The trip that we had the last Wednesday was similar to the neighborhood analysis presentation.  During the trip we practice the voice memos, taking pictures, mapping etc. This was important because the more we practice, the more we going to improve,  also practicing the voice memos more made me feel more confident.  Throughout the trip we compared two maps of Brooklyn, one from 1994 and the other one from 2019. This was important because we learned how Brooklyn has changed during the past years, I was able to see how  Brooklyn focus more on streets, and cars back in 1994. There I was able to see the lack of public places, there was no place for people to socialize only streets and buildings, but in the 2019 map we see a big difference. There were more public places and more focus on pedestrians, is not perfect, but compared to 1994 is a big improvement. I believe that Brooklyn still need more public places and more focus on pedestrians, for example, the sidewalks in the city tech campus are to narrow.

On the Metro-Tech walking tour, I think we gained a new perspective of the neighborhood. A lot of students pointed out that they didn’t really realize the area when they commute to school they don’t pay attention to all those drastic details that they walk past almost every day. I think it was a great idea for Prof. Montgomery to print out two different maps for the class. It definitely gave us a good reference to keep looking at. We used the map to see exactly where we were and how the same exact place looked back then.  It’s safe to say that the streets have changed almost completely. There were some streets that have been completely wiped off. It brings up questions in mind, like why?  Why did they remove streets that back then were considered important major streets; an after having them wiped them off, why didn’t they make them more pedestrian safe? I wouldn’t consider Metro-Tech a safe walking place for pedestrians, because of all the trucks and wide crossing streets and reckless drivers not considering bikers at all. Also we realized that the walking tour was a good practice for voice recording and taking notice in small details round you that you might not realize when you’re walking normally past.

On the trip we had around the neighborhood near jay street and metro tech we learned how to make better observation. Observations that compared the neighborhood from the 1980s to present day, there we spotted how major changes where made with time. Street were wiped out of the map and housing or residential building were put there. When streets are wiped out of map that would create neighborhood division. So, when one is walking through the streets you could feel the change in neighborhood that could go from quiet to loud from crowded to empty. This is one of many topics we discussed in how to notice the change a neighborhood has gone through.it helps our observation skills to look deeper into why they decided on those changes and if it was the right move for the future of the neighborhood. Looking into that it helps to understand better and to be more aware of our surrounding and appreciate some of the effective changes that happened. – Jennifer Reyes

The walk around of Metro tech on Wednesday gave me a better idea of what changes actually happened in the area of our study. It also gave me a personal experience and practice with the voice recording. As a person that likes to learn visually, this walk around trip helped me further understand and see the actual change and characteristic in the area. Seeing where roads used to be shows how much the area actually have a drastic change. I also like that we all as one group take time and share each other’s findings. Hearing other people’s views and thoughts keeps me engage in looking deeper into the area rather than having a quick glance and saying these disappeared now this appeared. – Rikkie Garcia

Changing tells us the story of the past, improve the present, and create the future; it happens all the time and the entire world. From this tour, we are observing the change of the surrounding area of Metrotech center which located in downtown Brooklyn from 1924 to the current view. From the map of 1924, we can determine that downtown Brooklyn is a high-density residential area at that moment. Tillary Street expands to two-way traffic road from the small street which only for one way running street by occupying McLaughlin Park area. Later, we try to find the street adjacent to polytech high school, and we realize that the loading dock of MetroTech was truncate the street at Johnson Street. The tiny houses which located of eastern Flatbush avenue become modern high-level building since the zoning changes. In the east of Flatbush Avenue, most buildings built of steel, and most buildings in the west of Flatbush avenue built of brick. Also when we walk in the Flatbush avenue, there is much traffic because it connects to Manhattan bridge.
Moreover, the city tries to create more greening on the road. We saw a small rest park and chairs in the middle of the road. We do not think that is a good idea because many cars are running on the road, and it is dangerous. Maybe it could not make people enjoy the rest. While we walk forward to Willoughby street, there are new structures under construction. When we look through the west, we can reach the location of the borough hall, and the east is the location of the Prison Ship Martyrs’ Monument.
As a conclusion, changing is a way to let us improve, tell us the achievable about our world. Also, we are glad to see there are few landmark buildings still exist in Metrotech center areas, Like Brooklyn Church Bridge, the Dime Savings Bank of Brooklyn, or the interior of a restaurant. Changing also makes us think about how the historical still exist, how to relate to or connect to new modern building and the environment. We would not stop change, but try getting better in the future.

In the neighborhood assignment I had a chance to learn how to look deeper into my neighborhood. I noticed many new things in my neighborhood, discovering new things creates an eye-opening moment. I was raised in Bushwick and then I moved to East New York were I currently live for about 10 years. The reason we left the neighborhood I was raised in is because my parent wanted a different environment and the one, we moved into is very diverse. My neighborhood is big, but I almost never go out of the comfort zone I have created with four major blocks.

While living in this neighborhood I would just walk to the train station and do some shopping on the main street, never really looked passed it. While having this assignment I got the chance to look deeper into the history of my current neighborhood how the streets used to look like in the 1800s. what I found interesting is that the train station and railroads have been there for many years now. Fulton street which is the main street has always been the commercial area where people go to buy their everyday needs. The church was a historical part I enjoy researching saw images of how it started off compared on how it changed into today. After the project I appreciate the amount of history facts I gathered from the research and images.

