Assessment of the Community
The world is one big globe that each one of us relates to in terms of family history, immigration, lifestyle, norms, and general culture.
Demographically speaking, the distribution of people in different topographical zones and climatic zones is a way of life. Without looking back to the historical background of why a certain group lives in a certain place and why it assumes a specified sort of life can all be attributed to the demographical trends. By looking closely at the case at hand, Brooklyn and any other city within the New York City houses a certain type of people leading their lives in a certain unique way different from that of another city and district. This research paper focuses on Brooklyn as whole by special interest in drawn to reflect on the type of lives the people lead there. 1525 East 26th street, Brooklyn, NY 11229, USA (26th Street) is the area of special attention that this paper will be drawing its interest on (Hunter, 1979). 1525 East 26th street, Brooklyn, NY 11229, USA can be taken as a good same for the paper but the diversity and the mobility of the people living there makes it quite difficulty to assess the area as a community.
For that reason, this paper reflects on the general life of New York and then drawing it effects to the lives of the people of Brooklyn. Once the effects of New York lifestyles is explained through the contribution of Brooklyn, narrowing down to 1525 26th street would be to enlighten and to draw support of the different aspects of life and how their cultures have contributed to the way they live. New York is known as one of the biggest cities in the world. It is also appreciated as one of the most influential states in the USA. Through diverse cultures and a lot of businesses looming every single day, New York is seen as a backbone of international trade in the United States. With many investors and many people seeking investment and employment opportunities, it is clear that New York cannot be called home to many of these people.
However, there are numerous of families that have and continue to stay in New York due to the fact that their family member have invested or are working in New York. For this reason, interrelations and association of many people have led to New York being one of the most culturally diverse cities in the whole world. With the many opportunities that can be found or that people believe they can find in New York, the population of the City and the state in general as ceased being purely Indigenous Americans. It is believed that more than 50% of New York residents are aliens from all over the whole who have come to New York to make their lives different. The ideology that New York or the USA in general can change one’s life can be debated.
Many people have found it to be true while others have found it to be very different. For this, it can be argued that this notion is a state of mind that one person may find true concerning what he/she is looking for. Generally, life in New York is considered to be a hive of activities where time and money flow are considered the highest priorities of its dwellers (Maine Department of Human Services, 1993). New York is too wide for a researcher to understand the diversity of the community and to conduct reliable study. For this reason, the district or the island of Manhattan is drawn to the picture in order to narrow the scope of the study.
Manhattan is one among the islands that make up New York as a state. The kind of businesses and the type of settlements in Manhattan reflect on the diversity of the different cultures making up the population of this area. However, the fact that there are Chinese, Koreas, and Russians living in this area, it doesn’t mean that one would be expecting to find building and establishments that reflect on the exact beliefs and way of living of the Chinese, Koreas, or Russian. The American influence on these people has led to modification in a set of ways. Known as the West, USA, inspite of the many cultures and people from all over the world, it is still one of the most influential nations in the world in setting trends in ways of living. With this, what the immigrants call the American dream is thought to be only achievable by living like the Americans and embracing some of their cultures as they get along with their original ones.
It is through this that the diversity of culture and the differences in the ways of living of one race may not be so different from that of the next on American soil. Brooklyn can be defined as a division in Manhattan district or a topographical zone bigger than the size of a large town. The way of living of the Brooklyn people can be viewed the same way as that of Manhattan as a whole. However, Brooklyn happens to be bordering the New York water ways made for the waters of Atlantic Ocean. As history defines it, Brooklyn is the home to various races and the cultures there are very diverse. Russians, other immigrants from all across the world and a certain number of original Americans are believed to be hosted in Brooklyn.
The American history and the general over involvement of the American government with foreign affairs, has placed it as a target for immigration. Also, the wars that USA has fought against, with, and even for Russian has placed its coastal areas to be the home to Russian immigrants, war prisoners, and the descendants former fighters (State of Maine, 1991). Taking Brooklyn as a whole would make this research an assessment research for the society. To avoid straying out topic, this research reflects on a neighborhood where people live, have established a way of life, have plans for the future, and has they depend on the facilities and amenities available, they have developed the area to reflect their way of living. The neighborhood to provide the sample for this paper is 1525 East 26th street, Brooklyn, NY 11229, USA. This neighborhood is culturally diverse, resourcefully endowed, and economically dynamic.
