Long Island in General
Posted 07-19-2011 at 11:50 AM by James1202
When I first moved to Long Island (April 2004) it was a culture shock for me. And by "culture" I include many of the attributes which shape culture.
I've lived in Pittsburgh, PA; Minneapolis, MN; Rochester, NY; London, England; and Geneva, Switzerland but Long Island is very different in many ways.
Climate: It's humid and the winters are short and relatively warm (only London's winter is shorter and warmer...but it's much less humid there). It's also much sunnier here than anywhere else I've lived. It's a wonder there are so many tanning salons and so few people with natural tans.
Geography: It's flat. Not as flat as the mid-west plains but even Minneapolis as some hills. The north shore is hilly from glaciation and the south shore is an outwash plain which declines into the Atlantic. Basically, Long Island (LI) is a sandbar 115mi long (east-west) and 23mi wide (north to south). Sandy and pebbly sub-soil is everywhere. There is little or no bedrock anywhere and the topsoil is shallow.
Economy: From a micro perspective it seems retail and services make-up the LI economy. From a macro perspective it has been sea-oriented industries, aviation, electronics/computers, and scientific research. I know of no one involved in any of these industries. Nearly everyone I've met is involved in construction/renovation & repair, landscaping, and retail.
It is puzzling to me how so many are involved in construction and yet the character and quality of most LI properties is exceedingly lacking in every measure of professional standards. I'm not sure if it's the industry or its clients whom are mostly to blame. I'd guess it's 60% industry and 40% client since clients can't get what the industry doesn't offer. A passionate topic I'll get into later.
Social: I'm one of the last people whom should give an opinion on the social culture of LI since I've found so few people with whom I'd want to be socially involved. Why? I'm not sure but I might hazzard a guess that LI social culture is cliqueish. I'm still trying to understand the prevalent LI culture.
Obviously there are exceptions to every generalization and I'm not sure if generalizations pertain to a noticeable minority or the majority. I'm learning there are people with attitudes and values similar to my own but they seem not to draw much attention to themselves; therefore, I'm not sure how prevalent they are.
Like I've been told about less developed nations, LI culture is focused around a small number of social concepts, none of which appeal to me. I'll discuss this in more detail at a later time.
History: Despite being on the east coast (which was explored and settled by Europeans so long ago) LI has not embraced it's history in a significant way. This, too, I'll discuss later. For LI-ers this is not an important or relevent topic.
I've lived in Pittsburgh, PA; Minneapolis, MN; Rochester, NY; London, England; and Geneva, Switzerland but Long Island is very different in many ways.
Climate: It's humid and the winters are short and relatively warm (only London's winter is shorter and warmer...but it's much less humid there). It's also much sunnier here than anywhere else I've lived. It's a wonder there are so many tanning salons and so few people with natural tans.
Geography: It's flat. Not as flat as the mid-west plains but even Minneapolis as some hills. The north shore is hilly from glaciation and the south shore is an outwash plain which declines into the Atlantic. Basically, Long Island (LI) is a sandbar 115mi long (east-west) and 23mi wide (north to south). Sandy and pebbly sub-soil is everywhere. There is little or no bedrock anywhere and the topsoil is shallow.
Economy: From a micro perspective it seems retail and services make-up the LI economy. From a macro perspective it has been sea-oriented industries, aviation, electronics/computers, and scientific research. I know of no one involved in any of these industries. Nearly everyone I've met is involved in construction/renovation & repair, landscaping, and retail.
It is puzzling to me how so many are involved in construction and yet the character and quality of most LI properties is exceedingly lacking in every measure of professional standards. I'm not sure if it's the industry or its clients whom are mostly to blame. I'd guess it's 60% industry and 40% client since clients can't get what the industry doesn't offer. A passionate topic I'll get into later.
Social: I'm one of the last people whom should give an opinion on the social culture of LI since I've found so few people with whom I'd want to be socially involved. Why? I'm not sure but I might hazzard a guess that LI social culture is cliqueish. I'm still trying to understand the prevalent LI culture.
Obviously there are exceptions to every generalization and I'm not sure if generalizations pertain to a noticeable minority or the majority. I'm learning there are people with attitudes and values similar to my own but they seem not to draw much attention to themselves; therefore, I'm not sure how prevalent they are.
Like I've been told about less developed nations, LI culture is focused around a small number of social concepts, none of which appeal to me. I'll discuss this in more detail at a later time.
History: Despite being on the east coast (which was explored and settled by Europeans so long ago) LI has not embraced it's history in a significant way. This, too, I'll discuss later. For LI-ers this is not an important or relevent topic.
