London

no city compares to nyc on earth.new york is basically an extreme ballers dream.

Well I am sure this debate is somewhere else on the internet and it over two years old but I have to let this out. Even though it is a closed snobbish culture and high taxes, and the nightlife in New York is frantic and exciting, and the pollution and poor subways, London is by a very small fraction better. New York is fine and I concede more exciting, but the winter there is more nasty than London. You can be who you want in New York; but you can be comfortable in London. I'll take the comfort anyday.

are you kidding me? all there is in Red Hook is Ikea.
Ive been living in NYC for a while and trust me the stress of everything will kill "the buzz" eventually, and im not just talking about
the stress that responsibilities bring, no, new yorkers will look at you in very dirty ways sometimes if the clothes that you're wearing are different from theirs or if you choose to have a mohawk or any extravagant hairstyles. you will be looked down upon if you are DIFFERENT. unless you wear high end designer clothes.. just like everyone else! NYC is a place where aesthetic diversity is looked down upon. Its all about being a "popular preppy hipster' I HATE IT!

new york city takes it ,its the world capital and the sky is also with us here in new york city.new york is like meccas dream for muslim so its newyork to the extravaganza.

NYC beats London. New Yorkers are cool. Cockneys are just annoying. Leeds though, is better than both!

Haven't been to new york yet, but im going next year.
However I have been in London a lot. You cant beat London, from it's history, to it's reputation of being the home of music, there is something for everyone in London.
But feeling stoaked about going to NYC soon

London is a city where:
There is a strike on the underground every two weeks
The underground stops at 00:00
The underground breaks down when there is no strike
You are seven times more likely to be mugged than in New York
You will not find a shop open after 5pm on Sundays
You pepper the government with tax and see no returns on that investment
So don't nobody try to say that London is better than NYC. And I'm from London (originally)

Chicago is nice enough, I was there for the 08 election... And there seemed to be enough going on to be interesting. It wasn't as overwhelming as NY (even though I still prefer NY) can be but it still felt like a large happening city...
Also MC if you are sick of Australia and can then try New Zealand instead (Auckland kind of sucks but better than Sydney from what most people say and Christchurch really sucks too, but where I am in Wellington - the Capital City is really good and Dunedin in the deep South is not bad either).
There is certainly more diversity this side of the Tasman Sea. So pop over if you ever can. There is NO limits on traveling (although traffic cops here can be dicks but so can some in the US), there is a lot happening here - there will be enough winging poms here next year with the Rugby World Cup on too...
I think you can't go wrong with Chicago, like I said earlier I haven't been to London yet so can't vouch for that but I can for Chicago as I do for NY...

All these comments are very interesting since I last wrote. Its amazing how many of the opinions are leaning the same way by Americans and Brits alike.
Unfortunately, the opportunity to move to New York has changed, it is now Chicago? Any comments on what that city is like.
I can tell you this Sydney, Australia is not worth the 24hr journey. Its full of mediocrety and apathy. The whole country is run by Oligopolys, its a complete rip off.
They even tax educational books, and the school curriculum is behind Rajistan, thats how ignorant the Govt wish to keep the Aussies. They charge to park up till 10pm Monday-Sunday, even places like Manly they just dont want you to move around.
To Travel around or across the country costs a fortune. They have tolls everywhere, they simply dont want you to travel, and as long as they can keep you leading an insular lifestyle you will never understand how ripped off you are.
Now I know where the saying "whinging pomm comes from". Brits come over here and cant believe what is going on. They hide speed cameras in bins and wherever you go you can see a police car in the bushes waiting to catch you on film so he can charge you $250 fine.
This place is more communist than Russia! Any views on Chicago please let me know

Went to London for the first of my 6 times in 1985, when the dollar was strong, remember Ronald Reagan, though I'm not a republican, it was $1.30 to 1 pound, opposite of today. I'm a life long New Yorker born, raised in the East Village and still living in Manhattan, but I would get on plane right now and move to London. While it is probably more if not equally expensive I think London not so self-conscious. All of these "improvements" to NYC which are not improvements at all unless you're a real estate developer or someone with tons of money and enjoy using NYC as your playground. Change is normal, but the destruction of New York neighborhoods for the profitting of landlords as distroyed the character of NYC, at least in Manhattn. If you think it's great that your neighborhood is littered with Starbucks and Whole Foods (Whole Paycheck) and that's what New York is or always was, you're late, cause NewYork has left, and I intend to as well, and am really thinking about London. I love it there, and my allergies, for some strange reason, never bother me.

clapton is a dangerous shithole

I like New York slightly better but i'd rather live in London any day, I just prefer the English winters and the closed conversative society, I also think London is a bit more violent than New York. Just that there is something better about the English lifestyle. New York has the excitement but I prefer the spread out suburbs of London. Although I now live in Australia, I suppose the best option is not to compare the two, they can be tough cities to live in, I understand Londoners wanting more excitement moving to New York, but the bottom line you have to like American culture as New York is very different to the rest of the USA, but it is still American. I wonder but if the New York thing wears off, as the handful of people I know have left London for New York but within 10 years returned to England even with a higher tax system and other disadvantages. Each to their own, but New York as good as it is, is just not as good as London, my view only.

I've lived in New York all my life but am planning to go to London this summer or the next. People saying either is way better though I even have friends from London who say you just can't compare the 2, they're too different. Both are amazing cities though, can't wait to get to London :)

MC, Sydney I hear is too similar to Auckland so haven't been yet. Outside of New Zealand the only place I have visited is the States and must say that NY is the best place I have yet visited. I haven't of course been to London and will go over there and Paris later this year/early next year (and hopefully via NY again). And as for London what makes me willing to go there is pretty much just the history and museums (hear they are really up there) as am not really into the idea of the scene there i.e. clubs, shopping etc...
Thing I found about NY is it is a very fast paced place and quite overwhelming at times but it always pulls you back (having just been back there again in November I only finally want to get back yet again!).
I like DP's comment that it is the centralism of NY and it's over bubbling energy, when I am there you feel like an alien but you bounce against other aliens (from every country) and there is the insular feeling (it is part of the US after all) but an energy created by the cultures bouncing off each other and transcending that natural American insular feeling (I went to a gallery opening in the Lower East Side and one of the pictures was just a map of the States and it was titled 'Map of the World') to create what NY is famous for - it's ENERGY...
And el pep's comments are good, will keep those in mind when I go to London to acutally enjoy it by it actually being about the individual areas like Brixton etc kind of like you do in NY and hopefully see if there actually is a vibe there like there is in NY...

We are currently living in Sydney and we both have had the opportunity to work in London (I am British) and in New York.
I think someone above mentioned that New York is try hard and London has a more relaxed Vibe. I thing that comment was bang on!
The Brits are not to afraid to express their own tastes, where in the US its more dictated what is cool and what is not, so there is nothing natural about it.
They are both buzzing cities and if one gets the opportunity to live in them take it and count yourself lucky. They are exciting places and you can feel the buzz as you walk down the streets.
Unfortunately, that is something Sydney lacks, everything closes early, and there is a sameness all over the country.