There is always the hustle and bustle of the city. People everywhere have someplace to be and somewhere to go. But in this fast pace city, inside there are places that have a total different feel a different environment, a slower pace if you will. These places are important just as important as the big building you see in the city. There are not many of these places compared to the busy side of things, but no less we have to pay mind to the places with a slower, calmer environment.
The picture I took was of Pier 5 in Brooklyn. You can get there from CityTech by walking south on Jay street until you hit Johnson street then turn right. Walk to court street and keep walking straight on Joralemon street and you will get to Pier 5 in about 15- 20 minutes. The reason for me picking this picture to show the juxtaposition of the different environments, the fast pace and slow pace. The pier 5 is very relaxing and calming, also people come to just sit a talk. Nobody is rushing to go somewhere, everyone is just enjoying their time in this environment. While next to this pier is building that get bigger the more you walk farther away from the pier. It gets more crowded, more louder, more pieces moving at the same time. Also just a cross the water is Manhattan and their big,tall, looming buildings.So it’s also as if there is this bustling city life on both sides of the pier and this pier is a beautiful sanctuary in between the craziness. As for me personally when Im walking to the pier, passing these big buildings and crowds of people, I feel congested and a sense of,I need space. But when I get the pier I feel relief, also like I can breathe again, a sense of calm and no worries.
So why places such as the piers, parks, or just any place in the city where life is slower and quieter. Why are these places important in the city where, the city is know for being all about keep moving and noise as well as fast. They are important because it makes people happier, its a stress free environment. People that live in the city,visiting the city, or temporary people in the city that experience the fast, loud, crowded life need an escape from that so the answer is a new opposite environment. I find being in the crowded city very and sometimes extremely stressful, “so yes, people are blissful in Central Park, and bummed the hell out at Penn Station” according to “The Happiest and Saddest Places in New York City, According to Twitter.”I agree with this article because imagine if quiet places like piers or parks in the city did not existence, then a high amount of people would be in crowded places most of the time and have no places to escape that stress. More stressful people in a crowded environment together leads to a lot of unhappiness and more people not wanting to stay. Also stated in this article, ” There seems to be no better argument for city planners not to skimp on the urban green spaces than this. People love parks!” More stress free environments in the city. I know to myself that I love staying in a environment that helps me feel happy and if living an more crowded place gives people less happiness. Then places with parks and piers will provide happiness, isn’t important? These places are important, when it comes down to it. I know when i come out of CityTech, I’m glad I have places to go like the piers or the park for that matter. In my experience of the city, these places have helped me a lot, if i ever had a hard day, a stressful day, or even a sad day. I know that these places help me get away for stress and open my mind to be calm and forget about the troubles of life, I know these places helped other people too. Life in the city is a stressful place, a place away from that helps reduce that stress.
In places in the city, I have seen people on rooftops having small gardens. People that live in apartments, standing out on their balcony just looking out. People living in their houses just sitting on their steps looking up at the sky, looking at the people walking by. These people are doing the same actions as people in the parks and at the piers the only difference I have noticed is that more people are smiling in parks or piers then people that are at their homes and apartments. The atmosphere in these environments of stress free places, you have happy people talking to happy people. It feels more whole, almost like one big family. while in the city where the bustling is going on, it feels dull just people disconnected in a different sense.
Merchant, Brian. “The Happiest and Saddest Places in New York City, According to Twitter.” Motherboard, August 20, 2013. Web.
