Would you rather live in 1920s Paris or 1960s New York?

1920s Paris, the Annees Folles (Crazy Years), was the global cultural capital. After WWI ended in 1918, the city attracted expat writers like Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein, and James Joyce. Stein's salon at 27 rue de Fleurus hosted Picasso and Matisse, who were defining Cubism and Fauvism. Hemingway's A Moveable Feast (1964) immortalized the era. Coco Chanel revolutionized fashion in 1926 with the little black dress and liberated women from corsets. Jazz arrived with Josephine Baker, who debuted at the Folies Bergere in 1925. Surrealism was founded in 1924 by Andre Breton. The Eiffel Tower, electric since 1900, glowed over a city of cafes, cabarets like the Moulin Rouge, and Art Deco architecture. The 1923 to 1929 economic boom meant the franc was weak, making Paris cheap for Americans.

1960s New York was the cultural and political epicenter of the Western world. Manhattan's population peaked, jazz and hip-hop's predecessor doo-wop filled streets, and Andy Warhol's Factory at 231 East 47th Street (opened 1962) hosted Edie Sedgwick, Lou Reed, and the Velvet Underground. Bob Dylan moved to Greenwich Village in 1961 and changed music with The Times They Are a-Changin' (1964). The Stonewall Inn riots on June 28, 1969 launched the modern LGBTQ+ movement. The Beatles played Shea Stadium on August 15, 1965 to 55,600 fans, inventing the stadium concert. Pop Art dominated the Met and MoMA. Civil Rights and Vietnam War protests reshaped politics. Skyscrapers like the Pan Am Building (now MetLife, 1963) defined the skyline. Rent for a Manhattan apartment averaged just $200 monthly.