Who’s YOUR City? Blog

It’s amazing what kind of interesting qualities a place like Angleton, TX can have, despite the fact that it is one of the most boring places on the face of the earth. It is the kind of place where schoolteachers remember when they taught your parents and where it is normal to be late to school because you were stuck behind a tractor going 10 MPH on the main road. We even have an extra school holiday on a Friday in October dedicated to the Brazoria County Fair because so many students would have conflicts between school and the livestock show that the district decided to give everyone a day off.

But no one will ever be able to truly understand Angleton without really experiencing it. It is just so…Texas. They say that everyone dies famous in a small town. My grandfather was no exception. My grandparents have been very active in the community ever since they came to Angleton in 1953, and my grandfather started a family business in the same year with his business partner. My grandfather’s local “claim to fame” was his fifty consecutive years of perfect attendance as a member of the Angleton Rotary Club, which he was a part of up until the day he died several years ago. He received many awards over the years from the Rotary Club, United Way, the Angleton Chamber of Commerce, and many other community organizations. My 86-year-old grandmother is still active in the Angleton Bridge Club, the Embroidery Club, serves on the hospital board, and teaches a Sunday-school class at the First Baptist Church. My grandparents were and still are model citizens of the Angleton and I am so proud and honored to be their granddaughter. And almost sixty years later, the family business is still around, now run by my father.

I’ll be the first to admit that I haven’t always loved or cherished Angleton the way I do now. I have wanted to get out of that town ever since I realized there was a whole world out there just waiting to be discovered. Angletonians are very closed minded when it comes to varying lifestyles, different cultures and other places in the world different from what they’re used to. People ask my parents, “How’s yur daw-ter doin’ up theer ‘n New York with all ‘a them daym liberals?” Yikes. But despite the ultra conservative mindset and the surplus of confederate flags and pick-up trucks, Angleton’s small size has its advantages. People are much more concerned about their new rifles or mud tires than they would ever be about designer shoes or handbags. One time I wore a Marc Jacobs tee shirt to school and a girl in my Physics class noticed it and asked me, “Marc Jacobs? Is that a band?” (That pretty much sums up all of Angleton’s knowledge of the fashion industry.) It’s encounters like that over the years in Angleton, and also growing up in a modest family, that have kept me levelheaded and grounded here in New York City.

I have found that living in such contrasting places has helped me gain a true admiration of the beautiful things both of them have to offer: One night I can be enjoying an exquisite, lavish gourmet meal at Gramercy Tavern, yet my first day home in Angleton I cannot wait to get my hands on two scrumptious beef fajita tacos from Taco Loco #2- the greatest, most authentic taco stand north of the border. And even though I grew up spending every fall Friday night of my childhood at the Brazoria County Fair or at the high school football games, I can still enjoy browsing the galleries in Chelsea or simply people watching in Washington Square Park. I feel like I have a unique dual perspective on the world because I have a true gratification and appreciation for the lifestyle I grew up in and the one I am living now.

Sent by Angela from Angleton

Los Angeles, California is a city where an estimated 20 percent of the year it is cloudy; New York City is a city where an estimated 50 percent of the year it is cloudy. I grew up in sunny Los Angeles, California. Los Angeles is the place I call home, but I am currently staying in an apartment 3,000 miles away from home. The apartment is in New York City, specifically in Greenwich Village.

Los Angeles is the city I love and found everything I ever wanted growing up. I had the opportunity to explore everything. The snow and great mountain resorts were only a five hour drive away and if I drove twenty minutes towards the coast I could spend my day at the beach. In Los Angeles, most of the time, I could wake up to sunshine invading my room. My dog would wake up and greet me with a big wet kiss on the cheek. I then would walk to the window of my home in Los Angeles and look out into my backyard and see the water in my pool gleaming from the sun that is rising. I would walk down the stairs to hear the sizzling of the eggs that are cooking. On Sundays my family and I would usually wake up to a large bag of Western Bagels and we would indulge in the warm bread with cream cheese, but on the weekdays we resort to eggs or bagel leftovers.

