Slick Vik

The average rent for a STUDIO apartment in Astoria is now $1,000. For a f'in studio. In Queens. With a an apparently nice juice bar and two horrible grocery stores that sell rotten chicken and expired milk.

Yep, NYC is the bomb.

It's actually a fun neighborhood. That's why it costs so much. That's why people are willing to pay that amount to live there. There is a massive demand. But keep talking from the outside looking in.

My point is simple, your two true grocery stores SUCK. They are described as expensive, dirty, full of rude employees, and full of bad practices (selling expired goods/rotten chicken/broken eggs).

If you are going to brag on a place, you might want to understand how the internet works first.

Your point is what you want it to be. You said the things I mentioned were there, well that wasn't possible. Then you used the excuse of saying well they aren't good. Then I gave you two others and you ignored them. But keep winning in your own mind.

As I said before

Broadway natural gets 4 stars on yelp and Green Bay marketplace gets 3.5. What's your point?

Who cares if you are in a two minute walk of C Town or Trade Fair?

Read the yelp reviews. They are toxic. Everything from they sold me rotten chicken to the seafood is questionable to the bread was moldy to the employees are rude to the aisles are dirty and the store has a horrible selection of the things you need.

By comparison, I read the yelp reviews to my two neighborhood stores in Houston. I had to search to see a bad review and it was a lone comment about the pizza changed and the dude liked the old style pizza better.

Broadway natural gets 4 stars on yelp and Green Bay marketplace gets 3.5. What's your point?

Lol.. Why is Slick Vic still here? If you love nyc so much move there already and stop complaining that Houston isn't New York..

This is the problem. Other than one post in this thread nobody can even appreciate the advantages of the New York lifestyle. Instead it's no my way is better and I can't even see from the other perspective.

Good for you. I haven't experienced any crime either living in Houston since I moved here 15 years ago. Call us back when you've taken the subway day in and day out for 15 years in NYC and we'll compare notes.

Wait a minute...there's a Walmart and a SuperTarget within a 2 minute walk?

We typically buy 3 to 4 gallons of milk, 24 packs of toilet paper, several pounds of meat, plus frozen, dry and can goods and other stuff in a single trip. That must take forever to do walking back and forth to the store there. Is it typical of NYC residents that their day is work, forage, sleep, repeat?

Not everyone buys a uhaul full of groceries every time they go to the store.

Two minute walk, two minute drive...what's the difference? Oh, wait, I know...I can haul 10 bags of groceries in my car. Plus other sundry large items. And get a better selection. And get better prices.

How does the crime rate you are exposed to while riding the NYC subway compare to the crime rate I'm exposed to while driving down Westheimer?

I didn't experience any crime. There is a huge presence of police. Your chances of having a crime committed against you are higher in Houston.

There's a big difference between walking and driving. And also if the store is 2 minutes away you can buy things as needed instead of hauling loads.

Walmart is basic, Viet Hoa and Phoenicia have ethnic groceries and Sprouts has organic.

Uh...no.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/10/top-cities-people-moving-to_n_4762327.html

http://nypost.com/2013/10/31/fleeing-the-nightmarish-northeast/

If you're in finance and make the big bucks to afford living in NYC, then I guess being in the financial capital of the country makes sense. For the rest of us, not so much.

People move out I'll agree but New York also has the highest number of arriving people year in and year out also.

So much the worse for NYC residents, then. What happens when there's a strike?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_New_York_City_transit_strike

Let me know the next time you hear about Houston roads going on strike.

I go to games and the theater from time to time and am at various locations inside the loop several times a week, but I go to the nearby grocery stores, other stores, and to restaurants nearly every day. Better to live close to the things you need on a daily basis and drive a little further for the occasional things than vice-versa. Besides, I can be inside the loop in less than 30 minutes and almost anywhere in Houston in 40 to 45 minutes or less. With the wife and kids in tow. And have room to bring back whatever we decide to buy.

And I don't have to deal with panhandlers or being mugged at a station.

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/daily-news-analysis-reveals-crime-rankings-city-subway-system-article-1.1836918

Houston has a higher crime rate than New York. New York is the safest big city in the country and has been for some time.

Also are those grocery stores a 2 minute walk from you?

That sounds like an Aldi's. Not bad if all you want are the basics in life. No wonder New York and New Jersey rank number 2 and number 1, respectively, in states people move away from.

Not really. C town is basic, trade fair has ethnic groceries, and Broadway natural has organic. New York City is also the number one city people move to as well, and the highest populated city and financial capital of the country. There's a reason.

