1) Do you notice any similarities in the way social class is discussed in readings 4.1 and 4.2?
Both 4.1 The Gallup and 4.2 The New Yorker article highlight the correlation between people’s level of income and their residence to gauge their social class.
2) Do you notice any differences in the way these two readings DIFFERENTIATE between social classes?
4.1 The Gallup article focuses on how people place themselves, such as by their age, level of education, income, and race which are more varied indicators, whilst 4.2 The New Yorker article mainly focuses on the direct correlation between people’s residence and the level of income only.
3) Pick the station closest to where you live. Using the concepts from Reading 4.1, what social class tends to live in your neighborhood? Are you surprised (or not) by the answer? Do you feel it is an accurate representation of the people living in your neighborhood?
I live closer to Flushing, on Main Street. According to the map, working to middle class tends to live in my neighborhood. I am not surprised as the article is outdated (issued in 2011 which is 13 years ago from now) before Flushing Main Street got more gentrified with the influx of cash rich Asian American immigrants and small business owners. I don’t think it’s an accurate representation as for today’s date because if you see apartment rent or property sale values, Flushing is highest after LIC in Queens. The condos are listed as close to $700K to over $1M which is priced higher than Forest Hills or Woodside. And I think this valuation will only get higher because it’s a lucrative area to have a business and the infrastructure such as Chinatown in Main Street and Ktown in Murray Hill are firmly established for Asian immigrants who tend to make above average income amongst other immigrants of race statically.
4) Based on Reading 4.2, do you notice a general pattern about social classes in NYC?
I do notice a general pattern about social classes in NYC which I generally agree such as high middle to upper class is more often found in Lower Manhattan where FiDi is located where I used to work. And that people’s level of income rapidly decreases once their area of residence gets further from the city (Manhattan).
Nevertheless, considering the article’s data is 13 years old, several changes have since influenced these patterns: 1) the emergence of Billionaire’s Row, 2) the relocation of most financial headquarters to Midtown or out of state to places like Miami or Texas for tax advantages, and 3) the gentrification of Long Island City (LIC), now surpassing Williamsburg in Brooklyn in terms of expense. I’m curious what the most up-to-date data will look like.
