This Is Heresy to Long-Time New Yorkers-

-But there are some ways in which Los Angeles is superior.

The biggest of these is natural beauty. The drive up the coast to Ventura County (if you catch it in the middle of a weekday, without traffic); the sage-scented hiking trails through the Hollywood Hills and the Santa Monica Mountains; the nacreous, mother-of-pearl color of the Pacific surf as opposed to the muddy green of our Atlantic coast.

But there's one kind of New York beauty that knocks LA down - the rain at night. On a night like this, when you see the streets lights gleam like bronze and silver on the sidewalks; the lamps reflecting on the thousands of drops falling through the air; the sheen on the green, wet leaves, the smell of water on bark; the oddly cozy sight of the well-lit towers jutting up against the blue and purple sky...that's home, baby.