I rarely need to go into the center of the city because where I'm at we've got full size grocery stores (HEB, Kroger, Randall's, Fiesta, Phoenecia, Hong Kong, My Hoa, Viet Hoa, the list goes on) 2 walmarts, 2 targets, enough restaurants that you can eat in a different one each day and it would take many years to hit them all, a couple of hospitals, too many pharmacies, banks, stores of all nature. All well within 20 minutes, most within 5 to 10 minutes.

As the crow files, it's only about 3 miles from Astoria to Rockefeller Center. If I lived only 3 miles from the center of the city, I could be there within 20 minutes at any time, day or night, and still have a larger place to live and a far greater selection of necessities and niceties.

You could not get from Astoria to Times Square in a car in 20 minutes, ever.

Also I guess if you have zero interest in baseball, basketball, or theater yes then there is no reason to go to the city center for you. But ironic as you stated its dull to stay within your radius

I was in Long Island City last year. The hotel I was at was a 15 minute walk to a subway station, 5-7 minute walk to some restaurants, and there was not much else around. The nearest grocery store had to be at least 20 minutes by walking from where I was. Just a bunch of row houses otherwise. I was looking right at the Queensboro Bridge and Manhattan. I don't know how you translate your fantasy land to all of NYC, but don't be dishonest, Slick. That said, just because that appeals to you doesn't mean it appeals to everyone. Perhaps Houston can develop in its way whilst New York develops in its own way. It's called variety. That old saying "different strokes for different folks" comes to mind.

I'm guessing you were staying by queensboro. That being said I should have stated my theory applies for residential neighborhoods, excluding business districts and housing projects.

The problem is, you're promoting quantity over quality. It would be like saying the suburbs have a great dining scene because of a massive proliferation of chain restaurants. Groceries are another interesting thing. I'm really into supermarket history and stuff (see my posts elsewhere on HAIF for that), and what's really interesting about New York is that it has no supermarkets that I've heard of. Washington DC and San Francisco have Safeway, which is hit-and-miss over there, Boston has Shaw's/Star Market (a part of the greater Albertsons chain, soon to be joined with Safeway), even Stop & Shop doesn't have outposts there. What you end up having is overpriced and underwhelming stores—there's one store that starts with a G, sounds vaguely Italian...can't be bothered to look it up but if you knew NYC you'd know what I was talking about...and the supermarkets I have heard of before end up having lines out the door (like Trader Joe's).

Secondly, you never were able to answer my question of how is this "most neighborhoods". Just for fun, I "went" to 189 Spring Street in Google Maps, which you should be able to identify why this address is significant, and all I found within a few blocks were mostly high fashion outlets ("outlet" in this term being a generic term, not "outlet" as in "outlet mall on the highway") with maybe one convenience store and a smattering of restaurants within 2 blocks (long-ways and short-ways). And of course, a Starbucks.

EDIT: I could probably find more examples, but I do have a life

I went to both c town and trade fair in the last few days and while they aren't gargantuan stores they seem to have what most people get: fruit, vegetables, poultry, fish, bread, cereals, frozen foods, milk, yogurt, other miscellaneous things. They maximize the space they have. It's just a matter of expectations. Here people are used to having space so they won't be happy without it. So just because they don't fit your definition of what you're used to doesn't make them illegitimate. Who's the elitist now?

I just wasted five minutes reading yelp/foursquare reviews of the stores you mention.

If those are your cup of tea, more power to you!

I'll stick with Whole Foods, Central Market, HEB, and Fresh Market.

That said, both of the larger stores you mention, and I use that term loosely, brag about their free parking. Some urban oasis...

This is called moving the goalposts.

You're in Astoria near Broadway. I've been there numerous times. Unless the location of the grocery stores have moved, they are nowhere near 1-2 blocks from each other. More like 6-8 blocks apart. Additionally, the average Houstonian would think all three of those stores suck. They cannot hold a candle to an HEB or Whole Foods or even a mediocre Kroger.

What are you talking about? Obviously you haven't been to Astoria in the last 3 years. C town and trade fair are 1 block away from each other. And Broadway natural is a smaller grocery store with natural/organic goods. Those stores are good enough for the people that live there, having a grocery store within a 2-3 minute walk is pretty great. And now comparing size of grocery stores is a straw man argument. I said grocery stores not comparison of square footage.

That's interesting. So can my car. Or the Westheimer 82. Or the Richmond 25. Or my bicycle.

Does your car have full right of way to the center of the city in 20 minutes at any time day or night?

3 Grocery Stores. 2 Pharmacies. Multiple corner stores. Medical and dental offices. Numerous bars and restaurants. Two barber shops. A gym. A subway station. Bakeries and bagel shops. Other stores.

