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I'm a Southern California native, and I have a few questions about NYC or New York in general.
The questions I have is how do these areas relate to one another it would be great if someone that is familiar with So Cal and it's layout could answer or be able to relate it somehow to So Cal.
You always see movies and a lot of times you see scenes of the huge massive skyline filled with tons and tons of skyscrapers, or the typical central park scenes as well. Where is that?? Manhattan?? The same goes where you'll see people walking up and down the streets and the streets are completely packed with a wide variety of people, business people with suitcases and everyone in between. The reason why I ask is downtown LA is not like this at all, no one hardly walks around.
What is the reference you here about in movies that talk about in NYC about "the city" such as I'm gonna be in the city later, or whatever. Here, So Cal it is so massive and just full of sprawl that if you said your gonna be in the city later someone would look at you like WTF... you are already in the city.
What is this thing with Burroughs?, again, no clue what that means. I've looked up on maps and study them trying to understand what does this mean, something geographical or just ways to call an area?? Again the phrase doesn't mean anything to me.
Long Island and the Hampton's references. Again, what is the deal, is long island nice, or is it middle class. I see on a map that the "Hampton's" look to be physically on long island, But you hear phrases from movies again, such as "I summer at the Hampton's" does this mean that they are wealthy?? Elite, or does the average middle class family "summer at the Hampton's"
What is the breakout of the various areas at least in terms of social/ethnic/financial status.
What is the deal with subways, Can you really get all of your traveling done via that method. Again, nothing like that here in So Cal... if you don't have a car here, the buses suck and would take forever to get anywhere. Do taxi's really exists the way you see in movies, I mean some character walks out of a bldg and just hails a cab... Never would happen here like that....
Brooklyn, the Bronx, Long Island, Yonkers, Manhattan, I don't know, just rattling off terms that I hear. I hear "upstate" a lot and figure that it is physically on the northern part of NY, how different is upstate, is it the busseling city you see on TV??
What is the deal with Jersey, seems like NYC and jersey are closely tied together, or am I missing something there??
Sorry is this post comes off as silly, I'm just trying to understand NY and can't get my hands around it.
Yes, most of what you see in most movies is Manhattan. Manhattan is an older city than L.A., obviously, so much of Manhattan looks like downtown L.A. It's referred to as "the city" by people out toward the suburbs. New Jersey is right next door, and although New Yorkers may mock NJ, a lot of people commute from there. Upstate is everything north, and that includes suburbs, like in Westchester county, all the way up to Ithaca and Buffalo. That includes tiny villages, bigger towns, rural areas, you name it.
The boroughs are just different parts, but incorporated into the city of New York. (Brooklyn used to be a separate city in the past.) Long Island is big, and covers rich and poor. Yes, the Hamptons are a wealthy area. But sometimes younger people get summer shares, a whole bunch of people in one house, and although it's expensive, you don't have to be genuinely rich to manage that. The average middle class family doesn't "summer" anywhere.
Our public transportation is much better than L.A. We have the lowest per capita car ownership in the country. We have commuter trains, subways, and buses. And, I have to say, I've taken buses in L.A., and they're pretty good. Have you? Most Angelenos have never taken a bus. And, yeah, taxis are ubiquitous. It's wonderful. I was at a party in L.A and stuck until I could get a ride out of there; in Manhattan I would have just exited and hailed a cab. I've hailed cabs in L.A., too, though.
Yes, Manhattan is crowded. Partly because we're all walking. But I've been in downtown L.A., the working part, and that can be pretty crowded, too. I once said that Manhattan is like the Beverly Hills Saks Fifth Avenue the day before Christmas.
Sounds like you should come here for a vacation - especially if you're a chowhound.
New York City is made up of 5 Boroughs. Think of them like districts or sections. While they are all different sections, they all make up NYC.
Long Island is not one of the 5 boroughs. It is thought of as mostly middle class (there are exceptions).There are two counties in Long Island, Nassau and Suffolk. The Hamptons (no apostrophe) are in Suffolk County and summering in the Hamptons is usually reserved for those that are well off.
Subways reach most of NYC though not Staten Island, and parts of Eastern Queens are without subways.
You can walk out of a building and hail a cab in minutes but if it's raining, rush hour,or the theatres are letting out, it could take some time.
Upstate New York is suburban for the most part, much like the rest of this country.
