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This seems nuts to me. I grew up in Colorado and have also lived in several other states where people are more comfortable and likely to bump into each other in

This seems nuts to me. I grew up in Colorado and have also lived in several other states where people are more comfortable and likely to bump into each other in public spaces than NYC. In NYC, people are nearly all strangers and in a big hurry. Even living in Mountain View was better. In terms of serendipity, I'd put a college town far ahead of a large city.

afavour 3y ago
> In NYC, people are nearly all strangers and in a big hurry Maybe you've only been in midtown Manhattan? I live in a Brooklyn neighborhood where we bump into people we know constantly and no-one is rushing around madly.
- AlchemistCamp 3y ago
  You got it exactly! Every time in NYC, I've spent nearly my entire time in Manhattan, excluding one trip to my friend's folks' place on Staten Island. That seemed much better in terms of the odds serendipitous bumping into friends, but still less so than mountain state.
  - gipp 3y ago
    Anecdata: currently living in NYC in a very similar situation to GP (possibly the same neighborhood based on their description?), and I have easily 10x more such serendipitous encounters than in any of the 4 other places I've lived (from suburbia to another major US urban center). It's a pretty well known phenomenon here that you see people you know (or, say, notice the same person twice in the same day in totally different parts of the city) way more often than you'd expect. Sure, 10x as many people live here, but you see 100x as many people each day. The "people who don't live here assume that residents are rushing around places that look like Midtown 24/7" is another pretty well known phenomenon, fwiw
- screye 3y ago
  We constantly joke that Brooklyn is a village. I know like 20 people in the city, but somehow run into 1 of them every time I go out for a walk.
cguess 3y ago
People do live in neighborhoods, even in major cities. Their kids tend to go to schools in the area, so the families will be near by. It's not surprising at all to run into people even way outside your neighborhood in NYC>
fatnoah 3y ago
> In terms of serendipity, I'd put a college town far ahead of a large city My family moved from a suburb to downtown Boston just before our child entered kindergarten. We ran into people we knew literally every day. It became a running joke because we made it almost 80 straight days in the summer of randomly running into someone. The best moment came while attending a work event with a visiting coworker. I mentioned this phenomenon and we actualky ran into two people I knew on the trip between office and restaurant. We've since moved back to the suburbs. I see my actual neighbors less frequently than I ran into someone I knew in the city. It seems like a paradox, but major factors that (IMHO) contributed to this were: a) Everyone lived in a small physical area b) Most travel in the area is on foot c) The high concentration of "staple" stores like hardware and grocery, combined with the relatively small size made it easier to run into people It sounds weird, but running into friends and acquaintances is one of the things I miss the most about living in the city.
- borg16 3y ago
  > It sounds weird, but running into friends and acquaintances is one of the things I miss the most about living in the city. you do not sound weird. what you are suggesting is the best part of being part of a "community"
  - fatnoah 3y ago
    > It sounds weird, but running into friends and acquaintances is one of the things I miss the most about living in the city Hah, I guess I worded that awkwardly. The weird part isn't the joy of running into people, it's that it was a very common occurrence in the city, which (I think) is unexpected for many people.
- harperlee 3y ago
  Agree! I’ve run into friends during car commute (which is more complicated due to car sizes, separate lanes, slow relative speeds, etc. greatly reducing the number of cars you are near enough to, on a given day). What do you do then? Honk and wave? Call their phone? Quite a different thing than running into someone on the bus, subway or walking, where you can talk for 10 minutes easily.

afavour 3y ago

> In NYC, people are nearly all strangers and in a big hurry Maybe you've only been in midtown Manhattan? I live in a Brooklyn neighborhood where we bump into people we know constantly and no-one is rushing around madly.

AlchemistCamp 3y ago
You got it exactly! Every time in NYC, I've spent nearly my entire time in Manhattan, excluding one trip to my friend's folks' place on Staten Island. That seemed much better in terms of the odds serendipitous bumping into friends, but still less so than mountain state.
- gipp 3y ago
  Anecdata: currently living in NYC in a very similar situation to GP (possibly the same neighborhood based on their description?), and I have easily 10x more such serendipitous encounters than in any of the 4 other places I've lived (from suburbia to another major US urban center). It's a pretty well known phenomenon here that you see people you know (or, say, notice the same person twice in the same day in totally different parts of the city) way more often than you'd expect. Sure, 10x as many people live here, but you see 100x as many people each day. The "people who don't live here assume that residents are rushing around places that look like Midtown 24/7" is another pretty well known phenomenon, fwiw
screye 3y ago
We constantly joke that Brooklyn is a village. I know like 20 people in the city, but somehow run into 1 of them every time I go out for a walk.

cguess 3y ago

People do live in neighborhoods, even in major cities. Their kids tend to go to schools in the area, so the families will be near by. It's not surprising at all to run into people even way outside your neighborhood in NYC>

fatnoah 3y ago

> In terms of serendipity, I'd put a college town far ahead of a large city My family moved from a suburb to downtown Boston just before our child entered kindergarten. We ran into people we knew literally every day. It became a running joke because we made it almost 80 straight days in the summer of randomly running into someone. The best moment came while attending a work event with a visiting coworker. I mentioned this phenomenon and we actualky ran into two people I knew on the trip between office and restaurant. We've since moved back to the suburbs. I see my actual neighbors less frequently than I ran into someone I knew in the city. It seems like a paradox, but major factors that (IMHO) contributed to this were: a) Everyone lived in a small physical area b) Most travel in the area is on foot c) The high concentration of "staple" stores like hardware and grocery, combined with the relatively small size made it easier to run into people It sounds weird, but running into friends and acquaintances is one of the things I miss the most about living in the city.

borg16 3y ago
> It sounds weird, but running into friends and acquaintances is one of the things I miss the most about living in the city. you do not sound weird. what you are suggesting is the best part of being part of a "community"
- fatnoah 3y ago
  > It sounds weird, but running into friends and acquaintances is one of the things I miss the most about living in the city Hah, I guess I worded that awkwardly. The weird part isn't the joy of running into people, it's that it was a very common occurrence in the city, which (I think) is unexpected for many people.
harperlee 3y ago
Agree! I’ve run into friends during car commute (which is more complicated due to car sizes, separate lanes, slow relative speeds, etc. greatly reducing the number of cars you are near enough to, on a given day). What do you do then? Honk and wave? Call their phone? Quite a different thing than running into someone on the bus, subway or walking, where you can talk for 10 minutes easily.