Stop. Lying.

Grocery stores

1. C town

2. Trade fair

3. Broadway Natural

Barber shops

1. Modern

2. Andreas

Pharmacies

1. Rite Aid

2. Bonus Drugs

Bagel shops

1. Bake away

2. Lots o bagels

Dentists

1. Love

2. Grigoratos

3. Joy dental

4. Long Island city family dental

5. Clifford

6. Astoria dental group

7. New century smile

8. Healthy smile dental

Restaurants

1. King of falafel and shawarma

2. Chicken souvlaki

3. Antijotos Mexicanos

4. The strand

5. Shabu shabu

6. Pao de quejio

7. Tamashi ramen

8. Carioca grill

9. Sac's

10. Fatima's

11. Osaka

12. Dunkin doughnuts

13. Dino's

Bakeries

1. Parisi bros

2. La gata golasa

Gym is synergy fitness club

Also, 2 florisits whose names I can't think of, one by c town and one across the street, a shoe repair shop, wine store, and 3 corner stores. And a Mexican food truck. Plus Broadway subway station. And 3 bars.

Educate yourself.

Amazing how you pulled those answers out of your hat just as they were asked! The only place where I could see that you *might* be telling the truth is if you lived near a large shopping mall (yes, they do exist in NYC).

But I've also been to NYC (gasp!) and I can tell you that's not really true. Now if Starbucks was all you needed to sustain life, then great, I think that actually might be the case. There's plenty of restaurants, too, but not "all that you need in 2-3 blocks" in "most parts of the city". In fact, I could probably pick 5 places in NYC, Manhattan and Queens even just to be fair (not the Bronx or the place where there's actual houses, but in the city) and show that it's not true.

Because I'm right here.

Good to hear

Both China Airlines and Pakistan Airlines were one-stop routes (probably why they failed) in the mid-2000s-ish, but I can't remember exactly what the middle cities were. I believe the routings were...

Houston - Seattle (or Anchorage?) - Taipei

and

Houston - Manchester (I think) - Karachi

Karachi and Delhi and Bombay still are one stop routes.

As long as you are willing to live a life limited to what you can get in 2 blocks, that's great.

Except the subway can take you where you need to go.

Assuming that you're not lying outright, how does that translate to "most neighborhoods"?

Much of New York is like this. It's what makes its great city.

Is there a hospital? A doctor's office? A dentist's office? Your place of work? A school? A pharmacy?

If so, then those are the largest blocks I have ever heard of or each building is 50+ stories tall. But, wait. You're in Queens so multiple 50 story towers is out of the question... so I think I am back to viewing you as disingenuous.

Pharmacy yes, 2 in fact. Doctors office yes. Dentist office yes. Hospital and school no. Place of work Manhattan.

The route was Houston-New York-Larnaca-Abu Dhabi.

That is one of the reasons it failed. Why make two stops when a European carrier could get you there in just one?

I went Houston-new York-Abu dhabi-Delhi on the way and Delhi-Bahrain-new York-Houston on the way back. Unless I'm recalling something incorrectly.

I've lived in NYC on the UWS. I've also lived in Boston. You cannot find a single block in NYC or Boston in which everything you need is within a 1-2 block radius. That is a stupid claim.

Additionally, there are few large grocery stores in either city and the stores themselves can be hit or miss. What that means is that you likely have to stop at multiple stores to truly find what you want.

Oh really? I'm sitting in an apartment right now in queens where within 2 blocks are 3 grocery stores, 3 corner stores, 2 barber shops, 2 bagel shops, 2 bakeries, a shoe repair shop, a subway station, a gym, some other miscellaneous shops, and numerous bars and restaurants. That would be enough for me and most people that live in the area.

Wait, there's a grocery store within every block in Philly and NYC???? and everything else you need????

Exaggerate much?

Yes in most neighborhoods you have what you need within a 1-2 block radius. It's great.

Part of me is curious what you mean Slick, and the other half is preparing for the worse.

I'm Indian and I've done a fair bit of research on India bound flights and business class. The representation is poor and it hampers a lot of flights into becoming defunct or starting from the first place.

There is not a lot of business travel between Houston and India. There are a lot of Indians in Houston who travel to India though, but when they fly to visit home, it's a personal trip so usually a cheapest fare Kayak or travel agent ticket is bought rather than full fare business class tickets that United likes to count on for its routes

Or a last minute upgrade that Turkish sells and Qatar and emirates occasionally offer as well. Etihad and air India also offer these from other cities.

Interesting that you don't remember the stop in Larnaca. Maybe the pain meds caused you to sleep through Cyprus.

Huh?