Time Out has an excellent article about the best ‘hoods with New York soul. What it means is the places with still the neighborhood charm and not dominated by chain brand name generic stores. Places that you feel like it’s New York and a great urban city place by the standard of Jane Jacobs. When I read Jane Jacob’s fame The Death and Life of Great American Cities, it really open up my eyes on how a city should work and what makes it lively instead of a dead scary place that no one wants to walk by. On principle I really really agree with her idea, but I have to say not all development is bad in nature. There needs to be a balance between Robert Moses and Jane Jacobs’ idea. Last year there was quite a few exhibits on Moses, and this year the focus is on Jacobs. It’s like even long after their death, they still fight. Anyway, this article in Time Out use the standards set by Jacobs and apply it to all the neighborhoods in New York. It’s not just a good read for those who interested in Urban studies, but it’s also a good guide for those who is not familiar with the neighborhoods of New York, it really provide a summary of what each neighborhood is about.

I highly recommended you to read it, especially if you live in New York, if you don’t hate where you live, then maybe you should at least know a little about the different neighborhoods in the city that you live in. Don’t just travel between work and home and that’s all you care about as if you don’t belong here. I bet a tourist would know more about New York then you, that’s embarrassing! Yes I am talking about you, you know who you are. So read up!

Related posts:

1. Best ‘hoods with New York Soul
2. I am going to bore you with my fascination of urban planning
3. Europeanization of Williamsburg
4. The High Line at Night
5. Albany – enemy of New York City

Tagged: Jane Jacobs · New York · Urban planning