glamourise the states as a place for a rich lifestyle and opportunity.
You haven't really been paying attention? Sorry, but it's ok to say you don't know much instead of pretending like the world's been hiding it from you.
Also when I visited NZ, a lot of people only knew the negative things and wanted to go on about it. The US is a normal country, has good things and bad things
@@sunshineyellow I am aware of the issues that the states have. Also some of my family lives there and luckily they love the place. Personally my comment was more so an observation that popular influencers and UA-camrs rarely address (or perhaps rather are privileged enough) to ignore the vast reality of the places they live.
I'm not from California (from a different part of the country entirely) and went there recently and was just as shocked. Then a Californian acquaintance of mine informed me that over half of the US's homeless population (keep in mind the US population exceeds 300 million) reside in California, and the majority of that subset reside in that very county. Crazy right? So that's why it appears so visually overwhelming. A lot (maybe even most) have never witnessed that kind of thing. I'm middle class in the South and I had never seen a homeless community because my town has plenty of space and resources to support those who are unhoused. So for me the portrayals of typical suburban idyllic life I see in the media relatively reflect reality as I lived it growing up. Of course as I have gotten older and seen more of the world I have a broader scope, but it isn't as if those social media portrayals are falsehoods; they just reflect the reality of some and not others. I moved abroad to several different locations in search of opportunities and in my career space (aerospace) nothing comes anywhere close to the US. So I think it really comes down to very obvious factors (field, location, income + cost of living) that you would consider when thinking about going anywhere. So in my case where I live is the holy grail, but for someone doing something else it might be much better to look elsewhere.
I lived in LA my whole life, when the rise in LA popularity; EVERYTHING got raised higher. Living in LA is a privilege to me now whether it’s dead or not, I cannot believe how expensive and gentrified it is now. Im glad we’ve grown outdated in social media, I will live happy here while the tiktokers make their 15 second videos on New York streets
So I live in Pasadena, about 30 minutes from LA. And I'm genuinely shocked that people think LA doesn't have a lot of diversity. Were they only spending time in the richest, whitest neighborhoods? I think LA has a ton of beautiful and rich diversity and so much history to learn about. That, along with people saying LA is basic, just makes me think the people saying that were in a shallow bubble while in LA. I have nothing against New York city. It seems great. But I guess I just don't like to see people saying crap about LA that doesn't even make sense.
People seem to get stuck in their own routine and set places, stepping out of their comfort zone every so often, and then make a judgement. I've heard the same thing said about Fresno and growing up I believed it, but now I've realized how much is overlooked here. We have so many people from different backgrounds and I'm glad to see the communities growing and interacting around the valley. :)
LA is diverse. LA is a large county and covers many diverse areas rich and poor, rundown and high-end. There are pockets of areas where all ethnicities live. Pasadena is not one of them - White and Asians make up the majority
NYC is amazing if you’re wealthy! So much to do and you can find some beautiful housing if you can pay thousands a month. LA is equally as expensive without the convenience of location that NYC offers. I lived in both places and would’ve stayed in NYC longer if I lived an influencer lifestyle
@@extermicait most stats indicate that they’re almost equivalent with New York only being slightly more pricey. And from my experience the cost of living is about the same
As a non-American who lived in New Orleans for 6 years, totally agree on the whole interacting with strangers thing! It was really confusing at first to say "how you doin'" to randoms but eventually you get a real feel for the sense of community in the city. Very sad about how gentrified some areas are becoming though!
Native New Orleanian here and you’re absolutely right. Even just over the past year I’ve watched all these houses in my “hood” neighborhood get flipped and turned into trendy apartments for white transplants. A lot of these transplants also come, contribute to gentrifying, leave, and then trash talk the city. It’s very frustrating as a local and I wish we could all have a little more respect for cities and the people that live there. I hope you enjoyed your time in the city and I hope you’ve taken some “how ya doin’s” along with you 💕
in my experience (living in many cities in both northern and southern hemispheres) a city's reputation is rarely reflective of the actual experience there. my favourite city in the world, montreal, is wildly underrated and turned out to be a total unexpected delight, despite researching it heavily before we arrived. sometimes you just have to experience a place to really get the vibe.
As an la native: good get out they just come here only hang out with wanna be famous people then complain everyone is fake. It’s who you hang out with!!
it's so annoying!!! la has regular people who go to school and have jobs or people who raise families here Hollywood/influence culture is only, like, 10-20% of la is
Same I live in LA as an IT professional and well had no issue finding out new friends that are not fake 😉 also by being here i could get a 2× salary by increasing my living cost only by 20% compared to what it used to be in the east coast
I noticed everyone leaving in LA in 2020 and starting to badmouth it like never before. It was so so weird to witness that. It was suddenly trendier and quirky to make "Escaping LA for good" videos and posts and it influenced people's opinions of that city even more. I've been fighting off people in my comments for FIVE years when I lived there (chose to study at an Academy there and then made enough connections to work after school) and people couldn't grasp that I was happy. Why would they? Every other influencer and UA-camr who used LA for their content for years suddenly "hated the vibe" and "wanted to get out". And I don't see their lifestyles changing that drastically after "escaping that hellhole" - they still seem to have the same vibe about them. I was happy there. I loved exploring the corners of LA - Eagle rock, Pasadena, Glendale, Altadena, Topanga canyon,... I spent so much time there but I did it for my soul. 95% of people I met there were GREAT. Some even the best I've met so far. Not one "casting couch" experience. Yes, I met some sketchy people in the business but that was also happening when I was a waitress in a European country - shady people will be shady and prey on women if they get a chance. I don't get the whole hatred towards LA. And I don't get why people hate it so much that without even knowing anything about the city or its wonderful cultures, nooks, history etc. that they'd try to tell other people it's "gonna ruin them". My country is also expensive to exist in. Hell, the whole world is becoming expensive. You have shitty people in every city. LA is not vapid or shallow or a shithole. And I hope I can one day be back :)
This is so interesting because as a Colorado native and watching a lot of people from Cali and New York and Texas and Illinois move here to leave these classic places to live, I feel like my Colorado bubble is changing so much from this influx of other places! Living here my whole life I feel like I’ve watched the change of going from a nobody state to people *want* to move here and artists *want* to have concerts here! It’s wild. And I don’t mean this in a “it’s all bad” type of way. I just think this transplant idea is so interesting and doesn’t just apply to the LA -> NY transplant idea you talked about here! Thank you for a great video, Tiffany! 🤗💕
I see that on a lower dose living in Southern Oklahoma. Such a huge change of all these city folk moving in from California saying how charming the small town life is. It’s fun seeing this small town grow.
New Yorkers are here because people from California have forced us out of our city. Trust me. We're not here because we love the lack of workers rights, renters rights or access to Medicare.
This is kind of weird to watch because I was forced to move out of my favorite place, San Francisco, due to the similar trend of tech workers moving in and driving up costs. It sucks when people treat cities that others love so much as a trend and gentrify the hell out of them just to up and leave a few years later.
I think it’s worth to mention that there has been an insane spike in Covid cases in NYC during the past few days due to travel (mainly by these people who are not from there and travel back home during the holiday season). These are also the people that hit multiple parties and locations a night. Now the actual citizens of NYC just trying to live their life have to deal with the largest spike since March 2020. I personally know so many people who are testing positive.
I moved to NYC 11 years ago when I was 19. I followed a boyfriend (now husband) who was born & raised in Brooklyn. I’ve scraped and struggled, got married, had kids, grew up here. I never lived in manhattan. new york is so. much. more than you see. it’s so hard. it’s also so beautiful!!!! it’s home. the energy is unmatchable.
I’m gonna comment spam this whole time, Tiffany! Another thing this makes me thing of is hyperconsumption. We think of consumption as just what we buy at the store but shifting trends in fashion, etc are also created by cultural shifts like this. Sort of like remodeling your home as a form of consumption, when the home trends keep changing constantly. I wonder if moving across the country as an influencer is just a way to shift your aesthetic and buy … well new shit lol.
This comment illuminated something important. Yes! Yes! Yes! A lot of land gets developed (I work in environmental consulting where I do Phase I reports for development companies) we already have an excess of homes with respect to housed people. So why keep building more houses if we have too many? Housing is consumption with grave consequences for the citizens and environment
There’s so many layers to this - using a location as a form of consumption, using the place to create a form of consumption (through creating media around it), discarding said place when you feel like it no longer serves for creating media to be consumed by others, and creating an image based around location and the things and places you “consume” within it, etc. creating a lifestyle for consumption, have your lifestyle be something others consume, etc. it’s a trip.
@@icarusgotooclose I think sprawling out can be helpful bc I don't think densifying where people already lives helps. So you bring up a really good point I missed! I want to highlight the fact that we do have more than enough housing already created and it is not being used. In the process of creating developments, whether it be housing or commercial purpose, prices in these areas do go up as well. Montgomery is a city that comes to mind for me. In the development process, many environmental factors such as wetlands and streams are affected. It is also unavoidable that some degree of contamination will occur in development. My wish is that we would use our resources to improve already established communities rather than "flipping" more land. I dont know if that makes sense but thank you for catching me on that!
@@icarusgotooclose omg I totally see what you are saying. Yeah these suburban zoning plans are what's really bothering me. In addition to the time isolated from driving and inaccessibility to walk in town, there's a huge lack of public spaces, even to park (lest you get towed 🙃) or even benches. I can't remember his name but this guy on tik tok does urban development planning and he would walk thru towns to rate their sidewalks. A lot of these "strip mall esque" shopping areas lack benches or places for people to meet up. We are becoming so isolated. I love the rant and especially learning more about these things so thank you! I went into environmental thinking I would save the planet but a good deal of my work allows for these developments to happen. Sometimes I will have projects in cities, like Chattanooga was a recent one, and it bothered me to hear people complain about homeless populations while also constructing homes that the current residents cannot afford. One of the only controls I really have is to do my research to the best of my ability to look for potential environmental concerns or evidence of contamination before people build. There are some government or funding organizations that require strict guidelines to apply for the funding and I enjoy those projects because it is one way to make sure that people build mindfully.
I really also feel like this depends on the type of creator and their audience. A lot black creators with mainly black audiences are moving to Atlanta. But as of now that’s not the mainstream yet for other types of influencers, if you catch my drift.
I’d also like to say sunny los angelos versus the darker aesthetic of New York is showing in style fashion and music right now. More Emo and goth aesthetics are becoming popular again. Which I think correlates more with the city of New York.
Totally! I feel like the same thing happened in the early 2010s where London became really popular along with a preppy aesthetic, which gave way to the VSCO-girl Los Angeles aesthetic.
Emo aesthetic is popular again?? Damn I’m old lol Its funny though because emo and goth aesthetics are not NYC at all so social media can be deceiving. There is so much diversity here that one style doesn’t rule another but I see what you mean.
@@ElenyM I’d say the true emo and goth trend is still more niche and teen focused, but “edgy” fashion is filtering out into mainstream adult fashion if that makes sense? You’re not going to see a lot of people in their 20s dressing like Kiki Kannibal, but they might be wearing a longline leather jacket and knee high leather boots etc. So definitely more “big city cool girl” than the VSCO girl fashion trends back when everyone was in LA
@@maddyrevenge okay I see what you mean. I live near a college and two high schools in NYC and most young native New Yorkers are not dressing like that from what I’ve seen lol. Maybe they would at a Parsons or NYU or FIT but those fashion trends are shown by transplants or those who like fashion in general. I think NYC style definitely gets gentrified too through influencers to become an inauthentic aesthetic like wearing berets in Paris.
Whenever I was young I always dream of moving to either California or New York but as I got older I realised how much I need nature and dislike cities or busy places. I've found happiness and gratitude right where I live (Scotland) and pride in my culture. I can't wait to move more up North where the beautiful mountains and peaceful locations are. I think the key is being grateful for what you have instead of being consumed by the influencer romanticized version of these places. New York is also extremely stressful not just for the hustle culture and high rent but the population density. You would really have to be rich or very well off in order to thrive there I believe. I think nature is the best for human mental health and wellbeing but obviously, there are people who love the city and don't want to move elsewhere so that's just my take on it.
I think there's also this sense that New York is "authentic" and there's a sense that to succeed in New York is really a big flex (not to say that's not the case in LA but that's perhaps the perception). And I think there's something appealing to that "authentic" and "real" vibe of New York that people are craving right now in a not-quite-post-pandemic world. We had a lot of illusions shattered in 2020 and 2021 and many people are searching for authentic connection that draws them to New York. Whether or not that is a correct perception remains to be seen for each individual.
oh no new wave of LA gentrifiers 🙄 i finally got an affordable brooklyn studio, just stay in lala land or go to jersey, leave us alone😭 its so hard for NYC born and raised, and its barely become affordable after the huge exodus of student and transplants during quarantine.
