Ups and downs in Noho
I thought for today's blog I might mention a few things about the fair city in which I find myself living. Thus far, all you've heard about is the three or so blocks that really make up downtown, and even there, I've only really talked about the traffic. By the way, Lynn's shop is way down on the right past the second crosswalk. Notice also the lack of lane demarcations.
Actually, before I begin, one more thing about the traffic. Have you ever seen a truck get stuck under one of those train bridges? What, never? Really? Me neither until I moved to Northampton. Now I've seen it happen twice. I've only been here a month, and I've seen it happen twice. Yesterday's really topped it all off. It was one of those trucks carrying an entire modular house on the back. The bridge has an 11' clearance. That was AWESOME!!! And all the Noho players say, "honk!"
So, anyways, a few things about Noho. First of all, it's called Noho. Though, Southampton is not called Soho. This is because Noho, really has that Soho feel. I assume they mean Soho, NY. I'd say its more like a cross between Berkeley and Santa Cruz. A little more homogeneously white, but that's just Massachusetts.
There are little things that I feel are worth mentioning. For instance, there are a whole lot of Goth kids in Noho, and just as in Santa Cruz, they have lot's of money and they're begging. Hobo chic. In any case, the first night we were here, the steps of the Catholic church/cathedral was crawling with neo-hipster vampire types. Since then, I haven't seen them congregate in what is obviously the most gothically inspired architecture in Noho. Now, they hang out in front of Thornes, which is like a four story mall kind of thing. Garden Walk Mall in Chico is the one story version of this.
Because of their proximity to Thornes, Lynn calls these kids Thorne Bushes. I call them Thorne Birds. It's weird to pass these pretentious wannabe undead because they are a mass of pitiful anti-social ideologies but they can't balance this against their needs or their morals. They bum change off you in a constant stream. In fact, I have yet to see a homeless person in Noho who had worse shoes than me, but I digress. The Thorne's crew will chide you loud enough for you to hear if you pass them while smoking, and then one of them will ask you for a cigarette, all of this while they're dressed in black and listening to bands that make themselves to look like zombies. They're clearly trying to be cool in that weird anti-materialism, "I like French Existentialist Novels" sort of way, but they're hanging out in front of a gift shop. There's nothing in Thornes that really suggests intellectual moroseness, except for the book store that charges way too damn much, or the used book store, "Raven Used Books," that has no selection and charges double what they should. I have yet to figure the Thorne kids out, except that they've just had it too damn easy their entire lives and so now can't think of anything to do except hassle me for change so that they don't have to touch their trust fund. Everybody's an anti-materialist until they survive making minimum wage.
Downtown itself, and all of Northampton really, is just plain beautiful. The architecture of the buildings is pretty much exactly what you'd expect, but when you see it in real life you realize just way it is that ranch tract homes should be considered god awful ugly. My house is probably the ugliest I've seen in Northampton. I don't mind. It's the inside of my house that I'm more concerned with and in that capacity Lynn and I have made out like bandits.
Basically Northampton is surrounded by wooded hills. And when I say wooded, I mean the forest primeval. We are surrounded by trees and if you haven't had enough trees just living in Northampton, you need only go to Look Park, which also, I've been told, has bumper boats.
Also, when I say beautiful, realize that I haven't even touched Smith college, which is amazing. There is no other way to say that. I really need to go exploring, but as per usual, I've been too much a homebody. Plus, I really kind of feel guilty about going to art museums and botanical gardens without Lynn. I'm trying to get over that guilt, though. There are, after all, only a limited number of days of sun and such left. Already the temperature is dropping. 68 degrees currently.
Let's see other things about Noho worth knowing. Well, I guess that I painted a kind of picture of the place by saying that there was no Mexican food worth speaking of, but that's an erroneous picture. Noho is actually filled with restaurants. In fact, if the Thorne bushes/birds are having any existential dilemma in Northampton, it is probably related to the stifling number of choices one faces when hungry. Moroccan, Thai, Indian, Tibetan, Chinese, Japanese, French, Italian, and of course, ice cream. I think they styled the city's restaurant scene after New York. What do you want to eat? Because they have it in Noho (except for Mexican). What's more, their basic understanding of Pizza is quite a bit larger than California's. I've seen slices that would put me away, though quality seems to have quite a bit of range.
