This summer I traveled from my home in Berkeley, California to Manhattan, New York to work with an organization called HarlemLive. I had been to New York before, but never without my parents, so I never really got to experience it on my own. I didn't know what to expect, but I was excited about going to Harlem to work with a bunch of brilliant teenagers who I had never met before. Not only was I going to learn about Web design, I was going to be able to contribute my writing skills to an online youth publication. I was enthusiastic, and had no idea what to expect.

When I told some of my friends I was going to work in Harlem, they looked at me like I was crazy. "You are going to get killed!" Was the first thing out of a lot of their mouths. This immediate reaction was very interesting to me. Why did people from California view New York City as a scary place if they have never been there? This question intrigued me so much that I decided to do some investigation to see if there was really a big difference between Manhattan and Sanfrancisco.

Originally, for my story, I was just going to compare my experiences in New York City to my experiences in the Bay Area, but I decided I have not spent enough time in NYC to make a fair comparison. So I decided to interview someone who grew up around here, to get more insight on what life is really like.

Some of the generalizations and stereotypes you hear hold truth to them, but some are completely off the wall. There are different concerns and comments about every single place in the world. I heard a good deal of them about New York City before coming such as "Aren't all the streets dirty?" "Don't tourists get killed just for their cameras?" I'm sure these generalizations hold some weight, but I think it is unfair to judge an entire city on a few bad stories you've heard. People I spoke with about my trip to NYC to work in Harlem were dumbfounded. They thought a skinny little white boy wouldn't last a second in a place like Harlem. My first question to them was "Have you ever been to Harlem?" And all of them responded similarly: "Well…no but I watch NYPD Blue every week." These uninformed and incorrect generalizations that so many people take as truth made me wonder what people in New York think about California. I decided to find out.

I interviewed a teenager from Brooklyn named Enita Okodiko about growing up in the city, and what kind of things pop into his head when he hears the word "California." He said he thought of Tupac, Crips and Bloods, The 49ers, earthquakes, no subway system, and people jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge. His response was interesting to me. None of the things he mentioned play a significant role in my life. Just talking to Enita for five minutes made me realize how generalizations, even if they are true often, do not affect people the same way. He does not worry about dirty streets or crime every day, just like I am not worried about an earthquake every second I am in California.

One of the most important aspects of a city is the vibe or the feeling of the surroundings. In the Bay Area, the vibe is often a positive one. People will smile at you when you walk down the street, and occasionally say hello. I think one problem with New York is there is not enough of a community feeling because of the immense and overwhelming size of the city. Enita said he feels a sense of community where he lives, he said his neighbors knew who he was, but he didn't think the community was very unified. Because of the vastness of the city, I think it is hard to be familiar with more than just the people you work with every day and maybe a few close friends. This makes it hard to have a strong community.

One advantage to having such a large and exciting city is that there are always people around, so you feel safer, more secure. Enita said he feels safe walking in the city at night, only because there are always lots of people walking around. That is one thing that is very different in the Bay Area. At night there are not always people around. I do not always feel safe in my town at night because it is so empty on some streets.

Unfortunately, because there is so much to do in NYC everyone always has somewhere to go, and has to get there quickly. Everyone downtown walks fast, and if you get in their way, they give you a dirty look, like that extra step they had to take to get around you was such a big hassle. This feeling also ties into the lack of a community flavor. Because everyone is in a hurry, they don't have time to be friendly or even polite. This feeling creates a strange sense of loneliness. When you walk around for hours in a crowded city, without anyone looking you in the eyes, or saying hello, you might as well be alone.

New York City is a gigantic and busy city. There is a huge amount of diversity among the people. Thousands of businesses make their home in Manhattan. The City has one of the best mass transit systems in the country. New York City is one of the most important cities in the world. Yet there is still a negative attitude towards it among people who have never visited. If people spent just three weeks out here as I did, they would grow to love this place, and see the beauty in the controlled chaos that is New York City.