I think it's interesting how the two shows you mentioned romanticizing New York (Gossip Girl and Sex and the City) are being rebooted currently as the moving to New York craze is happening
I live 30 minutes outside of Downtown LA and when I tell you the vibe is SO different it’s insane. LA has so much to offer but these influencers never even bothered to explore outside of Hollywood. No wonder they were lonely in their ridiculously small internet bubble.
I absolutely love NYC...to visit. And I feel like that's how a lot of these influences are experiencing how the rest of us experience NYC; like it's a vacation. Their lives are the equivalent of a vacation. These people are never going to have to worry about trying to get home through flooded subway stations the next time a Nor'easter decides to blow through because the section of the city the influences live in doesn't flood. I usually go to NYC once a year or so and it's a great place to visit but I absolutely could not live there.
New York has always been romanticized. Every aspiring writer, journalist, fashion designer, etc... movie character has moved there. All the talk shows are there, concerts, time square. The bigger influencer life got, the more they pursued big pop culture cities.
I feel like the weather might have an aesthetic too. People love “fall and winter aesthetics” especially for fashion influencers and for lifestyles having “weather appropriate “ events, being able to relate to being cold, not having a car / taking public transit, etc
I'm glad you've made a video on this. As a native New York, I've noticed this new trend. New York City is heavily romanticized and there is continuous gentrification occurring in all boroughs. There is a level of privilege to being able to live life here in the city in the way it is portrayed on social media.
For people who like the whole California chill vibe, yet still want to pay extremely high rent and be in a densely populated city, might I recommend San Francisco. Rent went down drastically during the pandemic because of the California exodus.
Social media can romanticize literally anything. NEVER use influencers as your gauge of how a place is like to visit let alone live! Always find out for yourself. Personally I prefer the cabin in the woods aesthetic but find cities fun to visit but never live.
as a person still living in their hometown & childhood home in a small city of a small island (Larnaca, Cyprus) it just baffles me how you could build up the courage to move to such a large city all by yourself just like that. One reason i chose to stay here and study in a nearby university is because of the people surrounding me, I like having my friends & family arround me, they motivate me a lot. New York and L.A do seem amazing places to be, so many opportunities and resources, but i'm such an extrovert that i would rather deal with the shitty parts of my small town and it being very behind and limited on some aspects, but still have the people i love and trust to make great memories with. What i'm saying is that in my opinion, the people make a location great, not the actual location itself.
Same for me! I contemplate living in a bigger city that isn't even that far away (a city in the south west of England or a little further afield), when in reality I already live in a (small) city, which is overflowing with an amazing support network of family and friends. I have hobbies here that are made better by the people I do them with and the cost of living is much lower. Maybe moving somewhere else will be more realistic for me if I were in my 30s etc and had more disposable income, but right now I think the people are keeping me here as much as the positives the place has to offer. Living in a city with no one around you can be very isolating, and if things go wrong it's harder for anyone to help you
I moved to a whole other continent by myself - NZ to the UK. But I did it because I wanted to challenge myself, experience a new culture, and hopefully mature as a person. But, it's also been a rite of passage for NZers and Australian's to move to the UK.
Same I'm from another province that's not British Columbia and Ontario in Canada. I love it here and I don't think I'll ever move because all my family and friends are here.
I think this is very beautiful for you and shows how different we all are! I personally love my family and friends from my Hometown but I could not live there anymore. A lot of my friends left and my hometown doesn‘t offer anything for young adults.. so I am very happy I moved somewhere else, met new people and had a lot of new challenges. :)
I’m so happy you made this video…and let’s not forget how influencers come in, act like they own the place, judge and entire city based on there own perception, gentrify it then dip for NY
its kinda fucked up how these influencers moved to LA and made the entire cost of living go up and then leave. there is a whole trend of NYCers coming to LA. Before 2010 downtown LA was a ghost town only businesses and santee alley but now communities like korea town, and little tokyo, the arts district, regualr people cant even think about living there. i also dont like how these influencers were surprised by the large amount of homeless people here and do stuff like vlog places in compton. smh, also the people i met in LA arent fake at all, they are just people
Exactly it’s so annoying. It felt like my family was kicked out because it was becoming unlivable. And then we have to hear other cheaper states complain about native Californians moving in but a lot of us honestly don’t have a choice. And then unfortunately, their prices start raising too. It’s like a terrible cycle because we all have to adapt to the tides rich people cause. Tides so sensitive that even droves of rich people moving to a SINGLE state affects the whole country.
anyone who says LA isn’t diverse is definitely just telling on themselves that they’re only choosing to engage with Very Specific Parts of this city that appeal to them💀
Lol Spot on!
Right?! I grew up in LA and I had to replay the part complaining about LA not being diverse because I thought I misheard.
The US as a whole is diverse. So many different cultures -it doesn’t even have an official language. I hate when people stereotype americans as dumb & uneducated about everyone else, like you’ve obviously never been to america.
@@всемпривет-и1щ In terms of ratio of immigration, the US is beat by multiple countries. American's general idea of "culture" amounts to people of different skin tones of each other, rather than actual cultural differences, i.e. an American is going to think a black and white american who grew up in the same town is a "more diverse" pairing than a Bulgarian and Portuguese person who actually have two different cultures. Because for some odd reason you all think culture is genetic lol and different skin tones means you're part of a completely different culture even if you grew up in the same culture, same city, speaking the same language and whatnot.
Also Japan doesn't have an official language either. Not having an official language isn't indicative of anything relevant lol.
@VERLAN - I said it’s diverse not the MOST diverse. no need to over-analyze my comment over something I never said. And Spanish, English, and in very small communities French and Chinese is spoken in the US alone. Next N. American country, has two official languages: Canada. (French & English)
As someone born and raised in LA, it's always irked me how all these influencers who move to LA are so quick to talk negatively about it. There's nothing wrong with them speaking about their negative experiences but the fact that they're generalizing an entire city solely based on their own perspectives is ridiculous. It creates the narrative that LA is this big toxic place only filled with snobby rich influencers. Obviously that's true for them but only because they all live in their own little influencer bubble. In reality, LA is huge and it's filled with so much culture and history that is always overlooked.
100% agree. I would even say they've only ever been to a corner of West LA and surround themselves with other narcissistic social climbers who aren't from here. LA is one of the most diverse cultural cities in the world with so many neighborhoods to explore. Some of the largest diasporic communities live here. You can go to the beach, forest, mountains, and desert in 1 day. It's sad they can't appreciate that.
Could not agree more!! As a native LA person also, I still feel like there's sooo much to this city I haven't discovered. I know a lot of different pockets because I grew up here but I don't know every part of LA and I love that about this city! There's so much to it and so much life and diversity. It really bothers me to hear ppl not from here shit talk it when they've only spent a short amount of time here in a small bubble.
exactly! It’s very disheartening to hear.
@@ireniic I agree! LA is an amazing area! And, so much to discover. I went to areas in my 20s i didn't visit as a kid!. Overall, california is one of the best states to me and u can visit San Diego to San Francisco to other amazing cities. California has everything. I also think the major issue is these influencers are living beyonds their means. I like influencers- no shade to them! They make millions and make a good living to support their lives/family. But, for me there will always be a big difference between actors/singers/legit models vs UA-cam/IG/Tik tock influencers. And, in LA it's a tough competition- therefor anyone who talks shit just got over their heads being in LA.
I'm from san francisco and i feel the same way about my city! there's a scene from the movie "the last black man in san francisco" where transplants/gentrifiers are complaining and the main character says "you can't hate it unless you love it" which is exactly how I feel lol
One of my theories is that LA fits in closely with the 2010’s boho, bright filters, flower child aesthetic. New York is sooooo 2020’s, leaving the pandemic behind and moving to a big, connected city that fits the dark, hustle culture, repairing your life vibe. So cutesy
this is a really good point i never thought of tbh
2010s mint apple Essie polish to New York and it's sage green, I can see what you mean
"leaving the pandemic behind" but the pandemic is nowhere over, in fact its getting worse and worse
yo that’s a good point
Nah. Not boho. /
does anyone think it's dystopian to choose the city you're going to live in based on the content you can make in it? also the way creators talk about l.a as if its just a location they rented to film videos in instead of an actual city where people live in and are born and raised at... so weird to me! the commodification of a whole city!!
I do wonder whether this is something that's quite specific to LA though - from what i've heard it's pretty common to treat it as "I need to live here to make films/music", rather than somewhere you want to settle and live.
@@isabellamorris7902 there is a massive disconnect between people who are native to LA/don't work in entertainment vs. Those who move here for the industry
Personally, I steer clear of those kind of transplants, they're often very rude and dismissive of the fact that LA is a place people actually LIVE and turn negative quick when their career doesn't take off.
All of this!!
@@sweetembrace6706 i think a job called influencer is pretty dystopian and nothing will change my mind but thanks for calling me dramatic :)
@@sweetembrace6706 People literally in this comment thread are talking about how they dislike the attitudes of people who move to LA for "the industry" or "the content". It's not the first story I've heard of this by any stretch either. Idk if this goes far beyond LA, or if it's strictly commodification, but it's sort of disingenuous to act like going on work trips is the same.
Ironically: I noticed a lot of people moving from NY (specifically Brooklyn) to LA 👀
As someone who’s lived in NY my entire life and works in the city, seeing the huge disparity between privileged transplants and the average born and raised NYer is enough to make my head spin. People really think you can move here and just find a cute little apartment and friends from day one. NYC is a very lonely place when you’re new. Especially if you’re from a much smaller town.
It’s also very expensive and there’s a culture here that’s very heavily focused on self reliance. People will help you, yeah. There’s kindness everywhere. But at the end of the day, you have to figure it out.
Oh girl. this hit me hard. I moved from snall town to big city 3 months ago. And I feel this big time.
Exactly.
Yeah, I don't think this girl reads much news. People are leaving both cities in droves. Probably more from NYC because the covid restrictions have been more harsh and the crime is harder to avoid because it's a smaller place.
@@hyenaswine she’s talking about influencers moving to New York not average people. So why would news play into that?
She ain’t ready 😂
It’s so weird to me how obsessed people are with LA/NYC, when their careers don’t seemingly require it. There are a lot of other cities in America lol
Honestly, you do not have to move to some overly expensive overcrowded city to be able to be a influencer
I know. I'm a New Yorker forever but I love Chicago, Charlotte and Atlanta.
I've always wondered why Chicago, Atlanta, Houston etc didn't get the same amount of attention. I lived in Chicago for 5 years, and compared to my peers in NYC, didn't feel like I missed anything about that big city experience and my cost of living was cut in half.
@@caitlin_menosky don't inspire them to come here! Lol I enjoy living in a big, walkable city with reasonable rent prices.
NYC has no allyways, and any mega city that throws all its trash on the sidewalk is a big no-go imo. Imagine that smell in the summer.
@@AlliWalker a very fair point! I'm okay keeping it a secret lol
I knew this was gonna happen when we started bringing back 90s and early 2000s trends. It seems like every show/sitcom, that came out during that time had the premise of a group of 20 something-year-old friends living their lives in an NYC fantasy
oh my god that's what i think too. young 20s people living in big cities
Interesting observation!
It's funny cause they are broke in those shows but live in apartments that would easily cost 3-4k a month
you're absolutely right!
Yes and New girl takes place in LA around 2011 when it was populair to go to LA
this is why I love seeing location glimpses in videos by people like Karolina Zebrowska. The media makes us feel like English-speaking cities are the be-all and end-all and the world is so much vaster than that.
TARA
Yeah I love following along with both native English-speaking content creators and their lifestyle, but as someone from Europe where most of our big city’s are much older than the big American cities, you kind of have to open your eyes to the charm of small narrow houses, that are like 300 years old compared to the impressive skylines of many American cities
Hey Tara! How is the cow doing?🐮
The queen watches the queen. This is exciting
Three cheers for Karolina, the ultimate Meme Mom! I totally agree.
I'm a native New Yorker, and I hope this trend dies quickly. Us working class NYers have been slowly getting pushed out of our own city for the past decade. 90% of my family has left, everyone moved to a different state because even a ONE BEDROOM apartment in a decent neighborhood could easily be $2,000. I work in sales and I ask almost every customer I talk to "where are you from?" and I swear maybe 80% of them are transplants from elsewhere. I barely run into anyone that's a native New Yorker. One time I asked and the person said "oh I'm from West Virginia I moved here because I thought it looked cool on TV/instagram." I'm sorry you moved because it LOOKED COOL? It's so sad to me.
