East Coast Vs. West Coast

It turns out that the New York-Los Angeles dichotomy is more opinion than fact. The two places are becoming more alike.

1 minute read

April 14, 2003, 9:00 AM PDT

By Chris Steins @planetizen


"Now a bicoastal detachment of social scientists is riding to the rescue. Using everything from census and employment data to crime statistics, newspaper articles and hundreds of previously published academic papers and books, they have compared and contrasted Los Angeles and New York — their populations, politics, economies, residential patterns, immigrants, school systems, art worlds, images, riots, police.Partisans may be sorry to learn that the two regions strike some scholars as increasingly alike, despite many real differences. Under scrutiny, perceived polarities blur. New York is becoming L.A.-ified and Los Angeles York-ified, some argue. Certain cherished assumptions about the two places turn out to be rooted less in reality than in myth."

Thanks to Chris Steins

Sunday, April 13, 2003 in The New York Times

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