Character of Neighborhood Summary

Example Overview: CHARACTER OF GREENPOINT

Greenpoints’ character changes depending upon which part of the neighborhood you are in. If you are walking along Manhattan Avenue from Greenpoint Avenue towards Newtown Creek, you will see a mix of young hipsters, Polish residents and Puerto-Rican old timers. People often are hanging out in front of stores, talking to friends, often with a dog, speaking in English, Spanish or Polish. It is not an uncommon site to see older women with scarves tied around their heads pushing shopping carts of groceries, or on their way to one of the large Catholic churches in the community. The industrial past of Greenpoint is evident everywhere you look – old factory buildings line the water’s edge and piles of lumber still exist ready to be picked up by construction workers. The side streets are primarily residential with small wooden or stone walk-up homes, trees and fences. The commercial streets have a mix of Polish bakeries, 99cent stores, and fancy boutiques. Southern Greenpoint has more new development and is closer to McCarren Park where all neighborhood residents use the fields to play soccer, softball, or in the case of the young hipsters, dodgeball. On summer weekends Greenpoint is a crowded attraction, though it is not uncommon to walk some of the more industrial streets during a weekday and feel as if you are the only person who exists in the world.


OUTLINE: HOW TO WRITE ABOUT THE CHARACTER OF YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD - Include the following details in your character overview:

What do you see when you are walking down the street?

Who do you see when you are walking down the street?

Where do people hang out and what do they do while hanging out? (shop, eat, sit on stoops, play ball, hang-out, barbecue, block parties, get their hair done, argue, stay inside etc.)

Languages spoken
Types of shops
Where there are residences, businesses and factories
If its noisy or quiet, empty or crowded
What types of buildings you can see (single-family homes, apartment buildings, housing projects, two-story walk-ups, etc.)

What makes your neighborhood unique?