I’m a native from the Bronx, and I went to school for Fashion in my first two years of college. The kids I went to school with, the majority of them are gone and gotten better opportunities outside of NYC than from within, and overall, internally, the working class is dying out slowly because it’s just not feasible to live in a city that never was for its own people, but of course for those with the money and who can afford one bathroom places for $2000 on average. It’s ridiculous, yet, it’s expected since it’s the natives that made NYC what it is, and even they have moved away. I honestly believe that with every other trend, living in NYC will fade away, and so will the city with it.
But this has always been the case for NY and LA. Most people move to those cities from all over the country and world
Only the last decade?
@@maythesciencebewithyou no idea about the decade before because I did not exist lol. But most of the people I grew up with has moved to another state.
What are valid reasons to move to ny? 🧐
as a native new yorker, i hope this trend doesn't continue. I'm so so sick of people moving to new york, gentrifying communities, complaining about how new york is a shithole, and then leaving it once they get sick of it. new york is not just another "chapter in my life" and i definitely have seen more influencers just out and around making content, blocking traffic (yes in streets and in bike lanes), and overall just using new york because it's "trendy." they complain about the prices, but happily pay for it and "discover" places and act like an expert when they've been here for less than a year.
"complain about the prices, but happily pay for it" hit me. So infuriating people just accept it. Normalizes it for those who use to be able to afford services in NYC and now can't because of trend and gentrification inflation.
Yes! Native to nyc as well and I’m tired of people using the city as a disposable playground. Some of us don’t have that luxury as this has been our home our whole lives, but people will come here and drive up prices only to flee back to their home state/mom and dads home once they get bored.
Jesus, the blocking traffic bit. I visited NYC recently and even I was super annoyed by all the people taking videos in the middle of sidewalks. The brooklyn bridge at noon was especially hellish. Just rows and rows of people either dancing, squatting a pose or spinning. No regard for people who just need to get to a place.
they’re “experts” yet manhattan ends at 110 street and williamsburg is the entirety of brooklyn according to them
Whether you like it or not, cities are free for people to live their experiences as they please. New York is a new chapter in my life now and if I don't like it, I'll talk about my experience. If this is something uncomfortable for you, I advise you to spend your time with useful things like... work?
I think it's weird when people put so much expectation over a city to define how they perceive their state of happiness, instead of focusing on sincere relationships with family and/or friends.
Yes! Exactly what I thought
literally what I was just thinking
West Covinaaa California~~~
Exactly. Moving to a new city will do nothing unless you’re actively engaging with the community.
The biggest relationship they neglect is the relationship they have with themselves. Most of them hate themselves so much that they seek out people and places to fill a void. They either get their fill or they don’t, but either way they walk away feeling empty and looking to chase the next thing
I have a lot of feelings about New York, especially after living here for a couple years now and having moved here before I got the youtube gig going on (aka I had a lot less money).
It mostly just makes me sad that (most of) these influencers *who have the money* choose to patron and shout-out trendy matcha latte spots rather than support the mom-and-pop shops who've been here for years and who've made NY what it is today. And I also think that people who move here don't see themselves as being here for a long time and therefore disconnect themselves from the community, when actually, just knowing the name of your local barista or your next door neighbor is so important. For those of us who are transplants, it's important to consider how we can give back to the city, not just take from it.
Anyways, I just wish there was more """content"" about places other than NYC & LA in general. The creators out there who don't live in "trendy places" feel way more authentic/less like they're glamorizing a particular lifestyle. Rather than looking for what makes them unique, a lot of influencers choose to copy a formula (e.g. moving to LA, moving to NYC), which will always lead to over-saturation and more migration once again. Like, I really don't need to see another Lucien or Met Museum hang-out, but that's just me!
Chicago is also a great city! I feel as if it often gets overlooked. Although I'm biased as I am a Chicagoan.
I don't necessarily disagree with you, but I don't think it's fair to impose your values on other people. I think supporting small businesses that do important things is great and places like those always have a really unique and special vibe that I adore, but I also love the consistency of Starbucks. I also have, from a lot of people, gotten the sense that disconnection is the norm for cities. There's nothing wrong with getting to know your local barista or next-door neighbor but it's certainly more common not to know them and you are by no means expected to. Getting to know your barista and/or neighbors seems to be much more common and/or expected in small towns, suburbs, or rural areas.
I’m from the Chicago suburbs and while I love the area, good luck convincing people to move here with the crazy taxes lol that’s why so many people I know have left.
@@hilary3219 I don't think she's imposing her values on other people. She is just saying her opinion.
@@mt3930 no, she's imposing her values. she said specifically that "
knowing the name of you next door neighbor is so important". Weird statement, like people who are intrverted or shy are morally wrong
If you look across American trend history in general, the 'south west coast vs north east coast' trend flip has been going on LONG before the internet. Every decade or so it flips, pretty much like clockwork. I think there's a lot that goes into that; some of it political, some of it cultural, and some of it just capitalism needing us to always be yearning.
@Thee Apollo yup, now we’re the era where the Great Migration is in reverse where a lot of Black Americans are living the North and going back South
Yep.
PERIOD!!!
Thank you for this comment. It's good for people to be aware of this.
YES! I noticed that too. I noticed that 80s media revolved around New York. The 90s and early 2000s was all about Hollywood lifestyle for younger people, and New York for adult life (rom coms were ALWAYS set in New York)
I’m an LA native and I was particularly irked by bestdressed video on LA being overrated (and I generally quite enjoy her videos). So many of these influencers don’t bother going west of the 405 and assume the entire city is athleisure and smoothies. But the majority of the city are hardworking immigrants who you never hear about. There’s amazing food and diverse culture. It’s one of the very few places in the world you can meet so many different kinds of people and immerse yourself in so much diversity. People who say LA is overrated never even try to experience that. Or they can’t relate to people who aren’t like them to bother trying.
I think there’s also the negative experiences of being a transplant and the stress and loneliness of being an influencer that they project those feelings toward the city. It’s not really the city’s fault that they were in a bad place in their life.
It baffles me because I met so many hardworking and respectable immigrants who have lived in LA for 20+ years. I don't think these influencers see people unless they're young and working in adjacent careers as them.
I stopped supporting bestdressed immediately after that video. I’m a LA transplant but I really care about the city and hate the bad rep it gets from these youtubers.
I always say that for a global city, LA is wildly underrated.
So true! Same thing goes for New York City. It’s a fascinating place for the diversity and culture. Nothing like the way it’s portrayed in vlogs.
Fully agree! I'm a community organizer here in LA, immigrated at a young age & raised in South LA. I couldn't have more love for my community and it saddens me to see others disparage our city as "fake" or "uncaring". LA is so full of caring individuals who work day in and day out for their loved ones. There's so much love in each community out here. If you haven't found community, you haven't taken the time to invest in it.
Additionally, I think LA can very much be a mirror for transplants, it reflects the baggage you bring with you. If you think you'll move out here and your life will immediately change for the better, the things you struggled with in your hometown will almost certainly be back to haunt you.
I find it weird that a lot of peoples main complaints with LA, bad traffic, overpriced housing etc, are problems New York City is infamous for also having. This just makes it seem even more like the real reason why so many influencers are moving there is because of burn out and NYC being the new "It" city for influencers. Unfortunately, all that could easily change in a couple of years and I wouldn't be surprised if, in a couple of years perhaps, we see this whole thing repeat itself and everyone is moving back to LA or some other city in California.
Well with the "bad traffic" thing, at least, public transportation is a much easier and comprehensive option in NYC compared to LA. Traffic is certainly bad, in some ways arguably even worse, but it's also a lot easier to avoid.
@@ironwolf56 yea definitely, I see ur point!
Yeah, to be fair and if I'm not misremembering, when Ashley from bestdressed moved out of LA (because she finished her career in LA) said that the places she was thinking of moving were as expensive, if not more expensive, than LA but she didn't had a reason to stay since she was there because she was studying and while doing that she realized that the lifestyle she wanted to live wasn't the one of LA
I feel like the next one is Chicago
@@normaxoxo7048 same
I want more influencers to move to middle of nowhere cities. THAT would be more unique and interesting.
Right? And it would go against the grain which would make them stand out more
i just want more people to move to cities that don't get much love. break the mold
I was already impressed that Safiya, Chloe Ting and Mr Kate moved to cities other than LA and NY. Definitely not middle of nowhere cities, but doesn’t seem to be places for “influencer”.
Honestly, even just unconventional big cities would be great to watch. Where are the Chicago people (well, maybe Danny Gonzalez counts)? The Boston folks? And what about the southern cities like New Orleans or Miami?
Nah, they can stay away from those cities. Don’t need them hiking up the prices of things in nowhere cities/towns
I'm from England so I feel like both LA and NYC are romanticized to the point I'm almost bored of seeing them, no matter how much I adored NYC when I was lucky enough to visit. It's the same jaded view a lot of people in the UK have of London, I'd say, where the cost of living there is weighed up against the benefits of living there and things just aren't adding up the same way anymore.
I live in NYC and I don't like how NYC is romanticized as THE place to go...I am sick of many things about the city, but at the same time, I really don't want to leave!
London’s great to visit at the weekend etc, not to live lol. The prices are crazy (I think it’s the most expensive city in the world?).
as another english person, i'm sick of the new york trend for a similar reason, its just always been too boring to be a form of teen girl escapism i like. i think new york influencers being such a particular brand of skinny, wealthy-looking, pinterest party girls really works to draw others into this idea as it just coincides so well with fashion/'body trends' right now. also the rise in tiktok fashion influencers and, as outdated as it sounds, the whole main character ideation still seems to have a big hold on internet spaces for young women... think short clips of immaculately dressed girls girls going to dinners, hanging out of taxis, walking to clubs, always surrounded by a group of equally well- dressed, confident friends (the confidence and carefree attitude is crucial in this, i think)
holy shit tiff verbalised everything i was thinking later in the video lmao
@@eleanor9878 London doesn't even make the top ten. It's 17th. Apparently this is the latest Top 10 from 2021:
1. Tel Aviv
2. = Paris
2. = Singapore
4. Zurich
5. Hong Kong
6. New York
7. Geneva
8. Copenhagen
9. Los Angeles
10. Osaka
@@egle2864 is that compared to average income?
As a native New Yorker, I wish the concern of gentrification was acknowledged more for all these people that romanticize it and move here. They don't care that their moving is actively displacing so many natives and raising rent, creating transit/street congestion and over all pissing average New Yorkers off with their informal customs/ refusal to adjust to unspoken etiquette for New Yorkers that literally keeps our city running (especially in the terms of waste management/conservation). Once they get the fatigue, they'll just leave and the rest of us will have to deal with whats left.
As an LA native I wish you native New Yorkers good luck dealing with this.
@@wildcatste thank you for the well wishes, because people are still leaving the city like never before. I moved out from my family’s house in NYC back in 2018, only to come back due to some personal hardships just several months ago. NYC is MASSIVELY than I’ve known it to be, and the way it’s been portrayed online by these influencers is both unrealistic and unnatural. The gentrification has gotten so much worse, people laid off of their jobs because of the enforcement of taking the needle, the crime is up by like 110% since the protest and violence last year and the numbers keep climbing, like whoa…my native family and I are ready to bounce. I feel more comfortable sitting in my house than to go outside, that’s how crazy NYC has been. But these influencers make it otherwise, like someone’s lying…
Brooo, I told someone “I appreciate you”, and they gave me a dirty look.
I'm from LA - what's the NY waste management/conservation etiquette you're talking about? I'm curious
the same thing is slowly happening in Philly, they buy off blocks and build apartments for college kids to live in but it’s still clashing with the hood, so University kids keep getting shot or robbed and everyone acts confused? bitch y’all r tryna move INTO the hood and push all the ppl out, then act stupid when the locals don’t accept it💀
As an elder Los Angeles native, I've seen the pendulum swing between NYC and LA being hip about every 10 years. It's a cycle that repeats itself over and over. There are so many things to love and appreciate about both cities. Each has their own unique magic. But the influencers who can't find the magic act like there IS no magic. And they act like the magic leaves when they leave. lol. I, for one, am happy to see them go.