The thing about growing up in a place like Los Angeles is that you never feel alone. You always feel like you have someone around the corner whether they are a walk away or even at the grocery store. People are friendly and greet you with a big smile so you feel welcome. Some people might argue that driving is aggravating, but to me driving is time for myself that I enjoy. It is enough time for me to be alone and not to feel alone. It is time for me to gather my thoughts and regroup. In Los Angeles you almost never have to worry about wearing thick jackets or rearranging plans because of the weather. Ultimately I guess what I love most about Los Angeles are the smiles you most often see on everyones faces. You see everyones happy in some way or another and if they are not than one individual can easily change that with just a quick conversation. Los Angeles is my home and where all my friends and family are.

Sent by Sabrina from Los Angeles

Before moving to New York, I lived in a place where is surrounded by other many high-story apartments or buildings, a mess amount of cars that bothered me every night with the noisy horn and roaring engine sound, huge grocery markets and department stores, and beautiful arch bridge crossing over a road. Yes, I lived in the middle of city of Seoul in Korea.

In the middle of noisiness, the neighborhood where I belonged was quite peaceful not just because I lived in 19th floor and could barely hear sound such as disgruntled noisy kids on a street and bus noisy stop sound with pulling up, engines idling, air released, and driving away from outside that I frequently hear in here, New York, but also because people who lived around my house are friendly and usually more have an intimacy in relationship. I might feel that way, perhaps, because there were some similarities between the people and me in terms of cultural background, religion maybe, race, and ethnicity.

There are other elements beyond the feeling about my original place. The physical appearance of the place and neighborhood where I had lived before I came here, and the environment around the neighborhood also affect to form a sense of feeling as one of the factors that make differences between living in the place in New York and the place in Korea.

As my past neighborhood in my country represents, a way of the arrangement of buildings is not clearly organized along with street and avenue that is pretty different from the houses which are lined up in a row in the current neighborhood where I’m living. If someone looks down New York City from the airplane or from the top of skyscraper such as Empire State Building, they might notice that thousands of buildings are organized by and the lined up that looks like chess board which consists of exact same squares in order, and because of the arranged building, people can even point out their house from a height. The neighborhood where I used live in Korea, whereas, it usually hard to find a certain place because it is usually hidden by other tall buildings. The messy arrangement of building, however, is not a matter to live in the neighborhood, although I’m one of the people who care about urban planning, because I prefer to do laundry in my building rather than going outside with holding up 2 pounds of laundry and walking down the street toward laundry room. In other words, I would like to live in convenient life which means living with many stores or other facilities around my place that allow me to get some enjoyment and convenience from the environment.

It seems like the place in my country is the best place to live in, but the neighborhood has something missed element when I compare the place to the place in New York. There is a lack of personality including youthful and artistic factors in my past neighborhood. Every day I passed by colorful, artistic, sometimes messed up moral art that represent someone’s personality or ability to draw. That kind of artistic element in everywhere forms a personality in my neighborhood in New York.

Sent by Anne from Seoul

The landscape flashes by through the window; at first it is buildings, then the gray starts to thin out and is replaced with blurred brown and green resembling trees. The train ride from New York City to where I live in Orange, Connecticut is one that shows great contrast. Looking through the window one could see how the two locations are visually and social different.

I come from the small town of Orange in the state of Connecticut. It is similar to the stereotypical suburban town. There are houses that are just a little too close together, that look similar to each other. Unlike the suburbia of 1950s television shows, in my town there are no sidewalks or identical cars with cookie cutter families in each home. There are areas in my town that are farmland with animals and crops. Driving down the street one can see different landscape and architectural design used to create individuality in the neighborhood.

Living in such a small town means that there is a lot of community. Orange has many town activities that being the neighbors together such as the Volunteer Fireman’s Carnival and the Fall Arts Fair. Having such a close-knit community had its drawbacks. This environment allowed for everyone to be in each other’s business. There is often gossip going around town and it is garneted that my mother will be informed when I am at the local grocery store one morning before school. Having a constant surveillance results in safety, but it also was an invasion of privacy. Now where I live in New York City the neighbors do not even know your name, never mind caring where you go or when.

My favorite part about living in Connecticut was the ability to be barefoot. I had the freedom to walk to my backyard barefooted and not feel any shame or disgust. When I was little I would love to walk outside and feel the earth beneath my toes. As soon as I smelt the fresh scent of flowers and mowed lawn, I would automatically be transported to my imaginary world of fairies and mystery. It is this connection to nature that I miss when I live in the city.

