This urbanization that's taking place around the world is very real. But if it's people that are seeking an urbanized environment out of desperation, that's not going to be helpful long term.
Everyone's like, 'Oh, you must live in L.A., the glamorous life,' and I really don't. I'm in a small house, in Pittsburgh, in the snow.
I'm in New York a lot. And every time I'm in New York, I'm out every night - it's a bit much. After a week, I'm ready to go home.
I am a village boy, and Amsterdam for me was always the big town.
When I lived in L.A. full time, I moved often - fourteen different neighbourhoods in sixteen years.
The suburban cycle which began a hundred years ago is nearly over. We are in for a period of contraction and economic hardship.
I liked Edinburgh as a university in a way that I'd never enjoyed King's College London. I realised after I came to Edinburgh that perhaps it was a mistake to have gone to a college which was bang in the centre of a vast city. It had a bad effect on the social life of the students because a lot of them were commuting from outer London.
Nearly everyone says New York is their number one city in the world, don't they? It certainly is mine. But I feel like the ship sailed for me in terms of living in New York because I think you need to live there when you're in your 20s - when you can be poor and energetic and just don't care.
The City is an addictive machine from which there is no escape
I'm an immigrant - I've got to be in the city: London, Vienna, or Rome, but always a city.
I'm from New York, so I'm not a big driver.
I'm kind of getting over the whole Manhattan life. I'm from Vancouver, and that means mountains and a lot of space.
New York City is filled with the same kind of people I left New Jersey to get away from.
For me, New York is about anonymity; that's the draw. It's not at all about other people in my business being nearby. It's that I can get on the subway and eavesdrop on conversations that I would never have access to otherwise. That's why I stay. That's why I could never leave.
Cleveland's a great place when you're a kid. You hardly ever get sunburned, without the sun shining.
You can go anywhere in New York. There's always something to do in New York. There's always a place to eat no matter what time it is. There's always a place to work, a place to drink. It's conducive to my lifestyle. I don't know how to drive a car, so I like to be able to walk places.
You live in the city and all the time there are signs telling you what to do and billboards trying to sell you something.
New York is full of crazy people, and I like that.
Being from Staten Island and Brooklyn, I'm used to eating pasta and meatballs every single day.
I have tremendous affection for New York and my life, but I'm a satirist at heart. And it's easy to satirize New York.
I used to build lofts in SoHo back when there was nothing there. I had a stoop on West Broadway between Prince and Spring. My partner and I would sit there, eat dinner, and watch the world go by.
If you're not in New York, you're camping out.
I don't love L.A. It's a great place to visit; it's a great place to meet and work, but I don't want to live there.
New York is not like London, a now-and-then place to many people. You can either not live in New York or not live anyplace else. One is either a lover or hater.
I try to remember what it was like to be a kid in New York. I lived in different parts of my childhood in Manhattan on the Upper West Side, where 'When You Reach Me' is set, and also in the Midwood section of Brooklyn.
