I found two ideas from the reading to be particularly engaging – both have to do with the dynamics of the city. The first is that New York City is composed of three different groups of people – natives (those raised in the city), commuters (those who travel into the city for work), and settlers (those who move into the city). While the text described the general qualities of each group, I think it’s also worth considering that these groups are not necessarily mutually exclusive. For instance, many students at Baruch are transitioning from natives to commuters. Growing up, people usually attend elementary and middle schools within their so-called “neighborhood boundaries,” mostly for convenience. Transitioning to high school and college, students begin pursuing schools that align with their interests, and those that attend CUNY schools begin commuting full-time. Between studying and a job/internship on the side, many students may just make it home at night to eat dinner and sleep before leaving in the morning again, making them commuters as well as natives. Thus, the three groups that E.B. White describes exist in the city, and New Yorkers are not necessarily confined to one of those groups.

The second idea is that New York City actually comprises smaller sub-cities within its area. I spend most of my time in three different neighborhoods: Flatiron (school), Long Island City (work), and Marine Park (home). The three areas are vastly different, but as stated in the text, they are all self-sufficient, in large part due to the natives that have lived there for decades; commuters pass through many different neighborhoods on a daily basis, but the natives residing in those neighborhoods drive the culture associated with their area. As commuters pass through these various neighborhoods, they come with characteristics of their own neighborhood in mind, and bring back new experiences and feelings lent to them as they passed through different parts of the city. Together, I think these ideas combine to show the value of movement and human interaction across the city, as this ensures a free-flowing exchange of ideas and allows neighborhoods to adapt with their natives.