As someone who has spent her life in New York and LA, it’s hard not to compare the two coasts. While some comparisons are obvious — LA has better weather, New York has a better skyline — the real differences, I think, are in the details.

Best Baseball Uniforms  Yankee pinstripes beat Dodger blue every time.

Best Hotdogs  Dodger Dogs have the edge over NYC streetcart dogs. (Of course, I eat hotdogs with ketchup, so my opinion on this matter might be moot in your eyes.)

Best Jimmy Smits Role  Victor Sifuentes in LA Law or Bobby Simone in NYPD Blue. Let’s see — Armani suit, shirts in shades of grey, and a few years older and sexier? It’s gotta be Blue. Simone says.

Best Theme Song  Sinatra’s New York, New York or the Beach Boys’ California Girls. Hey, I love Sinatra. His Capitol Years CD (his 1950s cuts) makes my heart go pit-a-pat. The man invented the sexy sing. But New York, New York? Sorry. Big cliche that takes itself too seriously. (Still a bar mitzvah standard, though, especially with the Long Island set.)  I’ve got to give this one to California Girls. Sexy, fun, and so cool. Like totally.

Best Pizza  Seriously? Not even close. (And if you have to ask, maybe you should order something else).

Best New Year’s Eve  Times Square sets the standard for New Year’s Eve celebrations. LA goes to sleep at 9 p.m. (“It’s already New Year’s in Times Square — why bother staying up? I’ve got early-morning beach yoga tomorrow.”)

A true New Yorker can tell you where every subway line goes and the fastest way to get from Wall Street to Midtown to the Upper East Side at any time of day. A real Angeleno knows the freeways intimately and can juggle the 10, the 110, the 405, and the 101 as easy as 1-2-3.

Both think their city is the center of the world. Both would be wrong.

But you’ve got to respect the franchise.

© 2013 Claudia Grossman