When Joe Rogan left LA, the collective IQ of the entire state went up by a factor of like fifteen points lol
@@ethicalcheeze1407 lame
@@melissak8892 We didn't ask
“Act like that magic leaves when they leave.” Exactly 👏 The magic actually comes back AFTER the influencers leave 😂
This! As an LA Native I'm also relieved to see them leaving. Good riddance
i remember visiting new york for the first time and being SHOCKED by how different it was from what i expected based on tv. i feel like there’s a similar disconnect between reality and influencer content too. even here in toronto i find it interesting to see the completely different lives/experiences “toronto influencers” have. it’s like a totally different city!
feel the same about Portland. I just discovered a Portland influencer who posts about her "city life" and I am like girl.......... you're representing about 3 total blocks of Portland and making it look like a dreamland.. Like I know the exact location that her penthouse is in (she posts photos frequently) and I KNOW what it looks like, conveniently cutting out the boarded up LV store, homeless camp in the middle of the square, and graffiti on everything :,) the culture shock is crazy when you go to these places for yourself.
i'm a torontonian and i was literally about to comment the same thing lol !! i feel like parts of toronto are VERY grind culture and others are very much not and the influencers i see for the city cross the whole spectrum but never seem to really embody the way i see the city having lived here my whole life lol
@@lanilynn1227 I lived in Portland for 5 years, moved a year and a half ago, and have missed it ever since. To me it was a magical place to live in. I didn’t have a ton of money and didn’t live in a penthouse. To me it’s all about what you make of where you live. Nowhere is a true fairytale. And peoples issue with the homeless is a personal problem, mind your business honestly, the reason they live there is because it’s a good place to be homeless.
Every city is different if you have money.
ua-cam.com/video/ChDMq8DPdp4/v-deo.html
It’s wild to me people don’t think Los Angeles is diverse. I feel safe as a Latina and Asian here, you walk around and you see way more Black and Brow folks. We have such a rich diverse food culture out here, that was contributed by the local immigrant population .There are tons of different ethnic groups here, even just exploring LA you can find pockets of all different communities. Los Angeles that these influencers or even media depicts is not the place I grew up in. It was the mom and pop Cuban, Mexican, Filipino, Thai, Cambodian, Armenian, Korean, and Chinese restaurants. It was my school of predominantly Latino and Asian students. It was the block with the Korean Christian church, near a Catholic church attended by Mexican Americans and Filipinos. We are a very diverse city. If there are critiques to be made it’s La’s history of gentrification, rising costs, and our growing population of homeless people, not the lack of diversity.
I watched the video and I don't recall seeing anywhere where someone said LA wasn't diverse. no one explicitly said LA was diverse but I don't recall anyone saying that it wasn't, only that New York was. I just assumed the point trying to be made there by saying NY was diverse and LA wasn't was that New York was *more* diverse
Even then that's debatable since it's neighbourhood dependent in both areas and especially considering Los Angeles isn't even really a city in terms of cohesiveness and more of a metropolitan area with a collection of suburbs within it
Same, living my whole life here in LA. I never once felt excluded for my ethnicity. In every school I went to a huge majority were Hispanic especially in ktown.
@@verlan3293 bestdressed said that in her video i think.
I think when they say that LA or the west coast lacks "culture" they mean it lacks the European influence the east coast has. I grew up on the west coast more up north, and Im so glad my parents chose this side of the country than the east coast. the east coast seems glamourous because of shows like gossip girl and others but I live how chill and down-to-earth west-coasters are. things are more spread out. the west coast is known for its beautiful landscape. the pacific northwest is just breathtaking. I think popculture made me wish I lived on the east coast but as I grew older I learned to count my blessings and appreciate where I come from
BINGO. these rich white kids are just.....UGH
Some other reasons New York was more appealing to move to for influencers:
1) NY couldn't really uphold its lockdown restrictions and opened up sooner than LA did. For influencers who wanted to party and didn't really respect the pandemic anyways (living 1000s of miles away from their elderly family members), this was a better scenario for them.
2) There has been an increase in Idolizing European lifestyle. This sort of eating brunch on your city apartment terrace in a sundress. Los Angeles is the land of urban sprawl and most places are single family zoned. The east coast, historically, is closest to European architecture and urban planning. Europeans walk and bike everywhere, that is simply not an option in LA aside from a few beach towns.
3) TikTok made quirky fashion expression more mainstream and NY has always been the city for fashion. There is a huge market for fashion right now and influencers can benefit from proximity to New York fashion week and the likes.
4) NY is actually more tax friendly than CA for the influencers. Lower sales tax, lower income tax, lower taxes for business operations.
5) The price tag on CA and on LA is for its weather and its opportunities/networking. The pandemic changed what LA/CA had to offer.
It's interesting to see how SF/LA haven't recovered their populations but NY mostly has.
I think people wanting walkable cities with other transportation options than car isn't necessarily because they fetishize the European lifestyle (wouldn't Influencers just move to Europe if that was so?), people, in general, are simultaneously recognizing that European cities are better designed and Europeans have higher quality of life than North Americans who live with urban sprawl. Strongtowns have failed the US and Canada.
Can confirm. I have an address in San Diego and in NYC. I work as a contractor and travel for work. When i used my CA address for my tax form i got deboed with taxes. That 10K a month turned to 6-7K. Sure that's still a decent amount of money to make but i don't work year round because I'm a disabled vet as well.
@@alexey5481 you know just randomly moving to Europe isn’t easy right? We have borders and citizenship and stuff.
@@PamsPrettyPlants never in that comment did I say moving to another country is easy nor simple. I was saying, if influencers were really coveting the “European lifestyle,” they have the means to move there and would try to do so. But they aren’t.
Additionally, they likely have a better chance at obtaining a work visa than a typical person due to their digital visibility.
Please don’t make assumptions!
@@PamsPrettyPlants I feel like European countries are more likely to offer a visa to an American (USA has a pretty strong passport power) than someone they view as having a less attractive passport e.g a an African or Southern American.
i’ve seen so many people on apps like tiktok romanticizing new york. but as someone from ny it’s more than just lattes and leather jackets. there’s a lot of people struggling. and most people don’t live in giant aesthetically pleasing apartments. i can understand how someone from other parts of the country can see the appeal. it’s very intense and energetic. but remember that if you’re struggling in another place moving to ny isn’t necessarily a cure to your problems.
This made me think of Emma Chamberlain.
I wish it was a cure for problems. But the fact is that everywhere you go, you take yourself.
if you don't understand that tik tok, Instagram and YT are edited for maximum enjoyment/entertainment then that's on you
i moved to nyc from rural illinois at 18 to “live the dream” and go to college there, and the one thing that stayed with me was how different your life is there depending on your income. i was living off of student loans and a part time job, and i didn’t have any money to go out to clubs, restaurants, see the sights… i didn’t even order take out…. but some of my classmates who came from wealthy families and didn’t have to work were living this luxurious influencer lifestyle. i eventually moved back home because i couldn’t make rent and bills anymore but i always feel sad that i never got to fully experience the city because i didn’t have money. at this point i would never go back unless i knew i’d be comfortably making enough money to enjoy everything the city has to offer. i can’t healthily live on the “grind” mindset…
Honestly, the only point is if your job is in the city. Get rich and move to NY? move somewhere else and the money will last longer. Get a good WFH job? Move somewhere else and the money will last longer. Broke as shit? Move somewhere else and the money will last longer. I don't know why so many people try to "grind" out in NYC.
I had a similar experience in Europe living in London working double shifts as a nurse to pay exorbitant rent too tired and too broke to experience the city.i lived there a year without ever seeing the sights.gladly left and never want to go back there. Cities are the same all over the world only for the rich
@@murielmoloney1043 -
If you’re willing to share, from what country did you move from? I’m a native Londoner and I’m tired of this city now, I want to leave it
Refreshing to hear. Thank you
That's exactly how I felt when I moved to NYC.
I feel like clothing trends are very representative of this aswell, the 2010s being very influenced by the LA girl vsco beachy coachella vibe and 2020s much more new yorky stylish leather coats etc
Great insight! Totally agree
There's also the Dark Academia and Art Hoe trends on TikTok. Both those are more suited for NYC because it has the artsy, intellectual reputation vs LA being seen as more shallow and casual.
Wow that's true! And kinda scary if one thinks about it.
This is so annoying. Everything is so performative now. People choose an aesthetic and limit theirselves to it and apply it to their whole life even down to the city they live. Maybe its not that serious but it really seems that way
@@skyedots It really is not that serious! just thinking rationally out loud😘
On "new york and main character syndrome", back in like August/September, I remember seeing people posting tiktoks of the annoying kids who just moved to the city being loud and obnoxious on their rooftops at 5am and multiple locals verbally destroying them like "some of us have jobs we're trying to sleep for you coked up little fucks"
As a native NYer, it gave me great satisfaction to see that happen. We don’t fuck around with obnoxious people and will tell you to your face. I hate having to walk in Soho even though I love hanging out around there and the village nearby because there’s a bunch of influencers taking pictures and blocking traffic. Then they have the gall to get upset that I ruined their shot even though they’re on the freaking sidewalk. Comical lol.
😩😂😂😂😂😂 i lover being a New Yorker lol. Everyone says we’re loud and aggressive, but to us you’re quiet and fake. Nobody there has time for thay
@@48mavemiss2 not an American but honestly your supposedly aggressivity looks like a gift, some people really need to have a reality check !
I met bestdressed (ashley) a few days before she moved to nyc and I asked her if she had a chance to visit some local landmarks/do some legendary activities before moving and she hadn't yet. It made me realize how influencers truly do live in a separate world, the LA they know is wayyyy different than the LA angelenos know.
wow, as someone who used to watch her content, this is- wow
As someone who knows a couple of small local influencers (who in turn know big influencers), the influencer lifestyle means that most of them just travel to do things according to their "theme" and rarely visit landmarks, historical places or do "touristy" stuff. They see that as pointless, as their whole lives revolve around creating "new" content.
To me, this honestly doesn’t seem like a bad thing/a character flaw/a bad look/etc. I don’t live in LA or NYC, but my town is within driving distance to some iconic spots in the PNW and California. I’ve lived here most of my life, but I only started visiting those places more recently, and I haven’t even gotten to everything yet. Ashley talked a lot on her channel about struggling to make friends in LA, and she was also a full time student and youtuber, all of which has held me back from doing all of the sight seeing and travelling I wish I could. It seems weird to me to think she did something wrong by not doing those things? I’m sorry if I misunderstood what you meant, but that’s how I interpreted it. I’d love to hear clarification if you meant something else.
***im not a youtuber but I am a full time student! That’s what I meant, although I can imagine being even more swamped with both.
@@aricarly my personal issue with best dressed and influencers like her is that they make LA out to be some horrific place where no one likes you and is super vapid. And the only reason she got that part of LA is probably because she is like that herself. I’m from LA born and raised and the number of transplants that complain its horrible and full of users are the same people solely mingling with people who will get them somewhere.
I grew up just outside of Queens and it’s always interesting when people say they want to move to NYC for diversity, while primarily moving in spaces where most POC don’t and can’t live. It also kind of irks me how influencers (or really any transplant) utilize city resources while having huge blindspots in broader city systems: they aestheticize public transit, but don’t understand that the city still has so many transit deserts; they engage in public spaces, but don’t acknowledge hostile architecture, etc. I just think the romanticization of cities distances people from what becomes important in their day to day- clean water, green spaces, access to food and healthcare- so much so that they can’t advocate that for others.
As a queens native I approve this message 👏🏼
Just googles hostile architecture and now I’m mad / sad 😔
Diversity doesn't necessarily mean race
I think it's unfair to hold transplants to a higher standard than native-born New Yorkers. I mean, so many natives aren't invested in any of those issues either.
@@salami7677 I agree. It is kot their responsability to point out these issues. I mean it would be great because they have a huge plattform but it is not their task. And like you said, the locals don't talk about it that much either 😅
NYC Influencer Tiktok is another level of messy
Agreed lol
I remember watching bestdressed’s video about leaving LA, and as someone born & raised in SoCal feeling incredibly frustrated. Painting a wide brush to call a diverse city with rich history (and plenty of legitimate flaws that fail vulnerable communities), an overrated place with shallow, vain, people...that’s an INFLUENCER and gentrification problem, not something inherent to LA. If you’re unhappy in any one city, work on yourself and the circles you keep first before throwing any one city under the bus while ignoring the reality of its majority.
Everywhere you go, there you are.
10000000 % agree. I was super disappointed watching that vid but also surprisingly relieved because I knew a lot of people would be influenced to leave or hold off on coming to LA lol and thats just fine with me
re: feeling like you don't exist if you don't live in LA or NYC, part of this is also just US cultural imperialism - even if you live in a different country, because of US media's prevalence in movies and tv and social media that are aired everywhere, you're pretty likely to have seen media about living in those cities and that becomes aspirational even if it's completely unrealistic that you'd ever live there.
I live IN New York state, a commutable distance to NYC and I feel like I don't exist because I'm not in NYC. I cant imagine how people in middle America feel when it comes to all this NYC vs LA stuff
exactly, and it is so annoying. i know so much about these cities but those influencers that live in those cities don't even know where my country is.
