Sex & Relationships

Is NYC really the best place to find a relationship?

New Yorkers are not just having sex in the city.

A recent study by the dating app Clover found that New York is the best city in which to look for a long-term relationship (LTR) — defined by the app as one in which a couple moves in together. According to CEO Isaac Raichyk, in Clover’s survey of 15,000 users, 39 percent of New Yorkers are seeking an LTR, opposed to just 22 percent in LA, which was crowned the hookup capital of the US.

It might seem surprising, given the city’s reputation as a spot for swinging singles, but both experts and those in the dating trenches say the study rings true.

“Just like Costco is the best place to ‘find’ a granola bar, there are tons of options,” says Seth Porges, 31 and a Williamsburg resident who co-founded the closet-organizing app Cloth. “If you’re in a smaller town, you may feel pressure to date an un-ideal mate, just because there’s nobody else around. It’s why New York is especially great for the freaks, geeks and weirdos looking for that special somebody.”

Maria Avgitidis, 29, a matchmaker at Agape Match, says it’s a matter of economics.

“Generally speaking, the more educated and higher-income someone is, the more likely they will marry — or at the very least enter a long-term relationship,” she says, drawing data from Freakonomics. “What does NYC have? A whole lot of educated and high-income folks.”

It also has the second-highest rent in the country — the median rent is $2,950 a month — so couples have an extra incentive to move in together quickly.

Lindsay Kaplan, a vice president of communications, knows what that’s like. “After tiptoeing around my roommate for five months, I quickly moved in with my boyfriend,” says the 30-year-old. “The average monthly rent of a one-bedroom forces most single New Yorkers to shack up with roommates. So when a relationship gets serious, you’re not just juggling new love, you’re awkwardly navigating shared walls and bathroom time.”

Though smitten, she did opt for a two-bedroom — so if she and her beau split, she could share their apartment with a future roommate. Fortunately, that wasn’t necessary.

“Four years later, we’re happily engaged and turned that tiny extra bedroom into a massive walk-in closet,” she says.

Looking for an LTR yourself? Avgitidis says it’s entirely possible. “While there are obvious distractions on an island full of neurotic and/or Type A personalities, there are still many opportunities to enter a long-term relationship should 1) Luck have it, 2) Your mental and emotional stability allow for a relationship to grow and 3) You give yourself the opportunities to meet new people instead of brunching with the same old folks you constantly see for bottomless Bloody Marys.”

And if you’re looking for long-term love, you’ll probably find it — after all, New York is chock-full of ambitious types who know how to go after what they want. “Manhattan attracts the most driven people on the planet,” says Avgitidis. “Finding someone awesome is just another box to tick off in the New York [experience].”