February 24, 2010. Chevy Chase, Md. New York.

The interesting thing when visiting New York is how well the city seems to function. Manhattan is a very crowded place but the people who live there seem happy. When you are looking at the map trying to figure out which direction to go , people stop and ask if you need help. Certainly surprising behavior. It happened to us three times. A couple of other times we asked for directions. "Which direction do we go for Madison Avenue?." Invariably, the local people smile and give you the answer and also tell you how many blocks. People walk very fast. Everything needed to live is within a few blocks. Everything. Grocery stores, restaurants, florists, hardware stores, library. All within a few blocks. From talking to people, it seems that each person lives in a specific smaller village. They take the subway to work, but walk to everything in their village. No cars. Tons of cabs.

I have lived in big cities, Vancouver, Toronto, Washington, but I have never lived anyplace like New York, that is so large and with so much variety of absolutely everything. And New York does not stop. If you want Pizza at four o'clock in the morning, at least three places would be open within walking distance of your home. It really is an amazing place. And quite astonishing that it works well. Now I know they have problems. Their rules for rental ownership are terribly unfair and of course, the city is going broke thanks to their Unions. The tax laws are driving companies out of New York too. But the feel of the place is exciting and the residents are energetic. Many of the agents attended the theater, some twice, and reported the high quality of the shows. I believe that you could attend a show or concert for a year and not attend any one show twice. Same with restaurants. As this planet gets more and more crowded, someone needs to try to figure out how this city ticks along. I for one can not imagine living there for long, but I do believe that it is an exciting place to be.