Contrasts to the South

The South has had a notorious reputation for usually being more conservative in politics and its close connection to slavery and loss. This is in opposition to the Northern colonies in which New York City dwells in that remain much more radical and diverse in both politics and demographics. The South also has less population density, which did result in Agrarian Settlement patterns and usage of vast land for farming and manufacturing, unlike New York City, whose population density is the greatest in the United States. This sometimes results in higher poverty levels due to economic stress, but the South has always been much more impoverished because of the lack of economic power to begin with.

Vs.

Appalachia - Beautiful but Problematic

New York City is not terribly far from the most northern point of the Appalachian region. In comparison, it's easy to understand the huge success of New York City and it's growth as a Megalopolis, as it has available resources such as it's many waterways to attain natural crops and trade and with a rather flat topography. The Appalachian region's hilly and irregular topography is a reason why there is little to no farming and growth of crops, forcing a majority of landowners to have necessary support from surrounding regions.

New York City is also much more compact than the Appalachian region, which is made up more of valleys and clearings. It is for this reason that many people from New York vacation through these valleys not just for the picturesque nature but to find open spacing. The economy of the Appalachian region has nearly doubled because many people can afford 2nd homes in the area.

NYC is Not Bypassed

This post consists of looking at the Bypassed East, which is a general region located in Northern New England. While the state of New York is certainly a part of Northern New England, the CITY of New York is NOT a part of the Bypassed East. That doesn't mean we can't talk about it, right? In fact, only a portion of the state of New York is a part of The Bypassed East, and this includes the Adirondack Mountains in the North Eastern part of the state. These mountains make up a part of the southern extension of the Canadian Shield and, compared to the rest of the mountain ranges in the Bypassed East, it is more rounded rather than angular.

Manufacturing in the Big Apple

New York City provides a plethora of different types of industries that deal with manufacturing. The website MadeInNYC.org states the following:

"There are over 6,000 manufacturing companies in New York City, employing approximately 81,000 New Yorkers. A healthy industrial sector adds stability to the local economy by providing stable jobs and bringing much-needed export dollars into the City."

This also adds to the many non-English speaking citizens to pursue career opportunities and have a formidable living stature. NYC is also a major supporter of manufacturing "green" products as population density has increased the amount of pollution and greener products are helping to tone it down.

NYC manufactures everything construction and furniture, clothing and fabrics, jewelry, paper supplies and printing, food (mainly apples with as many as 32 million bushels annually), metals and ore, and electrical. For such a big city in a small area, there's no wonder as to why it would need to manufacture a lot to be financially stable as well as environmentally stable.

Metropolis? Think Megalopolis

Just upon personal experience, New York City is one of the most crowded cities in the United States if not the entire world. There are times when you practically walk with others - in droves. There is close to no point in driving your car around the streets and you're better off using the many ways of transport to get from destination to destination, such as the subway, bus, or taxi. Buildings escalate as you walk next to them and they overshadow the 8 million people that crowd into Times Square every New Year. This is one dense city that is well-defined as a Megalopolis.

New York City's location is essential to making it a Megalopolis, in that it's on the island of Manhatten. The fact that it's surrounded by waterways makes it an absolute prime spot for harboring ships and bringing in trade. This further helped the development of the city when it was colonized during the British settlement, and then they further expanded into new suburbs. The Hudson River has allowed for more port facilities and accessibility. These factors have helped to bring settlers close to sites such as NYC, for there is a lot in terms of business and economic relations.

The city has since been built around it's primal site. The amount that it has expanded is slight, however, because now such a small city has to fit it all within the confines. This is why urbanized areas are filled with tall buildings, overcrowding, and dense population. As much as these may sound like hindrances, however, the large amount of people have contributed to growing development of localized transportation and communication. NYC boasts a highly complex subway network, which is unlike any of it's kind around the world.

The Megalopolis known as New York City is perhaps the greatest in the entire U.S., and it can be certain that it will remain that way for a long time more.

