01.17.10

East Coast Excursion ‘09, Photo Highlights

Posted in Travel Log at 1:37 pm by Benjamin Ross

With the ease of international travel in the 21st Century, as an American it’s easy to forget the array of urban tourism that the United States has to offer. It had been since my roadtrip from Kansas to California just upon college graduation in 2003 that I had embarked on a true multi-stop adventure on American soil. So with two weeks off work over the holidays, I set off on a journey down the American East Coast, taking me through Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore. Here are some of the photo highlights from the trip.

The first stop on my trip was Boston. Here’s a shot I took from the plane upon descent into Logan International Airport.

Reno, NV likes to bill itself as the biggest little city in the world. I find this title more fitting for Boston. Although it is a prominent educational, cultural, and economic center, Boston, the city itself, is quite small in comparison to other major American metropolises. Even when you assume several of the surrounding municipalities figure into the urban core, Boston is still one of the US’s smaller major cities in terms of both area and population.

One reason for Boston’s compactness is that much of its street grids align up with their original designs from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. This means lots of narrow windy streets, some barely wide enough for a single car to meander through.

The result of Boston’s old street grid is that it is arguably the most pedestrian friendly major city in the country (San Francisco also comes to mind). In four days, I was able to cover just about every city neighborhood on foot.

With its curvy street grid and bodies of water surrounding the downtown, Boston is not an easy city in which to find one’s orientation. You actually have to know where places are physically located, as opposed to simply going by an address or cross street like you would in New York or Chicago.

Boston’s downtown is a fine conglomeration of buildings from the past four centuries mixed in with modern high-rises.

I spent several hours on my first day exploring Beacon Hill, one of Boston’s most affluent neighborhoods, with its federal-style rowhouses dating back to the 1700’s.

Another one of my favorite walks in Boston was the Commonwealth Avenue Mall, a long, and uncharacteristically straight residential boulevard just west of downtown. Com Ave’s straightness is due to it being built on reclaimed marshland added to Boston in the 1800’s, hence many years after the original street plan was laid out.

For my travels outside of the downtown area, I relied mostly on the “T,” Boston’s rapid transit system. A week pass on the “T” was only $15 and I generally found it easy to travel wherever I needed to go within Boston as well as several suburban locations, by using the “T.” As far as American transit systems go, the “T” is pretty swank, with comparatively modern infrastructure and rolling stock. I also got a rise out of the public service recorded announcements from Boston’s chief of police constantly reminding everybody to “pay youa faaaa.”

Boston’s compactness makes it an ideal city for rail transit and the “T”’s per/mile ridership is higher than any American city other than New York. An extensive commuter rail network also connects surrounding suburbs and neighboring communities.

Boston’s West End was a downtown working class neighborhood, which before its demolition, was home to much of the city’s Italian-American population. In the wake of Urban Renewal, and among much controversy, the West End was raised in the late 1950’s, ostensibly to make way for the Massachusetts General Hospital. Many elderly Bostonians will tell you the real reason was racism and xenophobia towards Italians and immigrants. This lone tenement is the last standing remnant of what used to be the West End.

Overall, I have to say Boston is one of my favorite American cities. It has a historical charm, but also modern sights and sounds, local flavor but also a wide array of foreign influence, and an active street life redolent of Old World cities. Four days was the perfect amount of time to experience Boston, but I’m sure I’ll be back again to experience all New England has to offer.

The second stop on my trip was New York. My plan was to do as much exploration of the five boroughs as I could fit into 4 or 5 days.

At 71,000 people per square mile, Manhattan is one of the densest places on the planet, including Third World nations. To put that perspective, population density of Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh is only 60,000 per square mile.

What I found most interesting in my exploration of Manhattan was its economic diversity. In addition to the nation’s most expensive homes and commercial real estate, Manhattan is also home to numerous housing projects, immigrant enclaves, and various other low income dwellings.

As much as I try to avoid tourist traps, New York does posses several spots which I would have kicked myself for not visiting, such as Grand Central Terminal (pictured above). While many American cities still have sumptuous rail depots such as Grand Central, the true beauty is that in New York (and much of the East Coast) these stations are still in heavy use by both commuters and long distance travelers, whereas in most other regions of the country rail transport has long since been replaced by airplane and automobile.

