6 Ways to Really Discover Your New Neighborhood
Moving to a new city, or even to a new neighborhood in a city you think you know well? Well, here are a half dozen smart ways to get to know the neighborhood you’re moving to.
1 – Where are You, Actually? Chances are, you’re not moving to an island. So take a look around not just your own neighborhood but check out the surrounding areas too! In densely populated areas like New York’s borough of Brooklyn, for instance, many newcomers are unaware that just a mile away from upscale Park Slope there’s the ethnically diverse Chinese-Latino neighborhood of Sunset Park, where things are cheaper, including rent.
2 – Walk, Don’t Just Drive Around. You’d be surprised at how much more you can learn about a place when you walk, rather than drive, around it. In a city like San Francisco, Philadelphia or Austin, walking helps you get a sense of the history and architecture. The feel of the street life can change literally from block to block. If you’re in a suburban setting, walking enables you to see who is a rose gardener, who has a messy yard and on which streets there are kids playing outside.
3 – Talk to Locals. Try to pick up conversations. You can ask who has the best diner breakfast, where they go for a picnic or what the best dry cleaner in the area is. Talk, talk, talk!
4 – Get Familiar with More than One Source of Local News. Check out local freebie newspapers, the local columns of your citywide newspapers and take some time to scan community Web sites or blogs.
5 – Get to Know Your Local Hardware Store Folks and Your Elected Officials. It always pays to know someone who can help you find a plumber, electrician and repairman and who better than the local hardware store? It is also smart to know who your elected officials are, at the city, state and federal level. Their staffs know a lot about the area you live in and you can always call them for a suggestion.
6 – Identify the Local Community Hub. Some of the most wonderful sources of information and contacts in a new community are the basics: the local diner, firehouse, church or synagogue or mosque and park. If you want to really discover what your new neighborhood has to offer, identify the local hub and make a few visits.
Ellen Freudenheim is a veteran travel writer and the author of several comprehensive guidebooks to New York City . Her 500-page guide to over 20 neighborhoods of Brooklyn is called Brooklyn: the Ultimate Guide to New York’s Most Happening Borough (St. Martin’s Press, 2004). Her most recent book is Queens: What to Do, Where to Go (and How Not to Get Lost) in New York’s Undiscovered Borough (St. Martin’s Press, 2006). (www.queensguidebook.com).Both are available from online booksellers.
© Ellen Freudenheim 2006. No part of this article can be reproduced without the author’s permission.
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