I would say if youre not in West LA(majority white)you dont exist. The Latino population in LA, although they are the majority and have a huge influence on the city, are practically invisible in Hollywood & Influencer UA-cam.
The single thing that makes the content creators' eastward migration so icky is the mindset of a city as a resource to mine for profit and self betterment rather than a place to continue building into with a community
That's because influencers don't need a physical community.
DING DING we have a winner. Pin the comment!
I posted my own comment about how icky this concept makes me but I was unable to articulate it as efficiently as you have here. Thank you.
People move cities solely for jobs all the time, we have been doing it since pretty much forever
oop, there it is. emphasis on community, what a novel idea!
Yeah I remember that really bothered me about the LA exit video Ashley from bestdressed made where she basically complained that a significant portion of LA was suburban housing. Like imagine that. People actually live here with their children, families, and elderly 🤯 lol it's not just 20 year olds in expensive studio apartments
Influencers in 5 years : "why i move out of NYC, PEOPLE ARE SO FAKE"
Most of all the influencers😅😅😅
This whole thing of "LA sucks! I'm gonna move all the way across country" just annoys tf outta me. Like, some of these influencers weren't "feeling inspired" by California anymore honestly shows lack of creativity and ignorance honestly. California is a big state with a lot to offer. There's more to be had than just trendy juice bars and Disneyland. All you have to do is look. I say this as someone who currently lives in the midwest, but was raised in LA County. I understand wanting to get out of California, but the US is a giant country and it feels icky to have it reduced to 2 citites
I feel because a lot of things in LA you can get in neighboring cities and some Infleuncers aren’t going to step foot in an area that is outside their aesthetic. Like immerse themselves with activities outside of their bubble. Like they won’t go to things like a symphony or something as vague as camping.
Agree.., don’t see as many videos about the massive parks and other big cities in Cali vs. sticking to the few square miles in LA. So much to do that it boggles my mind that these creators aren’t willing to explore.
Right! I live in San Francisco and I also understand wanting to move out of California but feel the frustration with the US being reduced to 2 cities on opposite coasts. I’m aware of the issues in SF, but I feel like it can be a happy medium of LA and NYC. Chillier than LA but not as cold as east coast winters, the beach/palm tree aesthetic in addition to the dense urban aesthetic. You can get hustle culture vibes but also the chill vibes and it’s also a diverse city
@@gigi.z. i never been to SF nor live there so it's not my place to give my thoughts on the city so you can correct me on anything, but from what I seen of SF, i think it's a very underrated city when it comes to it's creativity and colorfulness if that makes sense. A lot of the one floor houses have a amazing 60's inspired aesthetic to them and I'll never forget this one house that's lawn is a little golf course. All of the apartments houses that are built into one another like NYC house all have their own flavor because all of them are different colors. From what I could see, SF barely has traffic but i don't primarily know without experience
Ofc SF has it's flaws, I automatically noticed the homeless problem when I was on google maps but I think SF is a good city to live in if your a content creator who has the financially privilege (i also heard that housing taxes went down due to the pandemic but i can't confirm) and ofc the rapid racist violence against asian americans because of covid-19
I think SF is a good city if your especially a queer person who is very creative but like with everything else, it has it's pros and cons
@@Chris-ot9bk I can’t speak to whether it’s over/underrated because there are a lot of opinions on that depending on your experience of the city and your preferences. I love it here so of course I think it’s appropriately rated. It’s a beautiful city IMO even with the dirty parts. For me, the colorful houses make up for the foggy days. I don’t drive here but traffic can get a bit congested during rush hours but not as bad as other cities that are known for notorious traffic. Yes, the amount of homeless people is heartbreaking. And real estate is expensive here, so some of my favorite bakeries, coffee shops and other stores in California don’t have locations in the city. The list of pros and cons is longer than that but all in all, it’s a very inclusive city, very diverse, with breathtaking views too because of the hills. You can take a lot of inspiration from SF. I recommend visiting (safely!) if you get a chance, even if it’s just touristy stuff, which I admit I still enjoy from time to time.
from my perspective, this whole ‘main character life in new york’ (focusing more on the overall meaning of life there to us mere mortals and not influencers) it’s just hustle culture but marketed for women. it’s heavily build upon the false idea of meritocracy inside of capitalism that only works if you already financially stable, preferably white and skinny, it also focuses so much on being productive all the time. all these tiktoks just pass the idea that your whole day needs to be bucked and busy otherwise you’re not properly living the lifestyle. they just changed the words “business man” to “fashion student” and called it a day. it’s capitalism, but make it aesthetic (arguably it also can be just another reincarnation of the girlboss trend but that’s talk for another day)
@Annie Mouse thank you so much! the whole think is just another way of making us believe capitalism is functional but trying to make it sound modern also the way that is marketed to young people makes me so mad but again, talk for another day. oh, and glad I could make you smile a little
Perfectly put! The UK and Irish version of this is moving to London but it's the exact same thing happening
When that viewer said they felt like they didn’t exist because they never saw their area in the media, I felt that. That used to weigh hard on me as a kid. I grew up in a flyover state in an area that was a popular resort destination during the 50s. Rich people drove in from major cities all the time. When flying became cheaper, traffic slowly dried up. Then when Reagan-era outsourcing and automation hit, the blue collar jobs that supported the local economy vanished. There was no concerted effort to replace those jobs or support the people who were suddenly unemployed. The town was absolutely devastated and has only started to recover in the 2010s.
I think people from outside these areas tend to think that “real” culture only exists in a handful of cities and that the rest of America is an ugly rural wasteland of people too stupid to work. The truth is that there is a lot of interesting history and culture in the middle of the country, there are multiple major metropolitan areas in the Midwest, working class problems are kind of the same everywhere and living in an interesting place doesn’t automatically make you an interesting person. Proximity to wealth makes a huge difference in what’s considered cool and relevant. Of all the places in the country with pretty landscapes and fresh air, the Hamptons are the Hamptons because they’re close to NYC, and my hometown struggled because it is not. That’s not a measure of the inherent worthiness of the locals. The idea of “coastal elites” has such staying power because it’s one of the few ways this is openly acknowledged.
Thanks for the video, it’s given me a lot to think about.
Even the term "flyover state" feels like a sneer on their lips. I'll agree with you, even as a kid growing up in a rural area in the 80s and 90s, there was this sense that you were somehow "lesser" if you weren't from NYC or LA or the like.
"Living in an interesting city doesn't necessarily make you an interesting person" I like that. So often I feel tempted to tie my identity to where I live but that's just unnecessary
Thank You!!
I come from a city with a similar tale (minus the touristy history), and while things have gotten better, it’s still disheartening to either hear the same old jokes that don’t even apply anymore or even an attitude that its continuing issues (such as it’s questionable school system and crime rates) makes it a total no go with nothing worthy to note or to improve. It’s not even a rural town, it’s just another Midwestern Rustbelt city with some great architecture and history.
And then there’s just a lot of towns and cities with huge potential and great histories (like Mingo Junction, Ohio) that haven’t even had revitalization efforts yet, but would probably make great towns and would probably help to accommodate those who prefer smaller towns and even alleviate our current housing crisis.
And then we wonder why we never seemed to have had a housing crisis. Maybe if we didn’t consolidate big money/industries into fewer and fewer areas, we probably wouldn’t even have things like an Opioid crisis and what not. Why get on meth when your surroundings are good, you’re happy with where you are and your life is generally a-OK and stable?
LA is literally a city of immigrants so it really bothers me that people who don't live there / transplants automatically assume that its not...like have you BEEN outside of west la??
Most people have a very cartoonish view of LA, including the transplants
This 👏. Every transplant I know lives on the West side and thinks they know LA. I was at a bar in a Hollywood and someone there told me they had never met anyone from LA. Like go to any Dodger game??
As someone who doesn’t live in America these two cities are so romanticised in my head! however it’s interesting that influencers are even INFLUENCING our perception on cities.
I wonder if people will follow the influence though and go where the taxes are lower or the aesthetics are aesthetic!
I live in America and both of these cities are heavily romanticized for me as well.
Yess like every tv show, even in non-american cops tv show that include american cops they ALWAYS either lapd or nypd idk if it just me ehehehehe
If that’s you in your pfp, you’re very pretty!
I live in NYC and lol, i never associated what i saw in shows and stuff with the street i'd walk in until recently. it was a cool moment when i connected the two
As someone from California it seems both romanticized yet overlooked at the same time. I'm from Fresno, and so many people ask how I love the beach, not realizing I'm from a valley that's rich in agriculture and 2 hours from the beach. California is rich in resources and experiences, but so many people glamorize a few things that many gems in our state are over looked. This often makes me wonder about other places that get hyped around the world.
" I'm sure locals are not sad to see people move away "
personally, the mass influencer exodus is like a giant holiday present I would have never thought to wish for.
sorry to all the NYC locals who are going to have to deal with what we've had going on here for almost a decade now.
I think it's just an American thing... I'm happy living in London, I see a lot of UA-camrs moving to Seoul, or Paris, other uropean cities, or Australia etc.
i fking LOVE London!
Japan too
London is amazing, don't ever move lol
No it’s an Influencer thing. I think most people love their home cities. Also out of 330 million people you will find many who love their home cities that aren’t LA or NY.
It’s not an American thing lol millions of us are perfectly happy not living in LA or NYC or any of the other cities you listed
What i think is really interesting is that a lot of the things NYC has to offer (walkability, views, parks, etc) many cities in Europe and Asia have to offer as well (I haven't been to other continents, so i;m just going off what I know). Like the subway/walking is a huge thing for me. I can do that in almost any major city in Europe but it's a rare thing in the US to have that be a bonus. The architecture, parks, and basically the "not being in your car" of it all seem really important to these 'vibes' we want to either watch or live. It's crazy that NYC is so unique when we really should have several cities that have the same essence of NYC since we are such a massive freaking country.
I'm also writing this as I live in philadelphia and I just visited friends in NYC today and I previously lived in Beijing and Paris! I just can't with american cities!!1 We need more public transport!!! Also I drank a bottle of wine!!! what is up guys!!!!!
The lack of walkability is what KILLS me about living in the US. I feel like I'm wasting my life away in my car because of how much my life centers around it. I've always wanted to live in San Francisco or NYC solely because I wouldn't need to drive every day.
nyami i live in Australia and growing up watching American youtubers, that was something i noticed very early on in vlogs! roads are like 2x the size they are here, shops are HUGE and car parks are even bigger! and everything’s taller too, it’s like (at least from what i’ve seen of major US cities) everything is designed to be driven around in big trucks, like it was never meant to be used by singular humans? instead for a hive-mind of cars and disproportionately large things. i remember seeing photos of a friend’s trip to the states when i was younger, and getting this daunting feeling when looking at photos of highways and streets because of how out of place they looked. and they were the place!!!
Well they are influencers, not public transportation enthusiast 😅. If they are then City Beautiful or Not Just Bikes would have a competition in their niche
For me new york is the one place where I could imagine myself living if I would have to live in the states. I am dutch, born and raised in Amsterdam, I am used to biking and walking everywhere and in LA I don't think that is as easy as in New york.
@@orangeleprachaun4723 Yes! I feel the same, I've never owned a car and when travelling in Europe you don't need one to go places. Walkability is a big plus in my books.
i am from Argentina and I think this is a global trend. there is not room for 'beachy country side' content anymore because big cities aesthetics is trend right now . The 'that girl' content from tik tok where girls shows their lifestyles in the city ( i ve seen a lot from Paris, London, NYC, even TOKIO) it's becoming trendiest. Here in Argentina south america, for example , we have Buenos Aires city that matches the Parisian aesthetic, so fashion content creators get the most out of moving to the big cities...
ps I always watch and recommend ur content !
ps 2 sorry 4 my english! Have a great day!
no need to apologize! your english was basically perfect, pero we spell Tokio as "Tokyo" :)
@@shaina8947 I remember for Spanish influences a lot of them we're moving to Bueno Aires but recently it seems theyre all in Mexico city now it's kind of interesting
Do you have any influencers from Argentina to recommend? This country attracts me a lot :)
Idk, here in Brazil the creators usually don’t really move cities, there isn’t really a “going to São Paulo” trend and people usually just stay in their cities, especially after tik tok. But moving countries on other hand is quite common, a lot of influencers go to the United States (always Miami or Orlando) or even Portugal after they get rich
Yeah I've seen this happen in many Asian countries as well.