LITERATURE REVIEW Demographical values The 26th Street Boston community is demographically affected by the surrounding people and their dynamic ways of living. Given that this area is highly populated by the corporate and the working class, it is an area that affects the economy of Boston as a whole as it does to that of the entire New York state. When assessing the demographical values of this area, one thing needs to be put in mind – Boston is comprised of Original Americans, Russian Immigrants, and other immigrants. The reason for the Russian immigrants is due to the historical records of war and association between the US and the government of USSR. The setting and location of Boston makes it an open shelter and home to both the corporate and the immigrants that keep flowing into the US from all over the world (Barth, Hacking, 1988) The number of people in 26th Street Boston cannot be graphically represented by comparing them against the facilities that they need to carry out their lives.
For this reason, the distribution of people on this area is quite undefined due to the vast underlying reasons of their existence in this area. For the young, schooling and attending to religious matters are duties that are performed by other areas. Given that this street intersects with the Kings Highway, the community is well served by a reliable road and subway transport. For this reason, the facilities that are mostly missing from this exact spot are accessible by travelling a few meters. Demographically, the reason that this area is preferred by most immigrants and the reason why the existing people live here is because of the reliability of transport and the general corporate atmosphere that surrounds them (State of Maine, 1990).
Several factors influence the distribution of people in one topographical zone while they differ considering the community at hand and its cultural orientations. Among the most crucial factors that affect demography of people include productivity, security, social facilities, and political backbone. Productivity can be considered in terms of land use if the area at hand is an agriculture sensitive area. In the business arena, productivity of land is not a consideration that applies in busy cities. However, the chances that a business will do for an investor or that one would get a job in terms of employment makes the area productive. Life around Boston is influenced by the nature of undertaking business in and around Boston.
For this case, distribution of people is highly influenced by the state of economy of the region (Crnic, Greenberg, et al., 1983). Histoical Background of the Community In any state where large cities and residential areas exist, it is difficulty to analyze the historical backgrounds of each and every person in an attempt to place them in a certain social category. When it come the USA, immigration is not a new phenomenon and shelter is sought everywhere across the country (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1990).
Since there are no specified states, provinces, districts, and/or division for immigrants from a certain social background, nation, or region; it is even more difficulty to predict what immigrants could be occupying what part of the state, city, or town. For this case, the immigrants and the natives all fit in the same scope and unless investigated through their ways of life and historical background, all could be seen as representatives of the same culture, nation, or way of life. Russians make a good percentage in Boston but they do not surpass the percentage of the other races combined. Taking one race at a time or considering the place of origin, Russians surpass any other individual race in Boston. With this in mind, it can even be compared with the California due to the heavy presence of aliens. Boston as a whole is made up of several races and communities all living within the same area.
Their distribution in specific neighborhoods does not rely on some kind of criteria but rather on the kind and type of opportunity pursued at that particular area. By considering the reasons why there are different communities, races, and tribes living in the same area of Boston, we draw a conclusion to show that their social backgrounds were unsatisfactory. Native Americans can hardly claim to have developed USA to the point it is today. On the same case, unsatisfied lot of people migrated to the US to help develop the economy and themselves in the long-run. With problematic economies, war results, and hope for a better living, Boston streets are home to variety of people of different races and social backgrounds (U.
S. Bureau of the Census, 1991). Economical Values The economy of New York is not one of the best in the world but it is one of the most influential in the US. With Boston and its neighborhoods housed in New York, the economical value of the state solely depends on the amount of efforts that the people living there dedicate to making it better. As the saying goes ‘the journey of 100 miles starts with one step’, it is important to know that the efforts of one person when merged with that of another make up teamwork. For this reason, if there are issues that affect the economy, each and every member of the society gets affected as well (Zedeck, 1990).
26th Street is not a different case all together from the rest of Boston or New York; however, for the sake of clear dissertation on the contribution of Boston people, this area is picked to give the picture. With the changing times in terms of global warming and global recession, the life of many residents of the 26th Street has changed in order to give way to the changes. The community through instinctive reasoning and research done by scholars has made the people embraced the issue of being economical for the sake of the future. Large apartments and families have drastically been left behind and are now considered a thing of the past. The reason for reducing family size and living in rather smaller apartments is to strategically cut on spending while ensuring health insurance and facilitating mortgage responsibilities.
Given the fact that are a more economical responsibilities during the times of recession and generally the mood of the 21st century, communities are spending too much for the least of benefits. With this is mind, 26th Street houses a community that is not culturally motivated but rather economically. The economical motivation of this community is not in the form of how much they make, but rather how much they should make in order to live quite comfortably (Bavolek, 1986). Business studies define human needs and wants as insatiable desires. With the limited means of managing those needs, recession and the fact that inflation has become a global problem demotivate the community in struggling with the economy effectively.
