Author Archives: Kelvin Wu

What is an American city?

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Katz’s article of “What is an American city?” only explains what has been defined as the American city and different interpretations. I do not think it is hard to notice the disparity between those who are rich and those are poor in the city. Every time I go on the 6 train station, there is always at least one homeless person sleeping on the ground. While a city can mean different things, the definition that stuck out the most to me was global center.

In New York City, many people all of the world come here. From Asia to South America, people come here as tourists or to perform business transactions or make a living. In our day and age, more and more businesses are going global instead of sticking to their national or regional economy only. Technology has given has that ability. It wasn’t emphasized in the article as much as I thought it would be but I believe cities are the ones that are experiencing the most technological growth. With a city like NYC, which is an area of many businesses, businesses must keep up with clients from all over the world and as a result must keep up with technological developments whether it is a computer to help do quantum modeling or a laser printer to print documents.

A part of the article I was astonished to hear about were the percentages of families living in the suburbs decreased over the years and that the number of single young people living there started to go up. I always thought the suburbs were a place for families to raise their children. I never thought that any single people live in the suburbs. I am very surprised by these statistics.

When I imagine a single person or two people living together, I never imagine them wanting to go to the suburbs. The suburbs are quiet, and far away from the city. I imagine young people would want to live in the city or the boroughs. The reason is because they have easy access to the subway to go to the city for nightlife activities. If these statistics are true, then what I consider to be the suburb really does change.

Instead of a research paper, I thought the author might give us his opinion of the American city. However he mostly gathers other people’s opinions for the article and compares and contrasts them. My question would be what does he think is a American city? If the answer is it depends how we look at a city (ex. Political perspective or economic perspective) what does he think are the right characteristics of a city? If he cannot answer that, among the definitions given, what does he identify as the best definition from the article?

Governor’s Island

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Governor’s Island was a lot more fascinating than I thought it would be. According to the speaker, Leslie Koch, she said that riding bikes on Governor’s island was actually a weird idea to people when first introduced. The idea of bringing your bike on the ferry was actually considered weird. Nowadays biking is one of features that a lot, if not most, people go to Governor’s Island for. I was quite shocked to find this out as one who had always rented a bike when visiting the island.

I like how open Governor’s Island is to businesses. Instead of creating a specific area to hold only a few types of events, the island can be used for any idea as long as it can be approved. In the Macaulay seminar, various events and places described there were very diverse such as a puppet show and the hammock grove. I don’t remember seeing the hammocks the last time I went but the next time I will definitely make it a pit stop to go to after biking on the island.

Aside from the businesses and events held there, I thought the most interesting fact was the permanent residents residing on the island. I was not aware a marine school came here to study the water in the area or that their main stuffy were natural barriers. There was also a dance studio mentioned there and I am very surprised there is one on the island. Usually, the city is the area for dance since New York City is known for its art centers. I would have never thought a school or a dance studio would inhabit such an island.

A concern I thought about were the houses being torn down. I thought the houses would have historical value along with the other big landmarks on the island. Even though I know that they are doing this to create more spaces, I would think there would be an issue with the houses being torn down. It was not mentioned during the seminar so I am not sure if anyone actually cares about whether the buildings are torn down or not.

Some questions and issues I have are include are there dissenting opinions on whether the houses should be torn down? Is renovation on the island more important than preservation of the buildings to the board in charge of the island? Since no one talked about it I have no clear thought on what I consider an issue.