Girl I watched Pixar’s movie “Soul” & the scene where 22 is in Joe’s body & walks out the hospital there were a lot of people walking by & she got overwhelmed & I got overwhelmed with her. I always wanted to move to jersey city & commute to manhattan after college but that scene made me realize I didn’t want to. I definitely had a romanticized view of NYC.
that scene made me cry fr:(
Another thing, you said how NY & LA are portrayed so often in media. I always notice that even though New York seems gritty and tough, it is seen as a cool positive place in movies. Even though LA is portrayed as beautiful and sunny, it is often almost a villain character in shows and movies.
such a great observation!
now this is what i'm interested in!
Omg this is so true! The times where LA is a character in a movie is often when you have a character aspiring to be an actor or musician, but is held back and limited by LA and it’s hyper-competitive nature. Think La La Land, A Star is Born. People in these movies succeed DESPITE of LA, not because of it. They have to rise above the city and be persistent and hard-working in order to overcome the fact that the city does not want them to succeed. It really is a villain the characters have to overcome. Versus movies set in New York, the city often helps the character achieve their goals or whims. It helps them to find their soulmate, or encourages them to keep going in achieving their dreams when they have lost motivation. The difference is very obvious.
Amy Roche girl A+, you couldn’t have said it any better
@@amyroche5376 wow...my city was the baddie this whole time.
As someone who’s from LA, it’s frustrating seeing all these influencers come here with unrealistic expectations of the LA influencer style and then complain and talk about how much they hate it. They talk about interactions with fake people and social climbers who are usually other influencers who aren’t from LA. They contribute to the culture they complain about.
A cool series that explores LA's diverse cultures and history is City of Ghosts on Netflix. It is technically a kids show, but it's actually a really interesting look at LA through the lens of a kid and an adult could definitely enjoy it. I certainly did. If you look more into the production, they actually did their research and sought out real people from minority communities in LA.
I've seen that! It was so cute and interesting
yes!!!! I love
Oh I watched a few episodes of that in one of my classes! It’s really sweet and I loved how it talked about the city and the sort of “oral storytelling” feel it had
Yes 👏👏👏
As someone who was born in Northern California in a small farm town and then spent their teen and adult years in San Diego County its annoying that non-Californians act like LA is the entire state. So many people base their opinions of California on LA when LA is very much its own animal.
Such a good point. And even the way they talk about LA - it's really just one corner of west LA.
Yeah same. I was born in a northern ca farm town then lived in marin county.
True dat.
I'm so glad Seattle isn't trendy. Things are already bad here, we do not need the burden of influencers driving up rent and prices.
I was looking for this comment lol. Yeah driving around here sucks ass now
Seattle is dark and rains most of the time so I don’t think it would ever be glamorized
@@mandyramos1671 at least that is what is perceived of the city, I always wondered if that is a stereotype or a true depiction, I always pictured it as the most depressing city (for mental health)
@@BladeX11883 oh wow really? I've only been once but the weather there is personally way better than the constant Texas heat I grew up with. The mix of city and nature is beautiful, but it really is expensive
@@chi2om nice, I live in Massachusetts so we get a nice mixture as well I guess I always thought that because of tv books and I think there was some weird study about mental health there. this is how sterotypes start lol
It seems like being in NYC is a mandatory for influencers right now. I lived there for 7 years before I eventually left and while it lives up to it’s hype, the way the NYC - specifically Manhattan - is romanticized (because let’s be real, most of these influencers are not moving to Queens or BX) on social media is very off-putting. NYC is a hard city to live in if you’re not making enough money or even if you’re just working a regular job that pays semi-well. I know I hated paying my rent every month! But ultimately, NYC basically acts as its own character and really helps with creating content. As an influencer, you don’t really need to be entertaining if you live in NYC because the city is entertaining enough on its own.
My teacher once said to me “New York is for the temporarily privileged and they will soon be eating ramen and debating to pay the water bill or heating bill.” I never moved there lol I’m glad I didn’t because she was right.
She's right.
That's why she is a teacher and not in NY
I wouldn't be surprised if people with Dark Academia aesthetics were more drawn to New York as well. I would provide a lot for that New England old money vibe.
Also - I love how whenever New York is in a movie or TV show, there's like a 50% chance the shooting location is actually Toronto.
Omg I’ve been thinking this too! I feel most of the people I watch have moved to New York in the past year! As someone who was born and raised in SoCal, I’ve never had a want to move to New York (not that I didn’t love it like I’ve always loved the idea but I just knew for myself a city like that wouldn’t make me ultimately happy), but since everyone I’ve been watching has been making content there I did feel myself having a small desire to move there which I hadn’t ever had! Again I know ultimately I wouldn’t be overall happy, but it’s interesting how the influence of the influencer being there does INFLUENCE you 😅
funny tho cuz nyc was hemorrhaging people back in the 00s. I left in 2016
That's so funny you say that. I live in NYC and I feel like everyone has been moving to LA, especially after the pandemic.
I’ve definitely had the same experience. I’m born and raised in SoCal and have visited NYC several times but never had the desire to live there. Of course there’s that sense of wonder, because the city is filled with many different exciting things. And sources like Humans of New York really make it feel diverse and filled with history.
East Coast is still cool, but I’d like to move to Boston than New York.
I wish people would stop moving to places just because everyone else is making a look like it’s the place to be or an influencer opportunistic dreamland. It’s always the places where the natives/ locals who live there struggle just to survive because all of you influencers and gentrifiers keep coming here. Stop moving to Hawaii, LA, and New York. You are making our quality of life go down the drain. Think about your impact you are not just one person sneaking through. Every time one of you move to our home takes away the opportunity for one of us to ever be able to afford to get a decent house. Majority of us don’t even have a livable wage.
same! city life is slightly overwhelming in miami and i’ve lived here all my life, i can’t even begin to imagine new york city. although sometimes i consider it even though i KNOW it’s not for me
I'm from South East Asia and have come across many videos of the homelessness problem in LA. It kinda shocks me tbh. It seems like they never really show 'that side' of the society on the mass media.
Yeah, it’s tough to know what a city is really like if all we see in the media are glamorized views of them or only certain parts of them, whether it be LA, New York, or someplace else. Not everything is glitter and gold or a fair experience for everyone.
yea, actually stats have shown that while overall crime has gone down over the course of the pandemic, homelessness has definitely gone up :/ the city government doesn’t do shit.
There's so many places in L.A that influencers won't step a foot in it, because for them it's not pleasantly "Aesthetic" for their Instagram photos.
It's an issue quite unique to that area. More than half of the whole country's homeless population live in the one place.
The examples of NYC-based Instagram posts you're showing really highlight how conformist and uncreative these people are. A picture of an attractive young white woman crossing the street in NYC? WOW, how original and unique. Let's reward her with wealth.
lol love the comment
for real lmao
I swear. And they're usually blonde women from cali who watched lady Bird or smthng
lmao
As someone from Hawaii seeing mainlanders (especially influencers) move to the islands and act like they're still in the mainland/disrespect the culture is so irritating.
The thing about privilege of those who move to a new place then shit talk it is also so prevalent here. A lot of us grew up struggling with money - and still do. The people who move here can be so privileged is so frustrating
I hate it when these people move to Hawaii and automatically call themselves a local after a month of living here and then refer to other haoles as “tourists”. Like LOL YOU ARE a tourist and will always be one to us in our eyes. It’s funny when transplants don’t know they’re transplants. They don’t care that no born and raised local can afford to buy a house or that a gallon of milk is $7. They just keep coming here and making life harder for us.
And yes they are rude and disrespectful AF. To us and to the land. Videos of military people partying on the beach and leaving all their rubbish is enough to make my blood boil and take a knee
Was sitting at the beach the other day listening to some hippie share with his friends that “I’ve only been here three months, but in a way, I’ve never not been here.” Wtf does that mean? Go home.
@@gravyall0va @BeckyS OMG ALL THE SENTIMENTS ABOUT THE BEACHES. They go to Hawaii for the beautiful beaches but don't understand that people here take care of the aina and that's why it's still so clean.
Also yeah I small kine laugh when people say Hawaii is their favorite place then their favorite beach is Waikiki. LOLOLOL
I live in Puerto Rico (a US territory) and the same happens here. 😅
One of the biggest problems with influencers moving to specific cities is that those cities/areas end up becoming gentrified by virtue of them moving there.
Lmao
Does Manhattan need any help with gentrification?
@@joelman1989 Lol no it definitely does not. I was thinking about various other cities (like, I live in this one coastal city in Canada and it's rapidly becoming an issue in a number of neighborhoods here, which was kind of surprising to me the first time I heard about it)
I get what you’re saying and I totally agree with the sentiment. I was about to write a reply backing you up but then I’m like, there’s no way UA-cam influencers ALONE can detectably impact gentrification as a whole. And even though people might like watching it, it doesn’t mean they’re all going to pack up and move to these places.
But actually I will throw in my opinion that social media has probably ruined places like Bali, bora bora and the Maldives.
As an L.A. native, I love to see it. Happy to declutter the state of entitled influencers. L.A. gets a rep for having fake social climbers but honestly the worst ppl are the ppl who aren’t from here, who are so desperate to be in entertainment and who have that me me me attitude.
I was born and raised in a small town and never had the wish to move to New York, Paris, Berlin or some city that big. I did enjoy my time living in a bigger city during university, but honestly, towns are just so much more relaxing to me. All I want in the future is a garden to grow vegetables and feed my chickens in peace.
I'm an NYC native and it's always really weird seeing lifestyle vloggers live in and romanticize the city. I love NYC, but they live so differently from me that it feels like they're living in a completely different city. While many neighborhoods are being gentrified, some, like SoHo, are even being "influencer-fied," where it feels more like a photo-op than a place where real people live. None of my friends hang out in SoHo, unless you're wealthy there's not much to do there!
yes!! it's like they're living in an entirely different world! i pass through places they hang out and feel so out of place myself. it's so strange
Okay super silly Q, and maybe over generalized from a LA native. But do you feel NYC is more dangerous than LA? Nowhere is 100% safe- i mean LA has areas of crime obviously and bad people. But, i always read such crazy stories from the Dailymail of someone being stabbed randomly or hit or shot, or people being pushed on the subway. I mean heck Bradley Cooper had said he was held up on the subway a while ago.You need to be street smart wherever you live/visit. Only visited NYC a handful of times to the popular places- but i just always wondered. I mean, NYC is very compact compared to the size of the LA area. I always wondered what it would be like living in NYC for a little while- but my #1 concern has always been the safety there and public transportation. Never took public transport in LA.
@@clisaa6974 i’ve only spent a maybe two weeks’ time in LA, and i’m sure i haven’t seen the full scope of what it has to offer, but what i CAN say is that any discomfort i’ve felt in terms of safety was less about what the danger could’ve been and more about the lack of walkability that would get me away from it in nyc. you know what i mean? you definitely have to be on alert in nyc, but “on alert” for people who have lived here long enough is a special type of alert. it’s so hard to explain lol. basically it’s why i feel fine in other cities that people say are dangerous, you grow a certain sense. idk about more or less dangerous though
@@clisaa6974 I've never been to LA so I can't really compare, but I think the media overstates the crime in NYC. Crime was big in the 70s/80s but it really cleaned up since then, NYC's safer than most other big cities in the US. While there are always sketchy people you just have to know where/what times to avoid and stay alert, don't act stupid/seem like an easy target. I take the subway every day, I like it a lot because I don't have to have a car to get around.
@@withlove_nikki ahhhh i understand! that is good to know. Well, at least being in NYC preps you for safety and being alert for wherever you go. And, yeah LA is super not walkable like NYC-that i get. I studied abroad in London one semester and felt i was in dreamland- cause their metro system is the best in the world and super clean and nice for the most part. It is so freeing when u dont need to worry about traffic or parking lol.
As a native New Yorker, I learned that just because a city is popular and has a lot to offer objectively, that doesn’t mean it’s right for *you*. My family is bicoastal and I’m happier living in LA than I ever was in NY. NY stresses me out, the shit weather aggravates my chronic illness, it’s crowded, and the landscape lacks greenery, shall we say. On the west side of LA, I have quiet, easy access to nature, stellar weather year round (bye bye seasonal affective disorder), and the lifestyle is much more laid back. This is the first place I got to take care of myself genuinely and it’s not for everyone, but the whole city is not Hollywood and it’s certainly not a monolith. New York is great for some people. That doesn’t mean it’s objectively the best city, let alone right for everyone
You just not a hard worker and lazy you proved it with this sob story 😂😂😂🤦🏾♂️. NYC THE BEST JU HEARDDD
I think there's also a generational/age factor to it. The people who watched lifestyle content as teenagers and are still doing so now are also maturing, and New York City definitely feels more "mature" and "grown up" and "serious" than LA.
I agree. Unfortunately at the end of the day, these type of people are still image-conscious.
