My neighborhood

I live in Cherry Avenue. My location is close to Flushing Main Street. Unlike the crowed and noisy place in Main Street, my residential area is a quiet and clean place to live. How can I describe my neighborhood? I would like to share my feelings about what I like and dislike about my neighborhood.

Since I moved to here, I didn’t communicate a lot with my neighbors. I just know that they are both elderly who is properties are in the left and right side of my house. They both lived alone and I don’t quite often see their friends visiting them. I just say “hello!” or “good morning” such polite words to them if I see them. I don’t know much about their families and they don’t know much about mine, too. In this neighborhood, if your family has nothing happen, they just stay the way they are. Obviously, we recognize each other just base on races, such as Korean, Chinese, White, etc.

One reason I like my neighborhood most is that I access many different restaurants for less than 10 minutes by walking. There are some Chinese restaurants, pizza stores, coffee shop and Korean bakery around my house just one or two short block away. If I am hungry, I can order quickly and pick up soon. It is good for me to choose different kinds of food and compare which restaurant’s food makes me most favorable; therefore, choosing delicious foods will maintain good health. Every time, I pass by different restaurants and think about what should I eat for that day. The smell of food is so good. It stimulates my stomach and fulfills my basic need after eating.

Since it is so easy to find the same ethnical group people to talk to, it makes more people to move into this community and join together as neighborhood. I remembered when I moved into this neighborhood first year; there were so many ordinary houses in some blocks away my house. However, after one year, some houses been sold gradually, so the realtors just bought whole block down and rebuilt many Condos, and Mansions in order to sell more people and earn the best profit. As we can see, location is the big attractive reason that encouraged many people bought their apartments here. Thus, my neighborhood is very crowded, and I don’t feel very safe by living here any more. At night, when I walk down the couple blocks to my home, I always hear many noises from some families. I always hear some people find the parking lot by driving back and forth.

In conclusion, that is my residential area; it is a neighborhood includes the variety of diversity.

Ten Interview Questions

1. What is your name?

2. How long have you live in this neighborhood?

3. Do you know how the real estate price changes in here?

4. How about the ethnical race changes?

5. How has the retail price in neighborhood change?

6. How has the recreation change?

7. How has the transportation change?

8. What is the range of the economy distribution in here?

9. How has the health care been change?

10. How has the public safety change?

Queens Botanical Garden (Before 1950)

The Queens Botanical Garden locates in 43-50 Main Street, Flushing. Its 39 beautiful acres are free to the visitors. This garden is incorporated in 1946, and it fulfills the goal of providing beautiful public gardens to the people of Queens and offering horticultural information and education to amateur gardeners.

In Queens Botanical Garden, there are some major cultural and educational facility divisions, such as Demonstration Gardens, Wedding Garden, and Charles H. Perkins Memorial Rose Garden. I would like to describe the Wedding Garden and Rose Garden. As my research shows, “A three-acre Wedding Garden is a Victorian Garden featuring the style of 19th century English gardens. More than ten thousand couples have used this garden on their wedding day. The six-acre Charles H. Perkins Memorial Rose Garden is the largest rose garden in the northeast.”

I like this garden because it is a free place for the local residents to exercise every morning in Flushing. In the garden, you can breathe fresh air and learn how to plant through the program they provided in seasonal basis. “Queens Botanical Garden offers a large number of programs for School Groups, from grades pre-K and up, including outreach programs conducted by Garden instructors at school. At the Garden instructors will also work with teachers to create individual programs for advanced students and children with special needs.” So I wish the residents will enjoy the social life in Queens Botanical Garden and learn something to contribute the community.

Flushing Mall(Build after 1950)

Flushing Mall opened in December 2000; it is located at 133-31 39^th Avenue between College Point Blvd and Prince Street. It is an indoor style and two story mall. It attracts more Chinese and Korean customers to shop inside.

In the mall, as I took the picture and walked into the main entrance, I saw many flags hanging around on the top of my head. It seemed to tell me that this mall is build for every ethnical group of the people and welcome the growth of the diversity in Flushing neighborhood. I usually shop with my friends in the mall. There are lots of small shops to sell everything, such as fashion shoes, fashion jewelry, toys, and handmade artifacts, etc. They both sell in the reasonable price. Although there are only two floors inside of building, but this mall also provides many Asian food, such as Korean snacks, dumplings, noodle, sushi, etc. I guess why they provide a lot of that kind of foods because Chinese and Korean are big population in Flushing. However, if you want to explore the Asian and don’t want to go to far, just come into Flushing Mall, it is one stop and shop all in Asian style goods.