Growing up in a town like Orange Connecticut was nice. There was something special about the community and nature that made an impact on my life. But New York City was calling for me, and as I grew older I found myself spending less time in my small town and more time on the train to the fast paced life of New York City.

Sent by Taryn from Orange, Connecticut

I grew up in Chestnut Hill, which is an uppity suburb of Philadelphia even though it is technically still within the city limits. There, I got to enjoy the small town feel (which I have grown to love) while being within a few miles from a thriving city. The ability to have both so close offered a nice escape whenever one became too much.

The community is close knit yet welcoming. There is always a familiar face in town. A major landmark that Chestnut Hill is known for is the beautiful country club that sits just a stone throw away from Main Street. It is there that I spent most of my summers as a child, playing tennis and meeting new friends. It is also where I found myself as a person. Tennis matured me in ways I never expected, and being part of such a community only added to my desires.

Cooking slowly became another love of mine. Chestnut Hill offers many fresh farm products that I was able to explore and pick to my choosing. This helped me explore my talents as a chef and ultimately brought me closer to my family as I started to cook dinner every night. However, nothing is more present in Chestnut Hill then design (probably because most people have the money to spend) and it is here that I found my future. Most homes are unique in architecture, landscape and décor. I was lucky enough to live in such a community where I could admire and study the intricate structure of most homes. Through connections made at the local country club, I was able to obtain an internship with an interior designer. Moreover, through my internship I was able to explore design through others eyes both in Chestnut Hill and downtown Philadelphia. Slowly, I became more confident until I was offering my own suggestions that people took to heart. In other words I had found my niche.

Chestnut Hill offers a connection found in few other places. One can simply walk to the corner to a deli or bakery and trust that everything being sold is fresh and tasty. The town itself is small but it is beautiful, clean and secure. Police and firemen are always close at hand as they are in every town, however they are not as obvious as compared to New York City.

Furthermore, Chestnut Hill is a town for families. Because it offers so much and is so safe, husbands and wives can go off to work or even away on business trips knowing their families will be ok. Thus, there is never a need to worry. The buildings are small, nothing too big and the roads are still made out of cobblestone and brick. This keeping an old town feel that I adore. The schools are within walking distance and offer a few to choose from, all from grades k -12. Hence, Chestnut Hill is a place to raise a family but more importantly it is a place to be with your family. It is a part of who I am. It has led me to go after my future, while still knowing my roots and it will always be my home town.

New York City is unlike anywhere else in the world. People are nonstop, no matter what time of day, location or even holiday. At times it can be so loud due to overpopulation that it is a welcome escape just to hide inside ones apartment. Expenses are ten fold, even subways in which are more traveled then taxi’s due to the cheapness in price add up as the day/week go by. However nothing compares to the beauty of seeing New York City at night. I will never forget my first night at college when I looked outside my 9th floor apartment window. The way in which light reflected off the thousands of lit buildings was like a perfectly contrasted picture… I was breathless. For me New York City was different from back home just from the size of it. Not to mention the millions of people that surrounded me everyday or the thousands among thousands of stores and restaurants within walking distance. Living here opened my eyes to so many more things. Downtown Philadelphia could be fit numerous times just within Central Park. That idea alone boggled my mind.

Moreover, it is always fascinating to me that so many people can live so close to one another and yet be total strangers. This is so different to back home where the whole town knows everyone and is brought together through shared locations. In New York City, people that go to the same restaurant, or the same stores, people that even live in the same building have no desire to introduce themselves. This always reverts me back to my question about life: “how can people be lonely in an overpopulated world?” Yet, New York City offers so many different ethnicities and backgrounds that the design is so different everywhere you look. For me, a Parsons student, it only adds to everything I am learning, as it gives me a visual. In other words, it brings the textbooks to life. Although I miss home I am intrigued by what New York City has to offer, and am thrilled to have the opportunity to grow culturally through living in this wonderful city. Furthermore, I believe it is important for people to move outside of their comfort zones, because it is there that they really start to grow, as individuals in both their profession and life. It is here that I strive for my future. Philadelphia and New York City have many things in common, however the biggest difference is living in Philadelphia I can always leave the city. New York City has no outlet within Manhattan, even its parks and rivers are clustered with people. Hence, it is here that I am most uncomfortable and because of that, I know I am exactly where I need to be.