I knew I wanted to see the Statue of Liberty, but with a line wrapping itself halfway around Battery Park, an official visit to Lady Liberty would have likely consumed an entire day of my trip. Solution: The Staten Island Ferry. The ferry, which is the only form of public transportation to connect Staten Island with the rest of the city, is a free service (probably because nobody would ever go to Staten Island if it wasn’t free) and provides impeccable views of the Statue of Liberty as well as the skylines of Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Jersey City.

Times Square is New York’s be-all-end-all tourist trap. By that, I mean everybody who visits the city clamors to see it, while everybody who actually lives there avoids it like the plague. While I can imagine the crowds and tourists becoming annoying after a while, I could certainly get used to receiving all of my news in ticker format.

New York has, by leaps and bounds, the most comprehensive public transit system in the United States. My 7 day transit pass cost $28, and there wasn’t a single location I could not conveniently reach via subway.

Once you leave Manhattan, many of the trains are elevated, which make for ideal sightseeing excursions. This “L” goes through Williamsburg, one of the more intriguing neighborhoods in Brooklyn, with adjacent communities of Hispanics, Hipsters, and Hasidic Jews.

New York has more Jews than any city in the world other than Tel-Aviv, and one telltale sign was this dumpster, on which is written in Hebrew “shomer shabbos.” If you’re Jewish (or if you’ve seen the Big Lebowski) you probably know this implies “don’t even think about using this dumpster during the Sabbath.”

Also in Williamsburg’s Hasidic neighborhood, I passed this specialty shop selling “designer coats.” Every single garment in the shop was pitch black. They were all out of thongs.

In addition to its concentration of Jews, New York also now has more Chinese residents than any other city in the Western Hemisphere. New York’s original Chinatown is located within a sprawling expanse of tenement housing stock on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. In the past, this area was home to Manhattan’s Little Italy, which except for a 2 or 3 streets, has now been completely swallowed up by the expanding Chinatown.

Referring to “Chinatown” in New York is becoming increasingly ambiguous as there are now actually three bustling Chinese enclaves in the Big Apple. In addition to the community on the Lower East Side, Chinatowns also exist in the Flushing, Queens (pictured above), and Sunset Park, Brooklyn. I am working on a more detailed post on Chinese New York which should be coming in a few days.

Due to the constant influx of undocumented immigrants, there is no feasible way to accurately count the number of Chinese currently residing in New York City. However, I’m willing to guess that as far as New York’s foreign population goes, the Chinese are definitely top 10, possibly top 5.

One unique aspect of the New York Chinese community is that it is predominantly of Fuzhou origin. Whereas most American Chinatowns are still composed of a majority Cantonese (specifically Taishan) population, New York’s Cantonese population has been dwarfed by pipeline of Fuzhounese pouring in over the past several decades.

By my count, Queens is quite possibly the single most ethnically diverse locale on the planet. After my trip to Flushing, I followed the elevated tracks of the 7 train on foot, en route through a kaleidescope of ethnic neighborhoods such as Corona (pictured above), one of New York’s main Hispanic enclaves.

Due to its population density, New York is one of the few American cities where mass scale street vending is feasible. Vendors such as the one pictured above, can be found on nearly every street corner hawking fruits, vegetables, hot dogs, falafel, DVD’s, watches, bagels, iPods, women’s underwear, or a multitude of other household goods (yeah, it’s basically just like China in that respect).

Relative to its population density, New York actually appears to have a relatively low number of homeless people living in the streets. I noticed this to be the case even when visiting poor neighborhoods in the South Bronx.

While I was able to see the majority of Boston in 4 days, this was certainly not enough time to adequately explore America’s largest metropolis. New York is enormous, in terms of area, population, and population density. This was only my second visit to the Big Apple, but I can say with Schwarzeneger-esque certainty “I’ll be back.”

Next stop on my trip was Philadelphia, and what would be more fitting than commencing my travels with an authentic Philly cheesesteak?

Philly has 2 “famous” cheesesteak spots, Pat’s and Geno’s, both located on the same street in South Philly. Locals have conflicting viewpoints on which is tastier, and many will even tell you that the best cheesesteaks are at neither. I tried Pat’s. It tasted about as good as it looks in this picture.

Philly is an interesting town, and the setup actually reminded me a lot of Chicago, with a downtown of skyscrapers and high-rises, surrounded by a checkerboard of diverse neighborhoods.

