Building Heights in NYC

I chose to explore the building heights in Manhattan. Being from New Jersey has exposed me to the Big Apple many times and to the various neighborhoods that the island offers. The different neighborhoods all vary in their demographics and are vastly different in their makeups. When looking at this map it becomes very clear which neighborhood is which even without street names or labels. Manhattan and Times Square is the dark area below the large white rectangle (Central Park).  The financial district is located towards the bottom of the map.

            I found it interesting how clear this map is without being labeled. Even if you have never stepped foot in the city I feel as though you could understand the map and figure out where various world famous landmarks are. The high-rises are automatically attributed to the Times Square and the big business that are located there. The big white rectangle is attributed to Central Park. Central Park makes up a large portion of New York City. The thing that stood out to me about Central Park was how with all the expansion and growth of industry and business that large of an area remains unchanged and a green sanctuary to the people living in the concrete jungle of the city.

            There are two main takeaways I got from looking at this map. The first being that skyscrapers are very concentrated. The high-rises are all built in clusters. There are very few skyscrapers that are built in their own area. Whether they be hotels, apartments or places of business they are all concentrated on few areas. This can be attributed to some of the convenience that New York City offers. You never have to go far to find exactly what you want or you do not have to commute far to make it to your office. I think that this concentration of buildings contributes to the tourism demand. People can go to one are and see all the sights and take all their pictures without disrupting the people living in the suburbs and out of the bright lights of Manhattan.

            The other takeaway was the development of the city. The city was built on a near perfect grid. Being on the grid allows for people to easily find their way by counting blocks and staying on the grid. This is a unique setup that other cities have tried to copy but New York City has the most success with this setup. There is very little land that has gone undeveloped. There are buildings on every corner and with the exception of Central Park very little green areas. Looking at this map taught me how NYC was developed, the differences between the neighborhoods and how recognizable some of the areas are even without labels.