Sent by Bridget from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Seoul is my hometown. I was born and raised in Seoul. I have lived there more than 20 years and haven’t lived in other cities in Korea. There is everything in Seoul. You can buy everything in the middle of the night and it is safe to go out in the night. There are tons of restaurants, theaters and big malls everywhere in the city. Seoul is the most crowd city among OECD countries. So there is heavy traffic all over the city. You can hear noise honking sound all day. It is not a good place to enjoy drive your car, such as in California. There are numerous high rise buildings. Just like New York City, Seoul has plenty of skyscrapers, especially in office district. Those are densely located.

What I don’t like about my hometown, Seoul, is the building covered with ugly signs. They don’t match with a building or other signs in the building. In Seoul, most of the citizens live in apartment buildings, which are more than 10 stories higher. And they are in complex structures with free parking space provide to residences for free. Seoul is the capital city of Korea. Although it is not the biggest city in Korea, its scale is the biggest in Korea. Every public offices and government buildings are located in or near Seoul. Koreans are kind and nice people. Seoulian, people who live in Seoul, just like New Yorker, are nice people but people in suburb are friendlier than people live in the city. I guess this is because they are busy of their own activity and surroundings.

Seoul has great transportation system. It doesn’t run 24 hours, but you can take taxis after midnight. You can go wherever you want with public transportation system. It is cheap, convenient, and safe. You can transfer bus to subway or to different line without any charge. Moreover, if you get on bus or subway in 30 minutes, you can ride it without any charge. So you don’t need car to live in Seoul.

Seoul is also eco-friendly city. Like Central Park in New York, there are huge park in Yeoui-island. There are big river called Han River cut across the city. People should do recycling and it is a law. And you should use legalized bag for trashes. Every bus is run by natural gas engine. There is a stream called Cheongye and redeveloped five years ago. It had been covered by cements over forty years and uncovered by last mayor of Seoul, who is now the president of Korea.

The roads in Seoul are not organized so it is hard to find only with address, especially for foreigners. It is not organized in straight or square shaped. There are small branch roads and crooked roads, too. So you need to know the transportations to get there.

Now, there are 250 thousands foreigners in Seoul. It is very diverse city with many races. Comparing to New York City, two cities have many similar things. They both got what big cities should have and shares many things, such as heavy traffic, tall buildings, and great transportation system. And now, both cities are working on sustainability and green movement. I have many things to say when I talk about Seoul because it is my home. Still, there are few things that I don’t like about it by comparing to other cities, like New York, such as ugly signs and lack of consideration to foreigners. Those things are my new findings after I live in New York.

Sent by In from Seoul

“Medway, Massachusetts? Never heard of it.” This is the most typical response after informing a new acquaintance about where I grew up. Medway, also referred to as “Cow-town,” has a small population of merely 13,000 inhabitants. Up until recently, the area consisted of mostly farmland and a few local shops. We have two intersections in town and the number of stoplights in the area could be counted on one hand.

Growing up in such a diminutive neighborhood, everybody in the community knows everyone’s business. One small school system, one police station, one library, and one fire department are established in the district. Entertainment is lacking and the majority of fun activities require at least a 15 minute car drive to the next town over. Cars are necessity to living in this suburban town since there is no form of public transportation besides school buses, of course. The most historical structure in town stands across from old fire department. Medway Village Church is an old white stone building with a steeple. Stone churches were common in small New England areas because stone was widely available from when Indians built stonewalls. Large mills line the central street that connects Medway to other towns. The Charles River flows behind these mills and used to serve as a source of energy and provide work for the locals.

Choate Park is a small recreational area including a pond, a few tennis courts, and grassland. During the winter , there is a small Christmas parade featuring local organizations and fireworks. Within the last few years the two biggest cow fields in town have been transformed into strip malls filled with chain stores such as Starbucks, Shaw’s Supermarket, McDonalds, and a CVS. This was possibly the most exciting thing that ever happened to the little town of Medway. Not for me. I spent most of my time taking jogs around town, working at a local coffee shop, and taking weekend trips into Boston. I was tired of the being around the same people and places. I essentially discovered everything there was to do in the area, and frankly I was ready for a change.