Lol
Kind of reminds me of that old saying- too ugly for LA, too dumb for NYC. Which I think captures the vibe a lot of influencers are trying to get now lol. They had their hot girl phase, now they're going for their smart, arty girl phase.
The social media trend cycle of locations is quite similar to the traditional media trend cycle of locations. I'm an actor and went to school for Theatre with a focus in acting. In one of my classes, Career Seminar, we talked about the cycle of locations that production companies use. Obviously LA and NYC have always been the primary hubs for productions but there is a secondary hub that changes cities every few years. Like for a while it was Chicago (still a big place for theatre), Detroit was big for a little, right now Atlanta has a lot of productions going on, and recently I've seen more and more stuff in North Carolina. I think Social Media will follow the same trajectory of the current trendy city.
Wait Detroit was big when 😭
@@chaaaargh I guess around 2014-2016 some big movies shot there like Batman vs Superman (my professor is actually in that movie!)
Dude I also majored in theatre!! I just graduated in May 2021. I live an hour from LA and don't want to be here forever. I have thought of maybe Boston or DC but I am intrigued by North Carolina. What cities would you recommend there for theatre?
@@LaurenLaass I unfortunately don't know much about the Theatre scene in NC I just know that some film production companies (especially for online stuff) have started popping up there. Boston or DC would be better for Theatre specifically. Best of luck to you friend.
NC and Atlanta are definitely really popular for younger creative types right now
LOVE your explanation about how unrealistic influencer lifestyles are. My daily routine in NYC is waking up when it’s dark, taking the train to work, working until it’s dark again, and heading home to make dinner. Influencers make NYC life look like a fun vacation, but most people in NYC can’t be out all day shopping and going to expensive restaurants.
As a native new Yorker, I so hope NYC doesn't become the new influencer hub/new LA😓
Same 🥲
Same
I am native LA I am so happy that influencers are leaving LA
I remember seeing an influencer on tiktok moving to New York and being very disappointed and they said that it was romanticized a lot They literally talked about walking down the street and dirty water from an ac unit hitting them and air pollution being bad
And that's so crazy to me because as a normal adult, if I am moving somewhere (completely voluntarily; on my own terms) I'm going to do so much research and visit to look at potential housing and see the real side of that city. Like the privilege it takes to just get up and move, especially somewhere as expensive as NYC is impressive.
I entirely believe that the return of 90s culture and fashions has influenced this also. Friends in particular makes living in New York incredibly appealing to a young person seeking that "90s Aesthetic".
Also Sex in the City and Seinfeld.
@@mostHumblePersonAlive and 13 going on 30 vibes
Having moved to LA from a tiny town in the Midwest, there was definitely some culture shock. I don’t miss the weather, but it’s weird not having close knit neighbors. People here tell me how “nice” I am, I guess that “Midwest nice” stereotype has some basis. I grew up in a rural area, practically a country song cliche. Sunday church, lots of venison, corn, pine trees, and fresh water lakes, bonfires, back roads. I still love it, but California has been an interesting experience for me.
The cultural diversity out here is cool, I have learned a lot. My high school Spanish classes ended up being more useful than I could have imagined. I had my first tamales, and authentic ramen. Had an authentic home cooked Chinese meal. I’ve learned a few Arabic phrases, gained a deeper knowledge of halal, listened to first hand stories about Iraq in the 1980’s. I’ve been to drag shows, and goth/kink clubs. Trying to be open minded/hearted has really made this a good experience.
That's super interesting! I was just in LA this weekend (CA native so go there a lot) and was actively wondering what it was like for someone from the midwest or south to come here. I feel like the LA represented in the media is sooo different from what LA actually is. It makes me wonder about the culture shock experiences people must have
Yes! I am from Wisconsin and I’ve been living in California for 5 years. It’s definitely a culture shock and I probably won’t be here much longer. Others are able to adapt but to each it’s own. ❤️
I’m from Kansas and moved to New York (Not nyc) and it’s so cozy here. Moved 7 years ago from a tiny town and definitely relate!
Adding to say I miss Kansas and quite farm life and the corn and all the space and all the stuff I resented when I moved away at 18 but miss at 25.
entertained and informed yet again!! thank you for making another great commentary video. just love how you're able to make these topics so interesting
hey king
The same thing is happening in Europe to an extent. London was so hot and trendy for the past decade or so, and now a lot of influencers seem to be moving from to Paris. Paris is like NYC, ie. more urban, more fashionable, more old-school "glamour". London is more like LA, ie. more sprawl, a somewhat more "down-to-earth" vibe. I think the trends are just cycling.
The comparison is kinda off to me.
I would say London is like NYC. LA is a h as hard comparison since its so fake.
Paris is just cool man! It sucks that it's so expensive, and that people have to live in the sparse suburbs and commute for hours everyday to go to work. Paris' biggest flaw is its radial planning which concentrates everything in one spot.
I think of SF as being more like Paris, and NYC being similar to London, as you say. I guess the sprawl of LA is not unlike Tokyo, but Tokyo has the population density of NYC or London.
@@Eclecticompany SF is like…. Paris???
@@Chic88go In 2005, when I was last in SF, it reminded more of Paris than LA or NYC.
This is such a good depiction of how influencer culture is bringing to light a trend that was occurring long before the internet. I love that more people are talking about this phenomenon, because I think culturally we are becoming more self-aware about how our individual needs might clash with a city or culture and that does not inherently mean that the city or culture is bad.
This is completely different, obviously, but a lot of people move to Alaska and comment on how there's a lack of social activities, and I say "Well yeah, this is one of the most isolated places in the world, no one lives here because they like people." But in the end, it becomes instinct to place all of the blame on the location rather than taking a moment to look within ourselves and admit that maybe we just weren't cut out for this particular area.
Native Oregonian here. I have contemplated moving to Alaska multiple times but can never pull the trigger because of the isolation. 🤷♀️ It's important to know your own limits and not expect a place to change for you
@@terrisserose I will say there are some areas not so isolated. Anchorage is a proper city, but it is very transient (mainly oil workers and military) so socially it can be very isolating. Fairbanks is filled with real lifelong Alaskans and has benefits of a city, but you would have to be okay with crazy cold Winters. Outside of that, people are very friendly but the town itself will be isolated, and you might not see people every single day. I hope this helps! It is definitely a very different atmosphere.
(Not sure if this is super related) As a New Zealander I was shocked to see the amount of poverty and homelessness covering the streets and parks of LA when I visited. That aspect of the states is not shown on social media, and no influencers ever address the inequality of the locations of their content, it was only from first hand experience I really understood this. Yet many of my peers still glamourise the states as a place for a rich lifestyle and opportunity.
You haven't really been paying attention? Sorry, but it's ok to say you don't know much instead of pretending like the world's been hiding it from you.
Also when I visited NZ, a lot of people only knew the negative things and wanted to go on about it. The US is a normal country, has good things and bad things
@@sunshineyellow I am aware of the issues that the states have. Also some of my family lives there and luckily they love the place. Personally my comment was more so an observation that popular influencers and UA-camrs rarely address (or perhaps rather are privileged enough) to ignore the vast reality of the places they live.
you’re right cali is trash compared to ny
I'm not from California (from a different part of the country entirely) and went there recently and was just as shocked. Then a Californian acquaintance of mine informed me that over half of the US's homeless population (keep in mind the US population exceeds 300 million) reside in California, and the majority of that subset reside in that very county. Crazy right? So that's why it appears so visually overwhelming. A lot (maybe even most) have never witnessed that kind of thing. I'm middle class in the South and I had never seen a homeless community because my town has plenty of space and resources to support those who are unhoused. So for me the portrayals of typical suburban idyllic life I see in the media relatively reflect reality as I lived it growing up. Of course as I have gotten older and seen more of the world I have a broader scope, but it isn't as if those social media portrayals are falsehoods; they just reflect the reality of some and not others. I moved abroad to several different locations in search of opportunities and in my career space (aerospace) nothing comes anywhere close to the US. So I think it really comes down to very obvious factors (field, location, income + cost of living) that you would consider when thinking about going anywhere. So in my case where I live is the holy grail, but for someone doing something else it might be much better to look elsewhere.
I lived in LA my whole life, when the rise in LA popularity; EVERYTHING got raised higher. Living in LA is a privilege to me now whether it’s dead or not, I cannot believe how expensive and gentrified it is now. Im glad we’ve grown outdated in social media, I will live happy here while the tiktokers make their 15 second videos on New York streets
Yes, fellow LA native here - I hope the exit LA trend continues as well!
So I live in Pasadena, about 30 minutes from LA. And I'm genuinely shocked that people think LA doesn't have a lot of diversity. Were they only spending time in the richest, whitest neighborhoods? I think LA has a ton of beautiful and rich diversity and so much history to learn about. That, along with people saying LA is basic, just makes me think the people saying that were in a shallow bubble while in LA. I have nothing against New York city. It seems great. But I guess I just don't like to see people saying crap about LA that doesn't even make sense.
People seem to get stuck in their own routine and set places, stepping out of their comfort zone every so often, and then make a judgement.
I've heard the same thing said about Fresno and growing up I believed it, but now I've realized how much is overlooked here. We have so many people from different backgrounds and I'm glad to see the communities growing and interacting around the valley. :)
I was shocked by that too. LA is one of the most diverse cities in the country, how do people not know that?
Agree on this. I think the influencers have stayed in west LA and whatever other areas they've gentrified.
LA is diverse. LA is a large county and covers many diverse areas rich and poor, rundown and high-end. There are pockets of areas where all ethnicities live. Pasadena is not one of them - White and Asians make up the majority
NYC is amazing if you’re wealthy! So much to do and you can find some beautiful housing if you can pay thousands a month. LA is equally as expensive without the convenience of location that NYC offers. I lived in both places and would’ve stayed in NYC longer if I lived an influencer lifestyle
You look a lot like Candice Patton 😊
LA is NOWHERE near as expensive as living in NYC
@@anony1596 thank you! Funny enough I’ve been told that once before :)
@@extermicait most stats indicate that they’re almost equivalent with New York only being slightly more pricey. And from my experience the cost of living is about the same
@@extermicait What you save on rent in LA, you make up for in car expenses so NYC & LA virtually cost the same.
As a non-American who lived in New Orleans for 6 years, totally agree on the whole interacting with strangers thing! It was really confusing at first to say "how you doin'" to randoms but eventually you get a real feel for the sense of community in the city. Very sad about how gentrified some areas are becoming though!
Native New Orleanian here and you’re absolutely right. Even just over the past year I’ve watched all these houses in my “hood” neighborhood get flipped and turned into trendy apartments for white transplants. A lot of these transplants also come, contribute to gentrifying, leave, and then trash talk the city. It’s very frustrating as a local and I wish we could all have a little more respect for cities and the people that live there. I hope you enjoyed your time in the city and I hope you’ve taken some “how ya doin’s” along with you 💕
@@MrCarolineiscool I wonder if it the same will ever happen to Lafayette. I'm in Lake Charles right now, but I'm supposed to be moving there soon.
@@MrCarolineiscool same in KC. Houses around me are going for $500,000!
in my experience (living in many cities in both northern and southern hemispheres) a city's reputation is rarely reflective of the actual experience there. my favourite city in the world, montreal, is wildly underrated and turned out to be a total unexpected delight, despite researching it heavily before we arrived. sometimes you just have to experience a place to really get the vibe.
Ugh I feel you, I’m doing an exchange in Montreal and I really don’t want to leave
I visited montreal in the winter during a blizzard for the first time, and I STILL loved it. Such an amazing and underrated city
As an la native: good get out they just come here only hang out with wanna be famous people then complain everyone is fake. It’s who you hang out with!!
it's so annoying!!! la has regular people who go to school and have jobs or people who raise families here
Hollywood/influence culture is only, like, 10-20% of la is
Same I live in LA as an IT professional and well had no issue finding out new friends that are not fake 😉 also by being here i could get a 2× salary by increasing my living cost only by 20% compared to what it used to be in the east coast
Agreed
I noticed everyone leaving in LA in 2020 and starting to badmouth it like never before. It was so so weird to witness that. It was suddenly trendier and quirky to make "Escaping LA for good" videos and posts and it influenced people's opinions of that city even more. I've been fighting off people in my comments for FIVE years when I lived there (chose to study at an Academy there and then made enough connections to work after school) and people couldn't grasp that I was happy. Why would they? Every other influencer and UA-camr who used LA for their content for years suddenly "hated the vibe" and "wanted to get out". And I don't see their lifestyles changing that drastically after "escaping that hellhole" - they still seem to have the same vibe about them.
