I like living in Astoria. A lot. I'm the type who gets defensive when people who live in other places make disparaging remarks about where I live (or am I just being defensive?) or who do not give Astoria the praise I feel it deserves. To be fair, I'm sure I would want to feel that wherever I chose to live was the best place- at least for me (and for my family). But really, I choose to live here because I love so much about it.
May I tell you why Astoria is so great? I feel like it's the best of both worlds because we are in the "city" (an in an outer borough of NYC), and we are really close to Manhattan (from 2-7 subway stops away from midtown), but it is also its own distinct and rich neighborhood. And of course there are plenty of other neighborhoods in other outer boroughs that are their own individual neighborhoods, and close in a commuter friendly way to Manhattan. But we also have so many cool things to do......
And I realize that I sound a lot like a travel brochure, but I have to brag about some of my favorite outdoor spaces. A very good argument, I feel, against living in the city and particularly raising children in the city, is that there is not a lot of space to run around in, or explore, or just go wild in. Yes, we have playgrounds, but there is not a lot of nature there, just asphalt and rubber padding.
Some places to play outside.....
My favorite park, the Socrates Sculpture Park, is a kind of wild space. There are cool sculpture exhibits, sure, but there is lots of grass and places for kids to romp. They have family art activities on the weekends (and offers art workshops to community groups at other times) in the summer. There are outdoor movies, bands play there. Also, they throw great parties......
http://www.socratessculpturepark.org/
I love Astoria Park too, it's a huge space! You really can't beat the view over the water, between the two bridges...tons of boats to look at and there's lots of grass, and hills to run down. In the summer, their beautiful pool is open.
Did you know that you can kayak on the east river?
When I think to myself, "Is it fair that I'm raising kids in a city? They have no "backyard" to play in...I grew up with a backyard, and we could move somewhere that has more space if we would stand a longer commute and live somewhere much farther away...." it makes me feel much better. Yes, they have to share their "yard" with other people, but there are beautiful spots here to play.
There are lots of wonderful things about living in/raising kids in the city, also.... which I will ramble on about later......
If anyone else wants to chime in about great outdoor spots in Astoria, or about raising kids in the city (arguments for and against)...........
1 comment:
Nice post! I love living in Astoria as well.
I think there will be always pros and cons of living in the city and suburb.
I spent my early childhood in a small village inside the Atlantic Forest. It was great, different and wild but I was sick all the time.
Big cities fascinate me, specially NY with its intersection of culture, architecture, history and technology.
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