If there was one thing I did love about Medway, it was my house and my job. I lived in a comfortable, peaceful, and clean neighborhood. The coffee shop I worked at was the one out of two coffee shop in town. The customers were friendly for the most part, and I loved my co-workers. The same people would come daily in and order the usua l. This small coffee shop meant more to them then just getting their daily cup of coffee. It was the important social and restful experience that became part of their everyday custom. I enjoyed taking long runs around the area that were not interrupted by walk signs or speeding cars. The street signs were recently updated and painted blue and white, for the town colors, and the sidewalks newly paved. There was a sense of closeness in the community that was both good and bad. It was nice to see a familiar face every once and a while, but that can get uninteresting fast.

The close-minded outlook some people have is unfortunate, the town is mainly white-Catholic and family generations have been living there all their lives. As I began to consider where I wanted to move away to for college, I soon realized I wanted the complete opposite experience from what I had been living. Boston is only a 40-minute drive away and offers a wide variety of colleges to attend. But Boston is a small city, and I had already thoroughly explored it through my years in high school. New York City seemed like the perfect solution.

Sent by Chelsea from Medway, Massachusetts

Not a lot of people in New York know about Shanghai, yes, it is close to Beijing, but Shanghai is unique itself. When I mention the 2010 World Expo, people sort of get an idea of the hosting city, but when they are teleported back in 10 years, everything in Shanghai is incredibly unfamiliar. Born in Shanghai, a city east coast of China, also known as the “Oriental Paris,” I became familiar with the fast change in Shanghai. In Shanghai, one of the biggest metropolitan areas in the world, is subject to change within a short time. Within years of time, Shanghai has embraced itself into a multi diverse city in which like the growing of its economic activities, more people from all over the world come and stay here. Like New York, I do not feel isolated here because of elements within the city that bring me the feeling of home, even though Shanghai is 7376 miles away.

Living in Shanghai, I feel very personally attached to places, especially the old Chinese streets where the government is preserved very well. Since Shanghai before was occupied by British, French, and Russia in 1842, 1930, 1840s respectively, many of the building located downtown “Pu xi” of Shanghai shows the intricate designs of the foreign movements. What is special about the British and French building on the bund, is that in combination with old preserved Shanghainese buildings, city dwellers would feel a sense of comfort and peace in a fast pace city. Whenever I go to Shanghai for vacation, I would always go the ShaoXing and TaiKang Road located in the West downtown area of Shanghai. Walking on the roads of ShaoXing and TaiKang Road, I see people under café umbrellas, chattering, flapping their arms, gesturing the waiter, as I walk by. Things are very much slowed down here, also take the street of MaoMing Road, north of HuaiHai Road, the cobblestone lanes, ShiKuMen, doors which are framed with large stones in which olden days tenants live. The culturally rich aspects of the streets bring vitality to the people living in the city.

Living in New York, I feel much differently than the engaging feeling I feel in Shanghai. When I first came to New York, people seem much isolated, or cold in other words. People are harder to talk to, thus harder to find friends even within the dorms I’m living in. That’s only the negative experience I’ve felt coming to New York. In Shanghai, spaces are much wider; therefore people’s hearts are not as crammed. On the streets of Maoming road, old ladies sit on the sidewalk selling orchid blossoms that the faint smell would fill up the whole sidewalk. Sometimes within the week, the old lady would walk home, basket empty, humming the familiar tune of nursery rhymes, in to the ever passionate streets of Shanghai.

Sent by Lina from New York

Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia, located on the northwest coast of Java. It has an area of 225 square miles and a population of 8,490,000 (maybe even more due to the excessive number of immigrants). For a foreigner to come visit Jakarta, you will be surprised how overwhelming it is to live in this city with the new sights, sensations and challenges. Getting around the city is a huge task especially with the worst traffic jams you could possibly imagine. It requires a lot of time and patience to really get to know the city, the various streets and routes from one place to another. No doubt that the people of Jakarta is the most friendly ones you could find, they are very open and most delightful to welcome foreigners. It is true that people in Jakarta are the most patient people in the world, having to face the horrible traffic every single day.

In Jakarta, people tend to have private transportation rather than utilizing public transportation even though they have a busway system which has helped citizens who work in the city to get around easily. Jakarta is overpopulated with people, automobile, motorcycle and malls.

