why i love new york, part one.

The first reason why I love new york is because of its layout. What are you talking about, ashley? you ask? It's simple! I love that new york is built on a grid system and that the streets are numbered. This trait seems obvious and unimportant, but believe me, numbers are phenomenal. Between Boston and San Francisco, both of which are incredible cities too, the street names give no sense of direction or position unless a person has previous knowledge of the city and its layout. Numbers, on the other hand, make it simple for everyone!

For instance, if you're in manhattan and you find yourself on the corner of 27th and 5th yet you're supposed to be at 14th and 6th, you know immediately that you're 13 blocks up and 1 block over from where you need to be; however, if you're in boston on the corner of newbury and mass ave, yet you're supposed to be on boylston and mass ave, how are you supposed to know which direction to head in order to be where you need to be? You may not know that the two streets are just a block away from each other, and the panic attack you experience while believing you are lost in boston is entirely unnecessary.

(I may not be very good at math, but I've always loved numbers, looked for patterns and relationships between them.. Nerd alert, I know, but I can't help it!) It's so easy to navigate and nearly impossible to get lost here. For someone who's brand new to such a big place, not once have I walked down the streets of manhattan and felt invisible or overwhelmed by the city's enormity. New York just makes sense!