This just shows NY does more than the other cities, and has the revenue to match. Additionally, because we’re dense we can do more and have the tax base to match. We spend $1,300 per person on policing, just based on the budgeted amount of $10.9 Billion. That’s an absurd amount per resident.

LA spends $3.2 Billion, or $1,000 per person. And LA is sprawling so they don’t get the benefit of density and two officers covering a small territory. LA just does less so has a much smaller budget. I don’t think highways come out of LA’s budget at all, and that’s got to be a bigger share of transportation spending than in NY.

Palo Alto is not particularly nice, though it is absurdly expensive. It’s fine if you’re OK sitting in your car for 30+ minutes every day, and having to drive everyone everywhere, including if you want to go for a run or to the dog park. But don’t expect to hang out with friends unless all your friends make $500k/year or more, or you drive for an hour each way (so you better not drink!)

It also practically only has 3+ bedroom homes: in NY you can buy a place for around 1 million, in Palo Alto those don’t exist. There is currently ONE 2 bed townhouse at $2 million for sale, right on the border of East Palo Alto. Then there’s a 2 bed bungalow (900 square feet) for sale for 2.6 million.

And you need a car! I cannot stress enough: you can’t live in Palo Alto comfortably without one. And your neighbors are all driving $60k+ cars, so add at least $1k each month in payments, insurance and maintenance. And enjoy your one “downtown” street with about as much to do as exists on the third-most-interesting commercial street in any Brooklyn neighborhood. Like imagine if the only place you could go grab a bite was the time out market building in dumbo. That’s as exciting as the entirety of Palo Alto’s downtown.