Indonesians in general love to socialize and they do that whenever or wherever is possible. It is a routine that most people would go out every Saturday night to malls, to shop, to see a movie, to socialize. We have over 20 malls just in a city. Shopping in Jakarta has a lot of forms from the most traditional markets to luxurious, high fashion shopping malls. Shops offer the latest fashion collections from all over the world. During the weekdays, most housewives are mostly seen with their children after school let out mid-day. By late afternoon, the malls are filled with the young teens and young professionals after office hours.

What I miss about Jakarta is certainly the food. It has a wide range of food available from local to international around located all around the city. Indonesia is known for its spices and the places you go to is cheap and guaranteed the best dining experience you will ever have. One of the popular cuisine in Jakarta is Soto Betawi, which is a cow milk broth with beef tendons, intestines and tripe. Other cuisine that is most favored is “gado- gado” (mix of vegetables served with peanut sauce dressing). This particular dish is usually served from hawkers carts, stalls called warung as well as restaurants.

Apart from the friendly gestures of the people, historical monuments, irresistible dining experience and high fashion shopping malls Jakarta is infamously known for its traffic jams and outrageous traffic rules. Street traffic is filled with smog, motor cyclists are mostly underage and are driving without a helmet. There are no sidewalks for pedestrians to walk on therefore they walk wherever they want and cross over. There are no parking meter and we have small tiny roads called “jalan tikus” used as an alternative route to avoid traffic jams.

Sent by Anna from Jakarta, Indonesia

I often find myself missing a place that I had always wanted to move away from. The place I wanted so badly out of seems comforting when I’m in New York City because of the easy familiarity that comes with a place that you’ve spent nearly six years in. Sometimes, change takes you by surprise and it always takes awhile to adjust to your new environment.

Duluth, Georgia is small yet a pretty large area. Over the few years, the city has undergone change for the better and for the worse. Many of my friends have grown up in Duluth their entire lives and have gone from elementary school to high school graduation with the same people. An area known as downtown Duluth still keeps the ‘old-fashioned’ image from the authentic streets to the style of the storefronts. Around that area, there are many independent shops and eateries and also a Town Green with a fountain and areas to just hang out near the stores. Every year, the town holds an annual Fall Festival the last weekend in September with a parade and booths full of various different events that brings the whole town together.

Most neighborhoods have townhomes or apartments grouped together with a name for the cluster of homes. The big neighborhoods are well-known and usually if questioned about where you live, people give the name of their neighborhood. Some areas are obviously are pricier than others and there are a few country club-type neighborhoods around and can indicate wealth status for a person. This is similar to the sections of New York City. Each section of New York City has a name to the area such as the Upper East Side or the Lower East Side. Those areas each indicate something to someone else because each section of New York City is different and can also indicate something about a person from where they live.

Duluth and nearly everywhere in Georgia is a car dependent culture. You can get your license at 16 which are convenient since if you want to go anywhere, you have to drive. It is impossible to get anywhere without cars though, there is never anywhere to actually go except the movies or the mall when you are a teenager. Occasionally, you do see someone walking but it’s rare. The sidewalks make it impossible to even attempt walking because a sidewalk will pop up and disappear at irregular intervals throughout. This is a bad design in part to the city planners because what is a person supposed to do if the sidewalks stop? Then, he or she is stuck walking on a very narrow space inside the painted white line that separates the car from the pedestrians since the sidewalk has become long grass or some other circumstance where the person is no longer able to walk in or through. Public transportation is not a real option because in order to get to the closest train (Marta) stop from Duluth, you would have to drive at least 30 minutes down to another town known as Doraville to get on it. To make it worse, the stops are limited to only the downtown area. No one really uses the bus either because most people do have access to cars. This is a problem because I do not particularly like driving and I’m sure people don’t always want to be stuck with their car to get to any destination. The car culture of Georgia leads to why New York is a good location. A car is rarely needed to get anywhere because the sidewalks do not randomly end. New York City has more options of getting around to wherever you need to go. You have the option of using the subway or bus and the method of simply walking to your destination. Duluth, Georgia is definitely far from New York City. They both have different things to offer yet, have a few similarities between the two cities.

Sent by Ellis from Duluth, GA