Brooklynization Progress Report
Check out how Brooklynized Dope on the Slope has become since moving to Brooklyn four years ago. On the other hand. there’s still some stuff he’s adjusting to. Also Kudos to Dope on the Slope for what is an excellent blog. Here’s an excerpt:
It’s been four years this week since I moved to Park Slope from Knoxville,
Tennessee, so I thought I’d give a quick update on the Broolynization
process.When people find out I moved up here from the South they usually
respond "gee, that must be quite an adjustment." While I’ll agree there
are some signficant differences, for the most part, what motivates
people down there is pretty much the same as what motivates people up
here. Both regions have similar aspirations and values when it comes to
what they want from life – health, wealth, and security.However, there are two main points of difference that I have
observed. The first is in tastes, which is expected given the different
regional histories and ethnic composition. The second is in the
assumptions people make about what the best way to go about solving
community problems or securing the good life for themselves and their
families. I think this can be explained almost entirely by differences
in population density and the relative importance of the automobile to
daily living.One thing you can’t do in New York City, no matter how wealthy you
are, is to maintain the illusion of absolute independence from the rest
of the community. People living in less dense areas probably don’t
think too much about the web of interconnections that keeps the lights
burning, the potholes fixed, the garbage collected, and food on the
grocery shelves. I know I didn’t. The systems that make all of that
happen are largely invisible.