The field trip to the Museum of New York City was interesting and entertaining. Although I do not have an interest in housing, yet as a psychology major, it was gratifying for me that I got to observe the effect that the housing pattern in New York City has on New Yorkers. Therefore, I was especially attracted to the statistics of of people living in the Greater Area of New York.

I was shocked, yet not surprised, when I glanced through the different numbers presented to us as we approached the third floor of the museum. I knew instantly that Manhattan and New York City in general foster the kind of living that only single people can afford. Henceforth, New York City is not an ideal place to raise a child since the majority of families in New York City does not follow the traditional nuclear family model; it was shocking to see that the city has A LOT of single parents. I can remember that about 30-ish percent of New York City residents live alone, including senior citizens. Assuming that seniors are not compatible with the fast and hectic lifestyle here, I think that the enormous number of single senior citizens here would have dwelled upon something else more attractive that the city may have to offer, maybe superior healthcare, rich individuals retiring on massive amount of wealth, or affordable senior housing.

When we came across the number in Washington D.C., I was surprised that it topped the ranking for the city with the most single people. Rationally, one would think that as superior civic servants who represent the image of the country where family values are put on top, politicians and judges must have resided here with their family. Especially since D.C. is such a quiet city with no taxes and low crime rate, one would think that families would have found a perfect place to build a home. But the fact is not so.

Then we visited the more artistic and creative part of the exhibit, the Future of New York exhibit. Due to the limited space that New York has to offer, architects and urban planners have come up with creative ways to maximize comfort for massive amount of dwellers. The exhibit showed how much space could be saved with the right kind of thought. The space and furniture were efficiently utilized. The queen-size bed was hidden and fused as one with the spacious couch; the wooden chair was turned into a sturdy ladder; Concealed behind the huge flat-screen TV was the glass cabinet and a fridge. Even though the space was extremely limited, it turned out to be so much more comfortable and convenient for a single person to live in.

The more interesting part of the exhibit was the adAPT NYC project, a bold step into the future of New York City landscape. The winner was offered a piece of land to execute their building design. Given the statistics, the generous implementation of adAPT NYC by Michael Bloomberg may be able to fix the housing overcrowdedness in New York while fostering creativity among urban planners. Conclusively, I really like most parts of the exhibit while attainting some insights into the situation of New York City urban dwellers.