Thesis Statement

No matter how busy and diverse Flushing downtown area is, It is still in need for more business developments in order to fulfill all resident’s need. There still remains neighborhoods in Flushing that lack retail and wholesale outlets to cater for resident’s grocery and related needs.

Chapter 15

Jane Jacobs talks about Unslumming and slumming in this Chapter. "Slums and their populations are the victims." Starting with this sentence, she thinks that this problem has always been exist and will hardly go away in a big city. "Unslumming" occurs gradually, as people who could afford to move out choose to stay. Both slumming and unslumming are perpetual cycles which do not fit with current planning theory. And one of Jacobs main point is that: "The processes that occur in unslumming depend on the fact that a metropolitan economy, if it is working well, is constantly transforming many poor people into middle-class people, many illiterates into skilled(or even educated)people, many greenhorns in to competent citizens.” So we could see that the economic development is one big factor by making the Unslumming and slumming process. Otherwise nothing can really affect this phenomenon. And it will happen in all big cities like NYC.

Chater 13

In this Chapter, Jane Jacobs argued that it is very important and also difficult to maintain one city's diversity. She said that:” The self-destruction of diversity can be seen at outstandingly successful little nodes of activity, as well as along street streches." And to keep up on the good work of a city's diversity, it has to depend on all the people live in that city. The author gave the example of 3rd Ave., 8th Ave., and some other street in New York City to show the readers how to distinguish between a success and failure city diversity. “Streets (especially if their blocks are short) sometimes can weather much duplication of successful uses, or else can regenerate themselves spontaneously after declining and stagnating for a time.” From all these examples Jacobs want to tell us that “examples of the self-destruction that follows outstanding success are more usual in downtowns.” And therefore, the city planners need to find way to change it in order to maintain our multi-diversity.

The Interview

The object person for this interview is my land lord. And his name is Andy Ho. A 40 years old Hong Kong business man lived in New York City for more than 15 years. He moved to this neighborhood with his whole family like 5 years ago from Brooklyn. When I asked why, he said that, nowadays just more and more business opportunities here found in Flushing, and more than anywhere else. People are getting richer and richer everyday in Flushing. Their demand for the quality of life is also getting higher. So there are great business opportunities for the real estate development in this whole area. And that's what he is mainly doing to make a living here. Well that's another story, back to our interview, Andy likes about this neighborhood very much, and he said it's quiet and safe, far away from the crowds. Well, since he is my landlord, I guess he just won't say anything bad about this place.=_= Anyway, the only thing he found out changed a lot are the increase of Korean retail stores and restaurants around this neighborhood. Actually the Korean Street is only a couple blocks away from where I live. So he told me it was always convenience if I want some Korean food or something like that. Andy had two cars, one for him, one for his wife, they just drive to everywhere. I am sure he thinks driving will make life much easier than take the bus in this neighborhood. As we all know, we have a pretty bad bus service around this area. The closest bus is Q12, which is two blocks from my place. If I want to get another bus, I have to walk for another 4 or 5 blocks. Andy also thinks the service of Q12 is quiet unpredictable. Sometimes you wait for 30 minutes, they will just never come. He truly felt that there are definitely problems with their bus schedules. As I already said, during most of this interview Andy is in favor for this neighborhood. He said he is very satisfied with his life here live in this place. He gave ten points for his quality of life in the scale of one to ten.

Research From the New York Time Historical

FERRETTI, FRED. "Flushing: A New Center For Asian Markets And Food" New York Times October 13, 1983: p. C1.

This is a very old news, gets us back to 1983. By then Flushing is already the a center of Asian businesses in Queens. “The Flushing area, in particular Main Street, its commercial spine, and such adjacent streets as Northern and Kissena Boulevards and Union and Prince Streets, has become an Asian microcosm. It is still another of the city’s neighborhoods in transition, with a recognizable and sizable Korean-Chinese- Japanese-Indian Profile.” All Asians lives in New York City and Long island travel miles to Flushing on weekends just for some shopping. Also those restaurants are one big attraction for them. “The growing importance of Main Street in Flushing as an Asian food center now brings weekend shoppers by car from Long Island and Westchester for their miso, brown rice, salted codfish roe, fresh octopus, dried red dates, seaweed, bamboo shoots and dried mussels, abalone and ginseng root.” In that time Flushing just starts to turn to another Chinatown in New York City. There are more Koreans here at Flushing in any other single place in America.



DEUTSCH, CLAUDIA. "Links with Taipei help draw many Asians to Flushing :Commercial Property/Flushing's Chinatown A Polyglot Community Attracts Shops and Business". New York Times 1994, October 2: p. R1.

This news was taking place in 1994, Flushing. Unlike the Chinatown in Manhattan has the most Cantonese-speaking Chinese, Flushing is more like a center for Mandarin-speakers from Taiwan and main land China. “…or the growing number of Koreans and Asian Indians who have moved to Queens, are as likely to go to Flushing, around Roosevelt Avenue and Main Street, as to Mott or Canal Streets.” People may not know this, but in Taiwan they refer to Flushing as Little Taipei. That is also one of the reasons for so many Asian Businesses and restaurants here in Flushing have a Taiwanese boss or landlord. There are also different purposes for the Manhattan Chinatown and the Flushing Chinatown. “Manhattan Chinatown attracts a great many tourists on weekends…”. “Flushing Chinatown has a narrower focus and reach, but it attracts hordes of outsiders nonetheless. “

The Snow in my Neighborhood!

It is snowing~!!! I was so excited! As soon as noticed about the snowing I just ran out with my sleepers and pajamas and took some pictures of neighborhood. I know my act was like a kid, but...whatever! I think this will be the heaviest and last snow for this winter in New York City. This year's weather is truly strange...=_= Hope the cold weather can be over soon, I am just so sick of it! >'"< Can't wait for spring~!!^_^









The spring almost made it to Flushing...

Chapter 11 & Chapter 12

In these two chapters, the author is basically talking about the need for concentrations and some myths about diversity as she titled. Combine these two together; the idea is population is a huge fact for the economic growth and city diversity. As she mentioned in the beginning of the chapter 11, "The district must have sufficiently dense concentration of people, for whatever purpose they may be there." By saying this, the author means a well planed city must have a well planed population of people in different areas. And people make diversity; people make economic function in the right track. In her point, if an insufficiently dense concentration of people happens, it will make a failure city plan. As Jacobs did in every other chapter, she also gave readers numbers of examples of both successful and unsuccessful plan for concentration of people and mixture diversity in different US cities. “The other factors that influence how much diversity is generated, and where, will have nothing much to influence if enough people are not there”(p205) And it is also one of the most important factor in city planning. By giving both the definitions of High densities and overcrowding, the author wants the readers to know that in real life high densities have nothing to do with overcrowding. She also showed us how to differentiate the two situations and how they can be bad and good in certain places and time. And in Chapter 13, the author asks problems about diversity and gives proofs to answer whether the question is right or wrong. Such as in page 229, at the button part, “Is it true that diversity causes traffic congestion? Traffic congestion is caused by vehicles, not by people in themselves.” So, Jacobs keep discussing about all different questions for diversity as the chapter goes.