I was born and raised in Brooklyn until the year 2000 when I moved to Staten Island. At that time friends of mine who resided on Staten Island told me that the Island was getting too crowded and they intended to move to another state. I didnt listen.

Too crowded? Brooklyn had close to 3 million souls, traffic congestion galore and more crime than Staten Island. Coming home at night trying to find a parking space near my Bay Ridge apartment was pure torture. Especially those cold winter months. Sometimes it would take me up to a half-hour to find a spot to park. And that was usually several blocks from my apartment. Weekends were the worst. Partygoers deluged the scads of bars and clubs in the area. Their cars took up all the few spots.

When I bought my home on the Island, it was an electrifying experience to find a parking spot every night in front of my home. I loved everything about the Island -- the sandy beaches, the libraries, the parks, the commercial shopping centers, its restaurants, its tree-lined streets and low crime rate. I never read a Brooklyn local publication when I lived there, but I devour the Staten Island Advance. I especially enjoy Tom Wrobleskis columns. His latest columns have griped about Staten Islands traffic congestion, especially when the Verrazzano bridge jams up, or when Hylan Boulevard becomes a parking lot. I get his angst.

But Tom never lived in Brooklyn, where if you parked your car overnight you hoped it was there in the morning, where on some blocks you never saw a tree. Im grateful to live in a borough with only 500,000 people. Im happy to live in a borough where I can zip over the Outerbridge and visit Wind Creek casino (Bethlehem, Pa.) in 75 minutes. I enjoy swimming at Great Kills Park. Im here 20 years already and sure Ive been frustrated with traffic and a plethora of red light video cameras. Wrobleski is a lifelong resident of the Island and Im sure he knows much more than I do about the negative aspects of the Island.

But in life everything is relative. And Im glad to be a relative of Staten Island.

(Joseph Valente is a South Beach resident.)

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After 20 years here, Brooklyn native says: Ill take Staten Island (letter to the editor) - SILive.com