Author: XinWen Liang (Angela)

The tour on Wednesday gave me a better chance to understand the streets and the changes between the blocks compared to the map of 1924. Using the two maps for comparison helped me to see what and where is the actual change is. There was some major change to the streets and it was surprising to see how some of street are completely wiped out of the map and some street is now used for another purpose. Professor Montgomery gave the class a very informative tour and leaded the class to all the streets and alley. Some street used to be the front of the street on the 1924 map and now became the service side of the building which is considered to be the back. Some street is now restricted for security and government purposes, enter only with a permit. It was a great observation to see where exactly the changes to the streets and alley are.

The assignment of Neighborhood Analysis gives me the chance to look deeper into my neighborhood.  I discovered many details and history about the neighborhood, which I never thought of before this assignment. When I moved to the neighborhood I was eleven years old, and it been almost ten years since I moved to the neighborhood. The neighborhood I live at; it is the Sunnyside neighborhood. It is located in Staten island, New York. The reason that lead my parent chose the neighborhood was because its parking convenience and it was much bigger than my old house in Brooklyn.

When I first arrived to the neighborhood, I was afraid to go any other streets because there was barely anyone on the streets. I always knew about the park four blocks behind my house, but I never walk into the park. When I recently walk into this park I was surprised about how big the park was, it was named The Clove Lake Park. There was also an ice skating rink at the park, which was open to public. I learned that it is the World War II Veterans Memorial Ice Skating Rink, it is very meaningful and historical.

The park also had few basketball field and a full sized baseball field, there was also a restaurant by the lake. As I stay in the park for observation, there was a lot of activities going on. It brings the neighborhood many opportunities outdoor activities, there was also military practice going at the park. There were military helicopters landing at the baseball field and certain practice was going on. Behind the lake, there was mini mountain for hiking and 3 different lakes inside the park. The park was 200 acres; it was surprisingly big.