Then we had to record our observation while taking a voice note. That was the helpful part because later on I could rehear it and realize thing I have missed in the specific spot and that I didn’t notice before.

Everything is constantly changing in this world, but many people don’t realize it. Recently, the project of neighborhood analysis lets me pay attention to my neighborhood. During the process of my research, I have different perspective of place, building and history to more understand about my neighborhood.

I am living near Sunset Park area, in Brooklyn almost eight years. Before I did my research, I already know there are many commercial stores near my house. One of the avenues that Chinese people activate, and the Latinos most activate in other one of avenues. But when I walked outside to do my voice memo, I discovered there are more stores and restaurants around my house then before. More people move into my neighborhood. I feel like my neighborhood has become another China Town in New York City. Except the resident houses, stores and restaurants, there are also clinics, churches, playgrounds and transportations. It is convenient for people’s life by living here. I discovered after the new entrance of train opened, some people changed their circulation in their life too. However, I feel the environment of my neighborhood is getting worse.

I also found out some historical that I didn’t know before. I researched the historical picture of some buildings online, and then tried to walk to the site to compare the past and today. Some of them didn’t have a lot change between 20’s and 21’s. Some of them changed by material, or the new building is next to them. I also saw there are many churches concentrate on 4^th avenue, kind like a place of concentration of different religions.

The neighborhood changed could affect the way that people live. Like I didn’t consider Sunset Park is my neighborhood because I didn’t go over there a lot. I might go there few years ago, but just rarely. And more stores and restaurants make more people main activate between 62 street and 50 street.

Over two weeks period of the assignment of studying my neighborhood.  I have learned 2 things that changed the way i’m thinking and it will impact the way i view project as whole in the future.

First of all , before the assignment, i never thought that video memo would be so effective as i become more aware of my surrounding and  pay attention to the details of the building. As i recording the video and talking as i recording, i saw the changes and the interaction between people. People would stop in the middle of the street and chat for few minutes with their friends.  On that moment, i realized that i didn’t know my neighborhood well as i thought.

Second, as i talk to the elderly around my neighborhood. I notice that if you live in an environment that does not require  you to speak foreign language, you can still be happy and live wealthy like the way you live in your home country.  The most frequently question that i asked the elderly is how happy are you living in the foreign country that you’re not familiar with and the majorities of them answer very happy . I was shocked because i wasn’t expecting to get such positive answer.

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.

Discovering my neighborhood and the histories is very interesting to have researched. I have learned that there are underlying histories that we are unaware of until we do research. There are different dynamics that may be ignored on a daily basis as we go about our daily life and routines. I have reflected how my neighborhood was when I first moved into it twenty years ago to how it is today and parts of it has changed dramatically and other parts stayed relatively similar to how it was.

I discovered a clock tower in my neighborhood that has been built in the early 1800’s which was very fascinating to me and amazing that a structure of hundreds of years still stands today. I also realized that my neighborhood has updated train stations compared to other neighborhoods and it was rebuilt in 2015 which was very recent. Looking into my neighborhood in more detail has allowed me to become more aware of the different dynamics as I am going about my routines. I have been paying more attention to the amounts of people in my neighborhood, the traffic flows, the different stores and businesses around that are very convenient, the travel from one useful area to another, etc.

I am very comfortable in my neighborhood as I have been residing here for the past 20 years which is majority of my life. I have noticed that the crime rates went up and it has made me become more cautious of where I am going and to be more aware. There are so many different ways to observe a neighborhood and I am glad to have done this assignment because it has taught me a lot about my neighborhood and how it has evolved over time. I think it is a great lesson and it is good to be aware of what places used to be and the struggles and successes of it becoming what it is today.

We live in a fast paced world not realizing the changes around us. When we have so little time for anything, we don’t even stop for a second to read what is says on a monument.  We all say we care about the world but we can’t be bothered to know what makes our neighborhood the place it is today.

Recently I did a project analyzing my neighborhood and it made me aware that there is more to my neighborhood than its streets. I had to do research to understand the architecture of the buildings and the history of the town I live in. Doing so gave me a totally different perspective of the places I walk by every day.

During my research, I used a combination of resources. I started mapping the key features of my town. With the help of Google Maps and Google Earth, I was able to get a clear bird’s eye view of my town. This made it easy to see the boundaries of my neighborhood. Now it is obvious to me that what I consider my neighborhood boundary is different than what really it is. This is determined by so many factors, such as places I go for shopping and streets where I take public transportation.

I continued my research by walking around the neighborhood to see different landmarks, observe different gathering spots and find historic monuments. This part of my research was very enjoyable. Now I know why these places are important and what they mean to the people who lived here generation after generation.

Lastly, I did a voice memo while recording my surroundings on camera. I was on one of the busiest streets when I did the recording.  This was very informative to see what the neighborhood looks like.

I learned a lot about my neighborhood after completing my research. This was a great experience. Now I feel more connected to where I live. Also doing this project taught me how to be a better observer and will help me on my future research projects.