The difference however, is that much of Philadelphia is still suffering from the massive white flight and ensuing urban decay of the 50’s and 60’s. This has left many of its neighborhoods outside of Center City (that’s what Philadelphians call their downtown) in a crumbling state of neglect.

Center City, for the most part, is still in healthy shape as droves of city dwellers and suburbanites alike flock downtown every day for work, shopping, and nightlife.

Philadelphia doesn’t receive many accolades for its architecture, but I was a big fan of the downtown skyline, especially with its matching blue toned buildings.

In the geographic center of Philadelphia stands the City Hall, which when it was built in 1901, was the tallest habitable building in the world.

Alright, I know I’m going to get some heat for this, but the Liberty Bell is possibly the most overrated tourist attraction I have ever seen. Even after reading its history I can’t get over the fact that a) it’s basically just a bell and b) it’s much smaller than it appears in middle school social studies textbooks. I can think of at least 10 tourist attractions in Philadelphia alone which are more worthwhile.

One of which is Elfreth’s Alley (pictured above), which is claimed by many to be the oldest continually inhabited residential street in the United States. Most of the housing stock dates back to the early 1700’s.

Another Philadelphia neighborhood which I joyfully explored for several hours in single-digit temperatures was Society Hill, which contains the largest concentration of 18th and early 19th century housing in the United States.

In the intermediary area between the skyscrapers and antebellum row houses of Center City and the sprawling tracts of suburbia, much of Philadelphia is in a state of severe urban decay.

Scenes such as these two above, taken in North Philly near the campus of Temple University, are common throughout much of the city. Philadelphia’s former status as a manufacturing powerhouse and the ensuing evaporation of jobs to globalization has left the city with a massive population urban poor inhabiting the inner city’s dilapidated housing stock.

Philadelphia’s economic troubles are overtly apparent in its public transit system, appropriately called “SEPTA.” SEPTA stands for “Southeast Pennsylvania Transit Authority,” but to most people the name sounds more like a particular adjective which could accurately be used to describe the system as a whole. Fares are still paid using tokens, and day passes must be shown to SEPTA employees, who using a whole puncher, hand mark each pass before allowing the customer to pass the turnstile. Unlike the Chicago “L” however (America’s other ghetto-fabulous public transit system) SEPTA’s coverage is not comprehensive, and consists of only two subway lines which intersect at a massive unused underground mall/public urination ground below City Hall (pictured above). Thus, unlike New York or Boston (or Chicago), I would imagine surviving in Philadelphia without a car would present significant transportation obstacles.

Philadelphia does show signs of a resurgence, and areas such as Northern Liberties (pictured above) are experiencing gentrification as young professionals flock back to the city. Philadelphia’s proximity to New York and DC, and its affordable housing (not to mention its GDP, which is still 4th in the nation) are proving to be driving factors in Philly’s urban revival.

Let’s put all that serious stuff aside and get back to what’s truly important–food. This was Philly Cheesesteak #2, purchased from a street vendor in Center City. At $4, it was about half the price of the cheesetake from Pat’s…and it tasted about half as good.

The real culinary sleeper from my trip however was the Italian hoagie which I sampled in South Philly’s Italian Market. Although the cheesesteak receives most of the fanfare, I’d say I enjoyed the hoagie almost as much.

I planned my stay in Philadelphia to coincide with the Kansas v. Temple basketball game at the Liacouras Center. As Jayhawks fans from DC, New York, and Philly all descended on the Temple campus filling up half the arena, this quite possibly was the largest congregation of Kansans ever assembled in the city of brotherly love. KU won 84-52

“Aaaaaa-driannnnnnn”…(Sorry, I couldn’t resist.)

Philadelphia is definitely the most underrated city on the East Coast, and possibly in the country as a who;e. People love to rag on it, and with good reason. It’s old, grey, run down, and is easily overshadowed by New York, DC, and Boston. But Philly has a unique charm (not to mention enormous historical appeal) which comes in no small part from playing second fiddle to its neighbors. It’s hip, affordable, unpretentious, and at its heart, a down home blue collar All-American kinda town. With America’s inner cities currently in the midst of massive urban regeneration, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Philadelphia as a major benefactor of this trend.