Considering the population of 26th street (approx. 200,000), about 70 percent of these people are employed in some local and out-of-town companies. The remaining 30 percent is considered to be self employed and dependent on someone else. The self employed lot engages on small businesses like coffee cafeterias, cab driving, restaurants, day and night clubs, and delivery services among other such like business. With this, it is true to say that investor confidence and power of 26th Street community to invest lags behind and this makes their contribution to the economy more left sided rather than right sided.
Left sided economy is one which employs more of the population but limits the chances of one investing. Right sided economy on the other hand is one which gives equal opportunities and abilities to the members of the society to be employed and invest respectively. Competitive Advantage The competitiveness of any particular company, organization, or business depends on how willing the involving parties are to carry out the tasks that fall on them as their duties. 26th Street can be viewed as an organization whose survival depends on the residents. Assuming that that the economy of the entire New York depended on 26th street, the current self motivation of the resident of this community slights lags behind what would be expected of them. Reflecting back on the period between 1929 and 1941 which more remembered as the period of the Great Depression, the trends of livelihoods that used to exist back then are witness to this time only that the stock market crash stabilized.
By comparing the level of association of people’s willingness with their self motivation in making sure that they exist in a more competitive environment, it is seen that a high level of laxity in public and political arena is the cause of demotivation. Competitive advantage is the role of every individual party involved in the making and accomplishing of objectives that work towards the success of a task. 26th Street is a community whose competitive advantage personal rather than general. Most of the people in this area do not wake up every day to go to work in order to push the economy of the US. This was alleged by on participant working with a delivery service around Boston.
As matter of fact, the participant claims to be motivated by bills, family needs, and health insurance. For this matter, the participant says if these responsibilities were done away with, it would be difficulty for him to return to the current employer. Considering the plight of this participant and how he feels about his employer, it is true that he feels so due to the fact that he does not get a motivation of investing his resources to the job. Many other people in this community share the same view and therefore the competitive advantage of an individual in the 26th Street at the personal level is damaged by the underlying demotivation. The above situation is not the general verdict that one would give to the community of 26th Street.
There are two sides to every story and the other side of this is that the self employed and those running family businesses depict a different attitude on their livelihood means. Through interviewing a resident of the area who has lived there for 12 years, a clarification of the above situation is made. Mr. Johnson is the founder and CEO of the Boston Daily Business online shop, he argues that over time things have changed to the worse and only those with clear minds will survive. He says that the fact that companies keep letting go of their most productive personnel is due to the fact that many of these find it baseless to be committed to their jobs.
The reason for this is the fact that many of the residents of this area are immigrants, students, and marginalized groups. When the opportunities of jobs come to their side, they seize them for them for the sake of providing basic need to those depending on them. For the matter of the employer, this people do not feel attached to the jobs because the physical locations of these jobs are thousands of miles away from their original homes and the benefits of so doing go to the host country. For that reason, general economic development happens to be the last thing in the minds of many employed immigrants or Aboriginal Americans. The difference of attitude between those of who feel like they have nothing to lose and those feeling like have everything to lose brings in the level of commitment and directly reflects on their competitiveness. Local politics Boston politics and the influence they have to individuals living in the 26th Street reflect those of the entire country only that they are a little modified to reflect of the citizen and immigrant architecture and formations.
With this in mind, the government involvement with the issues that affect the residents of 26th Street are highly verified to make sure that they do not take certain human rights with them. With citizens and immigrants all interested in seizing the opportunities of security, investment, and dynamic economy; the community of 26th Street is actively involved with politics in order to follow well with the issues that affect them. Alteration to policies and laws that govern this area are closely followed by the community. The active role of the community in local politics shows that the community is sensitive to matters that influence their lives. With active role in local politics being one of the ways that the community monitors the operations of the government and the margin of regulation imposed on them.
Assessing the community closely, it is evident that many are the times when other regions produce politicians with the support of this community. The dynamics of culture and the diversity of interests make it hard for residents of this area to engage in contests to the congress or hold political positions. Local Economy and Business About 50 percent of business establishments in the 26th Street are owned by original Americans and are operated by unoriginal Americans. This means that the choice to live in the 26th Street for these people was economically oriented. With running of businesses, the owner isn’t the one to bear the responsibility of doing so. Managing directors and supervisors are the right candidates that run such establishments.
