Can a transplant ever really be ‘from’ the city? White ibis birds at Bayou Sauvage National Wildlife Refuge in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo via Getty Images) Turn any article into a podcast. Upgrade now to start listening. Members can share articles with friends & family to bypass the paywall. Where am I from? I’m from New York City. But I never felt more like a New Yorker than during the year I moved to New Orleans. Every place has its own distinct half-life: the amount of time you must reside there before you can credibly identify as a local. A resident of Maine whose grandparents were not themselves born in Maine is “from away” (and if those grandparents lived on the coast, it’s a debate). Nathaniel Rich’s fourth novel, Cloudthief, is published this month. He is a frequent contributor