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I first visited the city with my mother when I was 4 years old. I remember being fascinated by all the people and tall buildings. At one point a thunder storm was rolling in. It really scared me and I thought the load thunder was going to make the buildings fall down.
My first visit was in 1987 and I thought New York was awesome. I loved the crowds, large buildings, how vibrant it was and the incredible architecture. It was a culture shock how large and busy it was. I grew up in Milwaukee and thought of it as a large city. Going to New York changed that. When I returned home from New York, Milwaukee felt like a small town of 5000.
To expand on my above post I'll compare my first visit to my last visit in June 2008. In 1987 New York had a more distinct authentic feel to the city. It had its own gritty, unpolished unique culture. The street life had a special vibe and style that I had not seen anywhere else. It was much different than Chicago. More density,eccentric people, hippness, diversity and a hyper pace. But more than anything it had a look and feel I have never experinced. It was a unpolished gem, but still beautiful. Now it is still a great city, but in a different way. It is polished up and made safe for the mass influx of tourists. It has almost a bit of a suburban feel with the make up of the people and the stores/restaurants. This isn't a bad thing, its just different and I understand why New York needed to reinvest in the city. It was a matter of survival. I have relatives in Brooklyn and much of Brooklyn still has a distinct New York feel. Two more week and I'll be in New York. I can't wait.
Last edited by Allan Trafton; 05-30-2009 at 09:54 AM..
I always lived about 45 minutes away from NYC (in Jersey), but I've never been. One day (at around 18 or so) I decided I was going to drive into Manhattan to see what it was like. I remember it being like an adventure. I was impressed with the busyness and tall buildings, but I knew I would be before I got there.
Every couple of months or so I would visit the same way. It was always impressive.
Before I moved to Queens just under a year ago, I thought that the least dense part of NYC was like Brooklyn, I had no idea that there were places like Pelham, or College Point, that made the neighborhood that I grew up in (In Seattle) look urban.
Before I moved to NYC, I was under the impression (like most who had never been there from Seattle) that A) The bronx and Brooklyn were all ghettos, B) I had no idea what queens was C) that manhattan was like midtown all the way up
I first visited the city with my mother when I was 4 years old. I remember being fascinated by all the people and tall buildings. At one point a thunder storm was rolling in. It really scared me and I thought the load thunder was going to make the buildings fall down.
The first time I really went to the city was the week before Christmas where we saw beautiful reafs? on buildings and it was lightly snowing which looked nice at night with the streetlights shining, at night even 10pm it felt peaceful and U just look up at the sky and see the top of buildings and snowing coming down. Saw a broadway show which had this stage that moved around and transformed so much, I was maybe 9.
I always lived about 45 minutes away from NYC (in Jersey), but I've never been. One day (at around 18 or so) I decided I was going to drive into Manhattan to see what it was like. I remember it being like an adventure. I was impressed with the busyness and tall buildings, but I knew I would be before I got there.
Every couple of months or so I would visit the same way. It was always impressive.
When I moved to NY I was surprised by the number of people that never go into the city. I figured everyone in the area goes into the city on a regular basis. This post is an example of what I was surprised by. It's like moving to Florida and discovering that a lot of people don't like the beach.
Smelly. My grandma lived in Chinatown (nuf said) and as a ADD kid, i didn't really notice much else.
When I came here for college, NY was a lot quainter than I imagined (I dormed in the Village) and not as scary or foreboding as I thought it would be. And now I'm absolutely in love with NYC!
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