Why New York?

"So, why New York?"

... This is a question that I get a lot.

I mean, I was raised in California for all of my memorable life; most of my family lives in California; I went to school and have a lot of friends who still live in Utah; back in January and February when I was making the decision to come out here, I could count the number of people that I knew on the East Coast on one hand.

I didn't come here for school, I didn't have a job, I wasn't moving to be with a significant other or to room with an old friend.

So at 25 years old, with a bachelor's, a master's and three good years of work experience to my name, I had the entire world before me and I knew I could go anywhere... So... Why New York?

Why not?

When I was 17, I came to New York City for a week with my mom and one of my sisters. We arrived late at night, and still after throwing our bags into our hotel room, we went straight to Times Square.

Stepping out onto Broadway, felt like being launched into another dimension.

It was midnight, but the sidewalks were still packed with people - a thriving mass of international humanity. There was a sparkle and a hum in the air from all of the electric lights. There was a low rumble of subterranean trains, covered over by the gurgle and grind of taxi engines and the high pitched wailing of large vehicles with worn out brake pads coming to an abrupt halt as they narrowly missed the bold and/or brain-dead pedestrians. The air was was so thick with humidity, sounds and smells that it was almost tangible.

I was in love, and the change in me was irreversible.

That very moment I looked and my mom and told her I'd come back to live here some day. And it was because I wanted to thrive in the midst of the teeming masses - not as a observer, but as a participant.

No where in the world does it get any bigger, more interesting, more challening, more surprising, more varied, or more exciting than it does in this city.

So that's why.