Besides the commercial reason that mall provides for customers, it also provides the local community activities in the mall. Usually in the weekend, the mall hosts a wide variety of community, civic and cultural events. People would usually have fun inside during the weekend and socialize with neighbors in community.

Forgotten NY

New York is a big city. As we live in here, most people work very hard. Therefore, they don’t have time to observe the change in the city. In people’ mind, the most important thing is how to earn more money. They think the looks in here are same and ordinary every day. They are much comfortable about the New York traffic, street lamps, businesses, parks, sidewalk, etc. however, this website created for many outlooks of New York City. It brings us to explore the different treasures that we never pay attention for in city.

In this website, I am interesting of “18, and I like it.” The reason for why I chose this one, it is because the picture contains of many people. As we can see, in this picture, I believe it is a busy commercial and residential street. I am wondering why someone wants to put up this picture, where is Bensonhurst? Since I had explored the street scenes in here, it is just like a trip visit over there. I see the historical bridge and bridge lamps. I also see the some vintage pain and enameled sign. It is a past and it might destroy today. Even though we could see the different kinds of painting on the door in the everywhere of New York City, we just forget to think about how long those paint made up? Why some people to make that picture? What is the meaning in the picture?

By scrolling down the mouse, I see two churches, one is formal and one is informal. Informal kind of church seem is a small group of residents, but it represent people’ belief in the community. Moreover, I see the yellow warning sign and a furniture store. It is long ago, but I guess who cared that warning sign is part of property in New York. If the webmaster didn’t take that picture, I guess most people just never think about its history value.

After watching the street scenes, I want to look up the different historical constructions in my neighborhood. I don’t want to miss some street scenes that might valuable.

Summary of Chapter 9

In Chapter 9, Jacobs explains the needs for the small block with comparing the disadvantage of the long block. By applying the short block, it is easy to meet and contact the neighbors frequently in daily basis. Also, short blocks would help the neighbors by walking short distance to shop in the different business stores. If many small blocks have been built, it would reduce the chance of isolating business in the long block. With the informal short block, it is good for many businesses mixed and mingled together into one convenient location; thus, it will bring more customers to shop here because one place has many selections. Finally, it would grow the economic benefit for the neighborhood.

Flushing Neighborhood

Flushing is in a north-central Queens. The historic neighborhood core is the largest urban center in the borough. Flushing is all of central Queens from Maspeth to Whitestone. But the neighborhood of Flushing is really between Flushing Meadows Park and Utopia Parkway (Auburndale). To the north the Whitestone Expressway and Bayside Avenue separate it from College Point and Whitestone. The LIE is the southern border (Kew Gardens Hills). East of Main Street is the more suburban enclaves of Murray Hill and Flushing-Broadway (north of Northern Blvd). Flushing is a 30-minute plus commute on the #7 subway to midtown Manhattan from the Main Street terminus. The LIRR also runs from Main Street to midtown—17 minutes. Flushing's Chinatown has grown to be the largest, wealthiest Chinatown in New York City. It's also a Korean center, and home to Indians, Italians, Afghans, Pakistanis, and many others. We can see many shop signs in English, Chinese, and Korean on a typical downtown Flushing street. Flushing real estate prices have climbed high since the late 1990s.

As my house location is the most convenient place near to Flushing Main Street. The real estates average price is $500k+ for the 1 family house, and two family houses are $700k+, it means many people like here, and it is a good opportunity to raise the economy distribution in my neighborhood. As my research, my neighborhood has different ethnical groups, such as White, Korean, Chinese, and Hispanic, etc. it is a neighborhood surround with the diversity. In Flushing, if you want to buy the Asian food, it is absolutely a good place to explore the traditional cuisine in here. Flushing is a generally safe neighborhood. The most recently problem and development project for Flushing is traffic, congestion, and overdevelopment for community to concern. Pollution cleanup and development of the Flushing River and Willets Point Iron Triangle are continually advanced. Flushing has many lovely parks, such as the Kissena Park, Flushing Meadow-Corona Park and Bowne Park. Also, the Queens Botanical Garden fulfills the goal of providing beautiful public gardens to the people of Queens and offering horticultural information and education to amateur gardeners.

So, welcome to Flushing, have fun in here!