Where’s the best place to raise a small child: New York City, or literally anywhere else?

‘It wasn’t until I was much older that I realized how tremendously lucky I had been to grow up in the heart of it all.’ Illustration: Beyza Durmuş/The Guardian

Most days of the week, I wear a hoodie that says NEW YORK IS A NATIONALITY. I do this, obnoxiously, in the midsize Arizona city where I have transplanted myself, so that people know I am a Person From New York. My tiny child has a matching T-shirt, which I enjoy pairing with Knicks accessories.

This feeble gesture at holding on to my culture as a “New Yorker in exile” is part of a larger constellation of concerns around raising my kid in a place that is not New York – and when I say New York, please understand that I mean the city.