Well, that seems good for now. I think I'm going to go downtown to take some pictures. I'll link 'em when I get back.
back side of downtown
Big Catholic Church at the front of Smith College
living downtown 1 and 2 (we do not live downtown)
Actually, before I begin, one more thing about the traffic. Have you ever seen a truck get stuck under one of those train bridges? What, never? Really? Me neither until I moved to Northampton. Now I've seen it happen twice. I've only been here a month, and I've seen it happen twice. Yesterday's really topped it all off. It was one of those trucks carrying an entire modular house on the back. The bridge has an 11' clearance. That was AWESOME!!! And all the Noho players say, "honk!"
So, anyways, a few things about Noho. First of all, it's called Noho. Though, Southampton is not called Soho. This is because Noho, really has that Soho feel. I assume they mean Soho, NY. I'd say its more like a cross between Berkeley and Santa Cruz. A little more homogeneously white, but that's just Massachusetts.
There are little things that I feel are worth mentioning. For instance, there are a whole lot of Goth kids in Noho, and just as in Santa Cruz, they have lot's of money and they're begging. Hobo chic. In any case, the first night we were here, the steps of the Catholic church/cathedral was crawling with neo-hipster vampire types. Since then, I haven't seen them congregate in what is obviously the most gothically inspired architecture in Noho. Now, they hang out in front of Thornes, which is like a four story mall kind of thing. Garden Walk Mall in Chico is the one story version of this.
Because of their proximity to Thornes, Lynn calls these kids Thorne Bushes. I call them Thorne Birds. It's weird to pass these pretentious wannabe undead because they are a mass of pitiful anti-social ideologies but they can't balance this against their needs or their morals. They bum change off you in a constant stream. In fact, I have yet to see a homeless person in Noho who had worse shoes than me, but I digress. The Thorne's crew will chide you loud enough for you to hear if you pass them while smoking, and then one of them will ask you for a cigarette, all of this while they're dressed in black and listening to bands that make themselves to look like zombies. They're clearly trying to be cool in that weird anti-materialism, "I like French Existentialist Novels" sort of way, but they're hanging out in front of a gift shop. There's nothing in Thornes that really suggests intellectual moroseness, except for the book store that charges way too damn much, or the used book store, "Raven Used Books," that has no selection and charges double what they should. I have yet to figure the Thorne kids out, except that they've just had it too damn easy their entire lives and so now can't think of anything to do except hassle me for change so that they don't have to touch their trust fund. Everybody's an anti-materialist until they survive making minimum wage.
Downtown itself, and all of Northampton really, is just plain beautiful. The architecture of the buildings is pretty much exactly what you'd expect, but when you see it in real life you realize just way it is that ranch tract homes should be considered god awful ugly. My house is probably the ugliest I've seen in Northampton. I don't mind. It's the inside of my house that I'm more concerned with and in that capacity Lynn and I have made out like bandits.
Basically Northampton is surrounded by wooded hills. And when I say wooded, I mean the forest primeval. We are surrounded by trees and if you haven't had enough trees just living in Northampton, you need only go to Look Park, which also, I've been told, has bumper boats.
Also, when I say beautiful, realize that I haven't even touched Smith college, which is amazing. There is no other way to say that. I really need to go exploring, but as per usual, I've been too much a homebody. Plus, I really kind of feel guilty about going to art museums and botanical gardens without Lynn. I'm trying to get over that guilt, though. There are, after all, only a limited number of days of sun and such left. Already the temperature is dropping. 68 degrees currently.
Let's see other things about Noho worth knowing. Well, I guess that I painted a kind of picture of the place by saying that there was no Mexican food worth speaking of, but that's an erroneous picture. Noho is actually filled with restaurants. In fact, if the Thorne bushes/birds are having any existential dilemma in Northampton, it is probably related to the stifling number of choices one faces when hungry. Moroccan, Thai, Indian, Tibetan, Chinese, Japanese, French, Italian, and of course, ice cream. I think they styled the city's restaurant scene after New York. What do you want to eat? Because they have it in Noho (except for Mexican). What's more, their basic understanding of Pizza is quite a bit larger than California's. I've seen slices that would put me away, though quality seems to have quite a bit of range.
Well, that seems good for now. I think I'm going to go downtown to take some pictures. I'll link 'em when I get back.
back side of downtown
Big Catholic Church at the front of Smith College
living downtown 1 and 2 (we do not live downtown)
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