I think the insularity and obliviousness to other parts of the nation and the world varies by neighborhood. Affluent upper east and upper west siders are, in my experience, the worst of all. The boundaries of their worlds are the boundaries of their respective neighborhoods: crossing Central Park is like a visit to a congenial, but undeniably foreign, nation; the prospect of the heading downtown is loathsome, of heading further uptown unthinkable, and the outer boroughs are filled with savages who eat their children and dig their wells next to their outhouses.
In my borough, I'd say the people in my neighborhood (Park Slope) and Brooklyn Heights have the worst attitudes. But since the overwhelming majority of people in the Slope and the Heights have to work in M(e)anhattan, we can't be as insular as the good people of the upper east and west sides. Families with children in the Slope likely feel a private sense of superiority at living in a *much better place to raise children* than anywhere in M(e)anhattan.
Williamsburg is now likely overrun with keul kids spending Mommy and Daddy's money. But there was a time, not too long ago, when it seemed as if everyone I met who lived in Williamsburg had just arrived there from Lawrence, Kansas. They were to a one polite and fascinating people; I figured Lawrence must be some magic town because of it. (Then some friends of mine moved to Lawrence and found its charms wore thin after three years, which explaned the steady outflow of students) After that, there seemed to be a tremendous but temporary influx of Germans.
The people I knew who lived in Williamsburg because it was cheap have mostly decamped for Greenpoint, Red Hook, and Long Island City.
Curtiss
On Mon, 20 Dec 2004 22:25:07 -0600, John Thornton
<jthorn65 at sbcglobal.net> wrote:
> I think insular is a pretty good description of many NYer's. Obviously not
> all or even most but more than anywhere else I've spent time. NYer's tend
> to think that no place on earth is a good as NY which is just an annoying
> opinion. When they think they there is no need to find out much about the
> rest of the world because NY has a "part" of everyplace else within it then
> it becomes more insular. I know you can't draw broad conclusions from a
> single example but really, can the story about an educated man who thinks
> milk is a manufactured product like Coke be about anyone other than a NYer?
> I am not anti-NY by the way. Almost the only good thing about visiting
> relatives there is that it is a free place to stay in the city. I wouldn't
> put myself through that to visit another North American city other than SF
> or Montreal. The cities pros outweigh its cons by quite a bit. If you can
> afford to live there that is.
>
> John Thornton
>
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