Now days when I’m walking to the train station I notice that sidewalks are getting narrow and streets seem congested reminding me of the city. Weren’t the suburbs supposed to be the land of minivans and soccer moms, places that were populated by families who wanted to give their children backyards to play in and trees to climb?
According to The New York Times Westchester County’s first suburbs are undergoing a transformation that rivals the urban renewal efforts of the 1960’s. For the past couple of years, New Rochelle has been building numerous luxury apartments, lofts and condos within the downtown area including two Avalon buildings and Trump Plaza. These huge buildings take up a lot of space and with construction going year round the city seems congested and narrow. The city began these developments in hopes of bringing new life to the city and hopes of building a more vibrant and more economically viable community. The target market for these buildings are young professionals who commute to Manhattan who have no children or older people who want something easier to maintain — more lavish than a house. With the new developments of skyscraper condos and more to come, the city once known as a suburban city of New Rochelle is looking to be what could be the sixth borough of New York City.
I find this quite interesting because while the suburbs are turning more urban, there are neighborhoods in NYC that are rejecting attempts to further urbanize the areas. It seems almost every week, members of various neighborhoods speak out in arms against condos, stadiums, and tall buildings that can turn a small unknown neighborhood into a mini midtown. Even in Manhattan do people protest the building of sky rises. Its just interesting to see how different communities take (further) urbanization.
I couldn’t imagine my neighborhood with an apartment or condo building popping up . Luckily I don’t think that will happen. I like the fact that it’s quiet and you see few people, if any, walking around, arguing about parking spaces, or crowding up the buses. People move to the surburbs to get away from the noise, the crowds and the confusion. Its the most annoying thing: if what you are trying to escape finds you anyway.