I was happy there. I loved exploring the corners of LA - Eagle rock, Pasadena, Glendale, Altadena, Topanga canyon,... I spent so much time there but I did it for my soul. 95% of people I met there were GREAT. Some even the best I've met so far. Not one "casting couch" experience. Yes, I met some sketchy people in the business but that was also happening when I was a waitress in a European country - shady people will be shady and prey on women if they get a chance.
I don't get the whole hatred towards LA. And I don't get why people hate it so much that without even knowing anything about the city or its wonderful cultures, nooks, history etc. that they'd try to tell other people it's "gonna ruin them". My country is also expensive to exist in. Hell, the whole world is becoming expensive. You have shitty people in every city. LA is not vapid or shallow or a shithole.
And I hope I can one day be back :)
This is so interesting because as a Colorado native and watching a lot of people from Cali and New York and Texas and Illinois move here to leave these classic places to live, I feel like my Colorado bubble is changing so much from this influx of other places! Living here my whole life I feel like I’ve watched the change of going from a nobody state to people *want* to move here and artists *want* to have concerts here! It’s wild. And I don’t mean this in a “it’s all bad” type of way. I just think this transplant idea is so interesting and doesn’t just apply to the LA -> NY transplant idea you talked about here! Thank you for a great video, Tiffany! 🤗💕
I see that on a lower dose living in Southern Oklahoma. Such a huge change of all these city folk moving in from California saying how charming the small town life is. It’s fun seeing this small town grow.
CO is turning into Cali 2.0 and it’s honestly depressing. Too much change in the past few years.
As a CO native it is sad to see how much it has changed. I still love it but it would be better with less people.
As a camping, hiking, nature, winter loving girl, I would also move out to CO in a heartbeat
New Yorkers are here because people from California have forced us out of our city.
Trust me.
We're not here because we love the lack of workers rights, renters rights or access to Medicare.
This is kind of weird to watch because I was forced to move out of my favorite place, San Francisco, due to the similar trend of tech workers moving in and driving up costs. It sucks when people treat cities that others love so much as a trend and gentrify the hell out of them just to up and leave a few years later.
I think it’s worth to mention that there has been an insane spike in Covid cases in NYC during the past few days due to travel (mainly by these people who are not from there and travel back home during the holiday season). These are also the people that hit multiple parties and locations a night. Now the actual citizens of NYC just trying to live their life have to deal with the largest spike since March 2020. I personally know so many people who are testing positive.
I moved to NYC 11 years ago when I was 19. I followed a boyfriend (now husband) who was born & raised in Brooklyn. I’ve scraped and struggled, got married, had kids, grew up here. I never lived in manhattan. new york is so. much. more than you see. it’s so hard. it’s also so beautiful!!!! it’s home. the energy is unmatchable.
oh and I moved from LA lol
I’m gonna comment spam this whole time, Tiffany!
Another thing this makes me thing of is hyperconsumption. We think of consumption as just what we buy at the store but shifting trends in fashion, etc are also created by cultural shifts like this. Sort of like remodeling your home as a form of consumption, when the home trends keep changing constantly. I wonder if moving across the country as an influencer is just a way to shift your aesthetic and buy … well new shit lol.
This comment illuminated something important. Yes! Yes! Yes! A lot of land gets developed (I work in environmental consulting where I do Phase I reports for development companies) we already have an excess of homes with respect to housed people. So why keep building more houses if we have too many? Housing is consumption with grave consequences for the citizens and environment
There’s so many layers to this - using a location as a form of consumption, using the place to create a form of consumption (through creating media around it), discarding said place when you feel like it no longer serves for creating media to be consumed by others, and creating an image based around location and the things and places you “consume” within it, etc. creating a lifestyle for consumption, have your lifestyle be something others consume, etc. it’s a trip.
@@icarusgotooclose I think sprawling out can be helpful bc I don't think densifying where people already lives helps. So you bring up a really good point I missed!
I want to highlight the fact that we do have more than enough housing already created and it is not being used. In the process of creating developments, whether it be housing or commercial purpose, prices in these areas do go up as well. Montgomery is a city that comes to mind for me. In the development process, many environmental factors such as wetlands and streams are affected. It is also unavoidable that some degree of contamination will occur in development. My wish is that we would use our resources to improve already established communities rather than "flipping" more land. I dont know if that makes sense but thank you for catching me on that!
@@icarusgotooclose omg I totally see what you are saying. Yeah these suburban zoning plans are what's really bothering me. In addition to the time isolated from driving and inaccessibility to walk in town, there's a huge lack of public spaces, even to park (lest you get towed 🙃) or even benches. I can't remember his name but this guy on tik tok does urban development planning and he would walk thru towns to rate their sidewalks. A lot of these "strip mall esque" shopping areas lack benches or places for people to meet up. We are becoming so isolated.
I love the rant and especially learning more about these things so thank you! I went into environmental thinking I would save the planet but a good deal of my work allows for these developments to happen. Sometimes I will have projects in cities, like Chattanooga was a recent one, and it bothered me to hear people complain about homeless populations while also constructing homes that the current residents cannot afford. One of the only controls I really have is to do my research to the best of my ability to look for potential environmental concerns or evidence of contamination before people build.
There are some government or funding organizations that require strict guidelines to apply for the funding and I enjoy those projects because it is one way to make sure that people build mindfully.
💯
I really also feel like this depends on the type of creator and their audience. A lot black creators with mainly black audiences are moving to Atlanta. But as of now that’s not the mainstream yet for other types of influencers, if you catch my drift.
Nobody captures NY like Spike Lee! He paints a very beautiful yet realistic view of what life in brooklyn is really like.
I’d also like to say sunny los angelos versus the darker aesthetic of New York is showing in style fashion and music right now. More Emo and goth aesthetics are becoming popular again. Which I think correlates more with the city of New York.
Totally! I feel like the same thing happened in the early 2010s where London became really popular along with a preppy aesthetic, which gave way to the VSCO-girl Los Angeles aesthetic.
Emo aesthetic is popular again?? Damn I’m old lol
Its funny though because emo and goth aesthetics are not NYC at all so social media can be deceiving. There is so much diversity here that one style doesn’t rule another but I see what you mean.
@@ElenyM I feel the same way I was a “mall goth” 😩
@@ElenyM I’d say the true emo and goth trend is still more niche and teen focused, but “edgy” fashion is filtering out into mainstream adult fashion if that makes sense? You’re not going to see a lot of people in their 20s dressing like Kiki Kannibal, but they might be wearing a longline leather jacket and knee high leather boots etc. So definitely more “big city cool girl” than the VSCO girl fashion trends back when everyone was in LA
@@maddyrevenge okay I see what you mean. I live near a college and two high schools in NYC and most young native New Yorkers are not dressing like that from what I’ve seen lol. Maybe they would at a Parsons or NYU or FIT but those fashion trends are shown by transplants or those who like fashion in general. I think NYC style definitely gets gentrified too through influencers to become an inauthentic aesthetic like wearing berets in Paris.
Whenever I was young I always dream of moving to either California or New York but as I got older I realised how much I need nature and dislike cities or busy places. I've found happiness and gratitude right where I live (Scotland) and pride in my culture. I can't wait to move more up North where the beautiful mountains and peaceful locations are. I think the key is being grateful for what you have instead of being consumed by the influencer romanticized version of these places.
New York is also extremely stressful not just for the hustle culture and high rent but the population density. You would really have to be rich or very well off in order to thrive there I believe. I think nature is the best for human mental health and wellbeing but obviously, there are people who love the city and don't want to move elsewhere so that's just my take on it.
I think there's also this sense that New York is "authentic" and there's a sense that to succeed in New York is really a big flex (not to say that's not the case in LA but that's perhaps the perception). And I think there's something appealing to that "authentic" and "real" vibe of New York that people are craving right now in a not-quite-post-pandemic world. We had a lot of illusions shattered in 2020 and 2021 and many people are searching for authentic connection that draws them to New York. Whether or not that is a correct perception remains to be seen for each individual.
oh no new wave of LA gentrifiers 🙄 i finally got an affordable brooklyn studio, just stay in lala land or go to jersey, leave us alone😭 its so hard for NYC born and raised, and its barely become affordable after the huge exodus of student and transplants during quarantine.
It’s honestly disgusting to witness. don’t come to the Bronx 😂
Jersey doesn’t want them either
Nah don’t come to Jersey and keep them over there
I think it's interesting how the two shows you mentioned romanticizing New York (Gossip Girl and Sex and the City) are being rebooted currently as the moving to New York craze is happening
And also how I met your father
I live 30 minutes outside of Downtown LA and when I tell you the vibe is SO different it’s insane. LA has so much to offer but these influencers never even bothered to explore outside of Hollywood. No wonder they were lonely in their ridiculously small internet bubble.
I absolutely love NYC...to visit. And I feel like that's how a lot of these influences are experiencing how the rest of us experience NYC; like it's a vacation. Their lives are the equivalent of a vacation. These people are never going to have to worry about trying to get home through flooded subway stations the next time a Nor'easter decides to blow through because the section of the city the influences live in doesn't flood. I usually go to NYC once a year or so and it's a great place to visit but I absolutely could not live there.
New York has always been romanticized. Every aspiring writer, journalist, fashion designer, etc... movie character has moved there. All the talk shows are there, concerts, time square. The bigger influencer life got, the more they pursued big pop culture cities.
I feel like the weather might have an aesthetic too. People love “fall and winter aesthetics” especially for fashion influencers and for lifestyles having “weather appropriate “ events, being able to relate to being cold, not having a car / taking public transit, etc
I'm glad you've made a video on this. As a native New York, I've noticed this new trend. New York City is heavily romanticized and there is continuous gentrification occurring in all boroughs. There is a level of privilege to being able to live life here in the city in the way it is portrayed on social media.
For people who like the whole California chill vibe, yet still want to pay extremely high rent and be in a densely populated city, might I recommend San Francisco. Rent went down drastically during the pandemic because of the California exodus.
Aren’t sf being on the news almost every week for all the crimes and racialy attacks recently??
Social media can romanticize literally anything. NEVER use influencers as your gauge of how a place is like to visit let alone live! Always find out for yourself. Personally I prefer the cabin in the woods aesthetic but find cities fun to visit but never live.
as a person still living in their hometown & childhood home in a small city of a small island (Larnaca, Cyprus) it just baffles me how you could build up the courage to move to such a large city all by yourself just like that.
One reason i chose to stay here and study in a nearby university is because of the people surrounding me, I like having my friends & family arround me, they motivate me a lot.
New York and L.A do seem amazing places to be, so many opportunities and resources, but i'm such an extrovert that i would rather deal with the shitty parts of my small town and it being very behind and limited on some aspects, but still have the people i love and trust to make great memories with.
What i'm saying is that in my opinion, the people make a location great, not the actual location itself.
Same for me! I contemplate living in a bigger city that isn't even that far away (a city in the south west of England or a little further afield), when in reality I already live in a (small) city, which is overflowing with an amazing support network of family and friends. I have hobbies here that are made better by the people I do them with and the cost of living is much lower. Maybe moving somewhere else will be more realistic for me if I were in my 30s etc and had more disposable income, but right now I think the people are keeping me here as much as the positives the place has to offer. Living in a city with no one around you can be very isolating, and if things go wrong it's harder for anyone to help you
I moved to a whole other continent by myself - NZ to the UK. But I did it because I wanted to challenge myself, experience a new culture, and hopefully mature as a person. But, it's also been a rite of passage for NZers and Australian's to move to the UK.
Same I'm from another province that's not British Columbia and Ontario in Canada. I love it here and I don't think I'll ever move because all my family and friends are here.
I think this is very beautiful for you and shows how different we all are! I personally love my family and friends from my Hometown but I could not live there anymore. A lot of my friends left and my hometown doesn‘t offer anything for young adults.. so I am very happy I moved somewhere else, met new people and had a lot of new challenges. :)
Well said!
I’m so happy you made this video…and let’s not forget how influencers come in, act like they own the place, judge and entire city based on there own perception, gentrify it then dip for NY
its kinda fucked up how these influencers moved to LA and made the entire cost of living go up and then leave. there is a whole trend of NYCers coming to LA. Before 2010 downtown LA was a ghost town only businesses and santee alley but now communities like korea town, and little tokyo, the arts district, regualr people cant even think about living there. i also dont like how these influencers were surprised by the large amount of homeless people here and do stuff like vlog places in compton. smh, also the people i met in LA arent fake at all, they are just people
Exactly it’s so annoying. It felt like my family was kicked out because it was becoming unlivable. And then we have to hear other cheaper states complain about native Californians moving in but a lot of us honestly don’t have a choice. And then unfortunately, their prices start raising too. It’s like a terrible cycle because we all have to adapt to the tides rich people cause. Tides so sensitive that even droves of rich people moving to a SINGLE state affects the whole country.