The final stop on my trip was Baltimore, where I only had two days to spend before heading back to Chicago. The highlight of my Baltimore stay was the Lexington Market, a venue of exchange which has existed on its current site downtown since 1782. Today, the majority of the patronage and many of the businesses owners are African American.

From crabcakes to fresh vegetables to homemade doughnuts to pig legs, and even raccoon meat (no joke), you can find just about anything at the Lexington Market. Mixed in with grocery vendors are restaurant stalls which hawk prepared Baltimore seafood, Southern style fried foods, and yes, American Chinese food, which these days seems to be just about everywhere.

This shot is from one of the Southern joints. I had tried pig tail before (although never at an American restaurant), and I don’t even know what smoked jowels are. Unfortunately at the time of this picture, I was already stuffed full of crabcakes (another highlight of Baltimore) so not much to report here on taste. But it does look enticing though, eh?

After 4 days in Boston, 4 in New York, 4 in Philly, and 2 in Baltimore (pictured above) I headed back home. With so many major cities in close proximity, all easily accessible with public transportation, the American East Coast makes an ideal destination for a multi-week backpacking excursion.

As a side note, readers might be wondering why I did not include Washington in my itinerary, and the answer is twofold. Firstly, I had already been to Washington, twice. The other cities (sans New York) I was all visiting for the first time. Secondly, a focus of my trip was to explore the older of the urban cores of the United States, thus my stop in Baltimore as opposed to the nation’s capital. Expect more posts on more specific aspects of the trip in weeks to come.

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9 Comments »

Yueting said,

January 17, 2010 at 5:23 pm

An awesome journey! But considering the safety perspective, Boston is definitely an ideal place to live in. I expected you brought up a photo of eating lobster in Boston though.
Dustin said,

January 17, 2010 at 5:46 pm

Wonderful post, Ben! I would love to hear any comparisons you have between the topography of Chinese vs American cities. As someone who has lived in Asia but from the suburban American South, I lament the loss of walkable city streets and public transportation so easily found in other parts of the world.
maxiewawa said,

January 18, 2010 at 1:19 am

Looking forward to the next post!
jesse said,

January 18, 2010 at 1:27 am

excellent tour of the east coast! i made my own little east coast roadtrip last summer: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jessewarren/sets/72157622002170705/

but i still haven’t seen much of boston, baltimore, or philly.
Ashley said,

January 18, 2010 at 9:07 am

This was wonderful. Your pictures made me feel like I took that trip with you!
Bryan said,

January 18, 2010 at 10:31 am

Thanks so much for sharing this. I’ve always wanted to visit Boston but never made it up that way. It looks like I place I’d definitely like to visit, especially Back Bay and Beacon Hill.

Thanks for the heads up about the liberty bell too. I remember in my social studies books from grade school in Virginia, it looked like such a large bell. That reminds me of the time I took some Taiwanese friends to see the White House from outside the gate. When we got there, they commented, “It looks a lot bigger on TV” and then walked onward towards The Mall.

I always feel sad when I look at pictures of Baltimore. The city has some beautiful brownstones and greystones, but because of their location in deprecated parts of the city, they’re just falling apart with time. Hopefully as DC Metro continues to gobble up the surrounding area, better fortunes will find their way to Baltimore.

If you’re looking for interesting places to photograph, I’d recommend Charleston, SC. I moved down here in September for a new job and I have been pleasantly surprised by all of the architecture downtown. It is a mix of old Southern-style houses with gardens in the backyards and huge porches on the front with the giant ceiling fangs, as well as Caribbean-style buildings on the streets with pastel colors. The seafood is cheap and very good too. (I do miss Chesapeake Bay blue crab though…)
Brad said,

January 19, 2010 at 9:56 am

The East coast is great and all, but for your next trip, I highly recommend a trip around The South. As far as I am concerned it is the most culturally rich, economically diverse, historically fascinating, and delicious-tasting part of the the US.

Or you could come visit us in Minnesota!
DaveNYC said,

January 19, 2010 at 4:56 pm

Ben, great pics. didn’t know you were around queens until i read your tweet. that looks like the 7 train station there in one of the pics. Be great to meet up and show you around . Hope you had an enjoyable visit there.
jay lew said,

February 9, 2010 at 4:54 pm

Great read Ben. I wish I would have come along.