main streets

[gusl]

I'm used to urban life being centered around a few arteries or high streets.

* In London, most of what I knew was 2 close to East-West streets: Kensington High Street, Kensington Road, Knightsbridge, Piccadilly; or Notting Hill Gate, Bayswater Road, Oxford Street.
* In Boston, almost everything was around the twisty (but mostly NS) Mass Ave.
* Amsterdam is a counter-example: there was stuff everywhere (possibly as a result of high-density urban planning); though I had roughly two favorite routes: Zeedijk-Jodenbreestraat-Waterlooplein-Rembrandtplein; and (Haarlemmerstraat)-Spuistraat-Leidsestraat-Vondelpark.
* Munich is also a counter-example, although due to my commute and location, most of what I knew was near Leopoldstrasse or Türkenstrasse or Marienplatz. ^*
* In Pittsburgh, almost everything was close to either Forbes (EW) or Murray (NS).
* In Vancouver, almost everything is close to either Broadway (EW) or Granville (NS) or Commercial (NS).

^{* - Of course, all of these are reflect some bias due to commute and location. But I think the bias was small for e.g. Amsterdam or Vancouver; and large for Munich and London and Pittsburgh.}


But in Manhattan, it feels like every street has lots of stuff. It's like you can always come back a different way, and see new stuff. However, due to my location, I suspect most of my destinations will be close to two NS streets: Broadway and Amsterdam... at least as long as I live near the campus.

Comments

[chrisamaphone]

this is even more true in the lower parts of manhattan.