The Sound of Settling

New York City is, of course, part of the North East coast of the U.S., and that area was the first major start of the European Settlement era in the early 1600's. Englishman Henry Hudson (whom the Hudson River is named after) was in search of finding a path to Asia as part of the Dutch East India Company's ease of trade and landed upon what is now New York City. There were Native Americans already inhabiting the area, however, called the Lenape, speaking the language of Algonquin. It's location close to waterways was prime for those inhabitants in need of resources for food like fishing and hunting. Upon European Settlement and the Dutch influence, the Lenape population was down to only 200 by the year 1700.

Throughout it's extensive history in the Revolutionary War and after, New York began to flourish as a center for politics, economy, industrialization, and culture. When we see New York City now and think of all the people that can amass to one city for New Year's Eve, you can begin to wonder about the population density of such a city. Consider the countless skyscrapers that line the streets of the regions, counting for more people in tighter areas and an increase in consumption. Of course with the many people surrounding the city, you can very much expect a great amount of religious and cultural diversity, though the Catholic Church mostly counting for it.

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_New_York_City

Photos provided by:
http://i2.cdn.turner.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenape

A City for All Seasons

Have you heard about that ridiculous blizzard that is currently hitting the Northeast? Well, if you haven't, let's just say that New York City is pretty much in the midst of it. Is there a reason for that, though?

New York City is prone to this sort of stuff because of precipitation. The precipitation is generated mostly by storm systems for the majority of the states east of the Rockies and the two air masses going N/NE from the Gulf of Mexico and S/SE from Canada, and its closeness to the Atlantic Ocean is certainly reason to cough up storms here and there. It also has a latitude of 40.78 degrees, which is enough above the equator for NYC to have differing shifts in weather during the year. Might I say that NYC actually has seasons compared to Los Angeles where I live?

While a blizzard is not unusual, to have it hit as hard as it currently is is rather interesting to note. According to a climate study done by Cornell University, the annual snowfall in NYC is usually about 22.3'', and it managed to snow nearly as much in a single day during my week there in 2010. I know I would be covering myself up and staying indoors if that ever occurred here in L.A., but I have a feeling nothing like that will ever happen.

Region Reasons

New York City is among the many populated cities within the Northeast. I use populated to the highest degree, in that it thrives as a metropolitan area filled with urbanized subdivisions such as Chinatown or Little Italy that are not only distinctively cultural but staggered with modern living arrangements and stores that just about anyone can use them as places for living and visiting . Not that being populated is that big of a deal, considering that mobility is very well organized with it's mass transit systems, but it's good to note that having millions of people dwell within a city requires much more consumption and economic pressures, resulting in some percentage of poverty and decay.

So what's with me and liking this city so much? The idea that such a city can have a lot of activity within a wide range of cultural and natural zones astonishes me. Sure, there's a lot of history related to the area and it's many structures, but speaking for those non-tourists, I would hope that they could see the similarities within the differences of the subdivided areas are at least intriguing, multi-functional and multi-ethnic. As dense a place as it can be, New York City is significantly different from the spread-out Los Angeles that I live in, and it confines so much in its metropolitan area that there is a wealth of abundant activity and communication. Thankfully, New York City is within a region that has the ability to do what it does best: generate and unite everyone dwelling in it, no matter what color, nationality, religion, or economic status.

New York City - Where to begin?

Upon my last visit to NYC for New Year's Eve, it was the first time I had ever experienced falling snow in my lifetime, and not just falling snow, BLIZZARD snow. That you could walk into the middle of Broadway and Times Square with no cars was a site unlike any I've ever experienced. At times I was most impressed with the weather and it's natural consequences than I was with museums, Broadway shows or New York Cheesecake. It's pretty unusual for a guy from SoCal to experience actual snow during Winter, and to be in a place that actually feels like all four seasons is reason enough for me to want to move there.

As for my first post on this blog, I will post a couple pictures of me and the blizzard we experienced during the last week of 2010. I hope you enjoy reading this blog and seeing the many pictures I post with it!