My observations: Even though the weather was bad I definitely
got a good judgment of the area as if it were not raining. There wasn't much of
a police presence in this area.
People: The general public seemed quite diverse. What I mean by diverse is that the crowd was mixed and included business men and women, students (public, private, middle, high, and college), street vendors in terms of those who sell food from carts (because of the rain there were also men on corners selling umbrellas). The general public consisted of people of various ages. At the time of day which I did my observation there were more middle and high school students since it was after 2 in the afternoon. Very few people were staying one place to converse with others. Everyone was on the go unless you were a street vendor.
People: The general public seemed quite diverse. What I mean by diverse is that the crowd was mixed and included business men and women, students (public, private, middle, high, and college), street vendors in terms of those who sell food from carts (because of the rain there were also men on corners selling umbrellas). The general public consisted of people of various ages. At the time of day which I did my observation there were more middle and high school students since it was after 2 in the afternoon. Very few people were staying one place to converse with others. Everyone was on the go unless you were a street vendor.
Public Spaces: This area is fully equipped with a wide array of public spaces. Three blocks west you have central park for when you just feel like catching some fresh air and enjoy a day of sun. They just made a large Starbucks right at the corner of Lexington and 63rd equipped to accommodate persons in need of a coffee to uplift your day as well as outlets to recharge your electrical devices. There are several options within a block, a couple, or even a few to get something to eat. There are at least 2 pizza shops within blocks of each other and the train station. There is a bread factory, sprinkles, baked by Melissa’s, a diner, a subway, etc. There are many store fronts! There is also an equinox which I believe to be an athletic clothing store as well as a gym. There is a pet shop/dog grooming store a block away. There were a few boutiques whether they sold clothing, shoes, pet accessories, and jewelry, in the area as well.
Housing: There aren't many houses in this
parameter but there are a lot of apartment buildings and buildings I believe to
be hotels. These apartments aren't the ones that are funded by the government,
these apartment buildings are the kinds that aren't cheap, the kinds you'd find
celebs and people of high status laying low in. The exterior of these buildings alone
let you know that the apartments aren't cheap if the neighborhood didn't
already tell you that.
Transportation: Transportation around this stop is great. You have other trains within 3 blocks from this stop. The buses are in numbers, you have the downtown, uptown, cross town options. If you need a taxi they run endlessly down Lexington and even the cross streets. What surprised me was the fact that I saw quite a few Honda's, I was definitely expecting to see Mercedes, and BMWs but seldom they any pass why I was there: maybe it had to do with the time of day.
There are noticeably many similarities between the neighborhood you observed and the one I did (World Trade Center). Since both are affluent communities, it appears that they both had access to many resources like the public parks and a lot of accessible transportation; also the areas are largely clean and well-maintained. The main difference between the neighborhoods is that the WTC neighborhood is more of a business center and Lexington Ave & 63rd Street seems to have more residential buildings and places to shop. This probably accounts for your demographic being generally younger than that of the white-collar residents in their thirties that made up a large part of the population by the WTC-stop. Overall, these wealthy neighborhoods of Manhattan largely mimic one another in looks and what they provide for their high income residents.
ReplyDeleteIt surprises me that although there are several competing businesses in the neighborhood, they all thrive. For example as this post stated, there's a Baked by Melissa and Sprinkles- both very popular cupcake sellers. You would think that one business would outdo the other, but the variety in each location allows them to maintain a steady influx of clients. Also, it never fails that in Manhattan there are Starbucks locations so close to one another. There's also another Starbucks closer to Hunter about 5 blocks away from the 63rd st location.
ReplyDeleteI liked this post because I think it is pretty accurate. I personally take the F train from Brooklyn all the time to get to school and I get off at 63rd and Lexington. I feel like I know the area pretty well (as I'm sure many of our classmates do as well), and you made great points about the neighborhood. Pointed out all the main places and described the people pretty accurately as well. I feel like there are a lot of private school students walking around, but there are also many public school kids as well. I'm unsure of the cost of the housing but I don't think it is as high as you think. I don't think it would be an area where celebs would live- as you stated above.
ReplyDeleteI think an influencing aspect of inequality is access to recreational areas. As you’ve mentioned this area is in walking distance of central park and there are other public spaces such as gyms and coffee shops. Though these things may seem mundane, in some areas they are rather difficult to find and highly influence the daily activities of the residents, especially children and teens. That is, those who are in walking distance of central park and near areas where museums and art galleries are located will naturally obtain a symbolically higher level of cultural capital. In the area I observed (low income), the cultural capital of the children and teens there will be drastically different than children who are exposed to areas such as this one.
ReplyDeleteYou bring up an important variable, which was age that I seem to have forgotten to incorporate it in my own study. Age is an important role because it can be a big indicator of the types of people tat live in an area. This can be seen depending on the cloths that they wear, or the way they talk. There are many similarities between your neighborhood, and the one I looked such, as there wasn’t much housing, and the housing that was there was very upscale. I found that the park you mentioned was really nice, and about the fresh it seems living in a rich area promotes a healthy overall state. It would be interesting to find out if there is a difference in life span between the rich and the poor.
ReplyDelete