With many of these businesses run by residents of the 26th street, then it is right to say that the economy of this community is by the people for the people. The level productivity depends on the proximity of work from the area of work. This makes it possible and advantageous to the community in managing time as a resource of development (Googins, 1987). Motivated by the local economical strength, the community of 26th Street uses the resources that are readily available to make a better living. Looking back at the economic crunch, and the Great Depression, residents in this area seem well informed on the issues that matter in holding the economy at the stable state and are ready to do all they can to achieve it.
New York, Manhattan, and Boston are state, province and district respectively. The culture of New York is to make opportunities, thrive to achieve their objectives, and enjoy life upon fruition. The culture of New York is dependent on the aspect of living portrayed by individual persons living within the confines of New York as a state. This means that, the individuals that move the dynamic economy of Boston are the same whom with the help of others from different districts move the economy of New York as a whole. This is the belief and spirit that the community of 26th Street go by. Income and Wealth Distribution In the undeveloped countries the idea of investment is considered the ideological evidence that a union, an organization, or an individual is well off.
For the developed countries, investors and foreigner are considered the opposite of what they are considered in the undeveloped countries. With efforts to keep up with standards in order to be recognized as different, immigrants and investors from foreign countries try as much a possible to live as the rest of the investors and citizens. To do this, these people engage themselves in activities that allow the flow of money and opportunities as open as possible. For those seeking jobs, they deliver service that can be equated with that of the indigenous people.Too much effort in a closed-ended environment is damaging both psychologically and economically.
However, trying hard enough pays in terms of securing good minimum wage and this also affects the distribution of wealth. 26th Street community is made up of aliens and people of diverse economical interest. For this reason, the more the interests of people surpass the opportunities, the higher the competition for the available opportunities. This situation is the looming problem and also the source of motivation that 26th Street residents use to get along their lives with. Through this research, we have been able to come close to the situation and established that the terrain of thought of the people living in the 26th Street is either stabilized or eroded by the changing global business trends.
Housing Housing is an aspect that affects all people of different economic and social status. 26th Street may seem like an area that offers rental housing only; with the concerns to the economic trends and the kind of damage that stock market crash is capable of causing, many residents of 26th Street have bought themselves permanent houses so that they could be free of the threat posed by mortgage institutions and indecisive landlords/ladies. Many of the houses in 26th Street are owned by the occupants and real estate investors who have first hand information on the importance of housing. Ownership of houses in 26th Street is not as a way of life but more of a strategic means of survival. Three in every 5 residents in the 26th Street live in permanent houses while 80 percent of those who live in rental and temporary housing happen to be engaged with jobs that involve a lot of movement from one state to another. Educational and Healthcare Facilities The importance of infrastructure in neighborhoods is in the fact that the likelihood of healthy survival depends on these facilities.
Airports, Railways, and Seaports are infrastructures that facilitate movement between one place and another and help in moving the economy. For job security and healthcare, dispensaries, clinics, colleges, universities, and kindergartens are some of the infrastructures required to facilitate this. In the 26th Street, there are no localized services that focus solely on health and educational aspects of the area only. However, New York being as busy has it is and the population it has to fend for, localization of these services has taken shape with mini clinics and mobile clinic frequenting residential area. From 29th Street all the way down to 23rd Street are served by kindergartens, primary schools, high schools, colleges, and universities. This infrastructure is shared by both local and international students.
Interaction with students from all over the world studying within the confines of Boston, 26th Street has been strategically placed at the midst of where all these is happening. Education takes two forms for the students of 26th Street in that they are able to learn as per the curriculum and acquire cultural knowledge from students while they share. Fro this reason, many students of 26th Street are in a better position of securing jobs all around the world by utilizing the educational facilities within the area. CONCLUSION It doesn’t matter to talk about Sudan to refer to the whole of Africa but it does matter to talk about Boston when trying to refer to the whole of New York. The reason for comparing Africa and New York is due to the difference of economic and cultural dynamics. With culture, economy, beliefs, and traditions playing a role, it advisable to assess communities within their specific boundaries by relying on factors affecting demography.
1525 East 26th street, Brooklyn, NY 11229, USA is a residential neighborhood that houses culturally dynamic residents. Jobs, security, investment, and housing depend highly on economical values of New York and the World as a whole. Healthcare and education is facilitated by infrastructure shared with other neighborhoods and adds an advantage specific to the learners in that they get opportunity to interact with international students. This, on the long run helps in building associational values crucial to international job market.
