our friendly neighborhood subway stop at franklin ave, taken by RobinThe good, the bad, and the curious - what we learned in Brooklyn while living there for a year:
- Parallel parking is like a competitive sport. I had probably parallel parked about five times in my whole life before we moved to Brooklyn. But, not only can it not be avoided in NYC, you must also learn how to fit into a space this big. Seriously, I don't know how some people (including Joseph) got into spaces with less than 2 inches on either end of the car. Amazing. And yes, the good spots are coveted and you think of reasons to not use your car for 2 days just so you don't lose your spot.
- Street cleaning regulations are a necessary evil. The street where we lived had street cleaning 4 times a week. This meant that we had to be parked on the opposite side of the street during the cleaning time frame, or we had to go out and move our car and search, in vain, for 1.5 hours for a parking spot somewhere close to our apartment that was not going to have to be moved again in an hour for street cleaning. What a bother. But, I admit that if street cleaning was no more, the roads and gutters would be buried in garbage and litter. Joseph and I were floored by the lazy people we saw littering. There are garbage cans on every corner but people would still throw their garbage on the ground 2 feet away from the trash can. I saw people open their car door and put banana peels, wrappers, and cups on the road when they were stopped at a red light. So disrespectful.
- People talk to them selves a lot. I think this is hilarious. I've never seen so many people singing, talking, mumbling, yelling, etc. to themselves as they walk down the street. And a lot of times they are normal looking people. I guess you aren't labeled as crazy in Brooklyn if you talk to yourself every once in a while.
- Convenience isn't always convenient (for me). NYC is a city for walking and taking public transportation. It is not a car friendly place. So, there are little markets, specialty stores, restaurants, laundromats, etc. on every block and corner so that they are convenient for the people that live close by. But my definition of convenient is a one-stop shopping store with a large parking lot. Reality and my ideals often clashed as I tried to live like I was in Utah while I was living in Brooklyn. I finally started using the copy/fax services in the nearby beauty salon, walking to the post office to buy stamps, and stopping at 2 or 3 different stores on my way home from the subway to get all the ingredients I needed for dinner. Once I stopped resisting the lifestyle things went more smoothly.
- Fire truck and police sirens were our bedtime lullaby and morning alarm clock. We lived on the ground floor with our windows facing the road. There was a bus stop right in front of our window. There was a stop light on the corner. There was a lot of traffic. And there were constant sirens. Matthew loved it and would stop what he was doing and look at me every time he heard one. But I soon learned to ignore it and I almost didn't notice them anymore by the time we had lived there for a while. Except for the blasting loud sirens that jolted me out of sleep at 4:00 in the morning and had my heart racing for at least 15 minutes. I never got used to that.
- Unsolicited advice is always offered. I should have counted the number of times I was told to put shoes/hat/coat on Matthew. Or told to not let him suck on something. Or told the reason he was crying (did they really think they knew better than his own mom???). It really bothered me at first. And I guess it still bothered me at the end, but I like to think that I didn't let myself get offended. At least for long. Because they were only trying to be helpful, right?
- Honking is an automatic response. The light turns green and .012 seconds later three people are honking at you. People drive with their hands on the horn. And even if there is no way you could possibly move forward until the 25 cars in front of you start moving, the people behind you will honk and honk, thinking it will somehow make things move along. Not so. All it does is drive people like me crazy! How impatient can you be??
- Walking is good exercise. Obviously. Since I was pretty scared of driving in Brooklyn (absolute madness) I walked almost everywhere I went. The library, the grocery store, the bank, the post office, the park, etc. Time/babysitting permitting, I even walked 45 minutes to my doctor appointments at the hospital over 2 miles away. In my opinion it was so much better than driving in the crazy traffic and trying to find a parking spot. I always felt better after a nice long walk.
- Public transportation isn't scary. I actually really enjoy riding the subway. At least, I do when Joseph is with me and can carry the stroller up and down the stairs. But I was more hesitant about taking the bus. I think I had something against buses, and I have always thought they were a little sketchy. But it turns out there was something fun about riding the bus to church and having it fill up with other ward members at every stop, and then all of us piling off at the stop around the corner from our church building. So, when walking was out of the question because of weather or distance, you could find us on the train or the bus. Again, the $2.25 per ride was definitely worth it to me to not have to drive the car!
- People put anything and everything out on the curb for garbage day. Things that you would normally have to take to DI or the dump and dispose of yourself were always sitting out on the curb on garbage day. Furniture, clothes, shoes, appliances, you name it. And you can take whatever you want that is sitting on the curb. I found a nice tupperware container once, but that is the only treasure I ever took home with me.
These are just some of my thoughts and observations, and I could be terribly wrong. And of course these things are not limited just to Brooklyn, nor do they
always occur in Brooklyn. Everyone's experiences are probably different, and these are just some of mine. Please don't think that I am complaining, either. We really enjoyed our time there, and I came to appreciate and enjoy {most} of these things
We have been in Staten Island for a month now, and we are loving learning the ins and outs of our new home.