"upstate" can be a relative term. i grew up 25 miles NW of the city, so long- time New Yorkers might consider my having grown up "upstate". but really, "upstate NY" really is the area north and NW of the city that is well more than 50-100 miles away from the city
the part of NJ associated with NY City is basically Bergen, Hudson counties it kind of extends from around Ft Lee, NJ to Elizabeth, NJ, kind of like how certain Maryland and Northern Virginia communities are associated with Washington DC
upstate NY cities(Albany, Troy, Schenectady, Buffalo, Syracuse) hold no interest to me for some reason so i don't know about them but if i had to guess they're nothing at all like the NY City area
close to the city we have cities like White Plains (less than 10 miles to the Connecticut line), Yonkers, Mt Vernon, New Rochelle. these are nowhere near the size of the city. only those New Yorkers who never leave the city would consider these cities to be "upstate"
forgot to say that also unlike other cities like DC, Baltimore, Atlanta etc NY does not have a triple digit interstate bypass like those other cities because the area isn't landlocked. there's no continuous loop that goes around NY City. there are still ways to avoid driving thru NY City tho
The 5 boroughs were created to form NYC in 1898. Before then, only Brooklyn was its own city. Queens and Staten Island were collections of smaller towns, and the Bronx was an extension of Manhattan. Some people will tell you that Brooklyn still has a stronger sense of identity as a result of this history. It certainly has more of a downtown and more of its own cultural institutions.
Okay, I can't give you So-Cal comparisons because there really is none, NYC is a different beast, but I'll try my best to explain.
NYC proper (just the city, not the metropolitan area) is made up of 5 boroughs, Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx, and Staten Island, each of which is it's own county. NYC is the only city in the US that is composed of counties rather than being part of one. That because the east coast is older and denser, so eastern counties tend to be a lot smaller than their western counterparts. So when NYC expanded in the late 19th century, it just absorbed the surrounding counties.
Manhattan is a narrow, 15 mile long, island that sits close to the mouth of the Hudson River. The Bronx, is directly to the north of Manhattan, and is the only part of city connected to the mainland continent. Brooklyn and Queens, lie east of Manhattan across the East River. Brooklyn and Queens are geographically part of Long Island, but when NYers mention Long Island, they are usually referring to Nassau and Suffolk counties, which are not part of NYC. The Hamptons are located on the eastern tip of Suffolk county, about 1.5/2hrs away from NYC by car. It's a coastal community where all the rich NYers keep their summer homes. Staten Island is the forgotten borough, because it's isolated from the rest of the city. It's only physical connection to the rest of the city is the Verrazano Narrows Bridge, which crosses the bay and connects Staten Island to Brooklyn. It's only connection to Manhattan is a 30 minute ferry.
When people think of NYC, they think of Manhattan. Manhattan is where all the skyscrapers are, and where most of the tourist attractions are, like central park and Times Sq. It's the financial and economic center of the city. And aside from Manhattan's northernmost neighborhoods, it's also where most of the rich people live. Manhattan is extremely dense, so sidewalks and streets are jam packed with people and cars, especially around tourist areas like Herald Sq, 5th Ave., etc...
The other boroughs are more residential, but Queens and Brooklyn both have their own economy and industries separate from Manhattan. Brooklyn has it's own downtown of sorts thats quickly becoming a tech center. Though the other boroughs are not as dense as Manhattan, you will still see a lot of people on the street because 2/3 of NYers use public transport, and because each neighborhood has it's own comercial streets for locals to shop in.
Depending on where in NYC you live, it is possible to rely completely on public transportation for everything. However, not all parts of the city are accesible by trains, especially the outer regions, so having a car is a must in these neighborhoods. Mass transit is geared towards getting to and from Manhattan, so if you want to travel elsewhere in the city, having a car is your best mode of transport.
New Jersey is west, across the Hudson river, from Manhattan, and while it's geographically close to NYC, it's a different state, so it's politically separate from NYC.
It just sounds soooo completely different than LA... I guess as someone said, it's it own beast. I still can't fathom being able to live without having a car.. .I guess it's just the car culture of So Cal that does it. Don't get me wrong, it would be nice to be able to make it on public transportation, here you can do it, but it sucks and it isn't practical at all, because it is just so spread out geographically, here, we don't have a main central area like a Manhattan were tons of people come into work, LA has downtown LA but there are tons of other areas people work, it doesn't seem so centralized as the feeling I'm getting from these posts.
midtown is so crowded at lunch hour you can only walk at half pace down the avenues
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