So I've been trying to set something in New York- a friend and I are doing some writing exercises he found. Or made up, I'm not sure which. Anyway, we need to set part of this in New York. Catch; I've only been there once, when I was about 14. So I don't have the best feel for the place. I was trying to find a map of the various neighborhoods- and I did that. But I realised that didn't tell me anything. Oh, I can look each one up and get a bit of history, that's helpful. And I can get some statistics, that's nice. But the big fat important bit; "Is this a good neighborhood? Is it rich? Is it poor? Is it downward bound? Is it upward bound?" is virtually impossible to find. Anyone know where I can find anything to hash -that- out?
I can't help you out as far as your question. I do find your writing exercise interesting. Can you share that? I'm interested in knowing what it is.
Basically we each make a character up for a short story, hash out the general events that happen in the story, and then each write the thing from the POV of our respective characters while keeping the general order consistant. The idea being we have to follow a similar chain of events, but make sure we see it from a different set of eyes. Mostly we decided to give it a try because we're not that great at dialogue/pov yet. Descriptions I can do, and big events I can do, but the connection stuff escapes me.
Most of the guides you'll find online are geared toward tourists - they'll list restaurants, museums and other attractions. They'll also list tidbits and factoids like what famous person lives (or lived) there or maybe something from the past (e.g. that Washington feted his officers at Fraunces Tavern in lower Manhattan). I suspect that none of this is what you are looking for. One site you may want to check out is http://forgotten-ny.com/ which goes into greater depth. I find the street level visuals in Google Earth can help, but that's partly because I've lived here all my life and am familiar with a lot of it. Are you setting it in Manhattan or one of the other boroughs? What kind of a neighborhood are you looking for? If you PM me, I'll try to be more of a help.
I lived there for years, what characteristics are you looking for in a neighborhood? Or what neighborhood do you want to know about?
