Link of possible interest

[sholio]

synecdochic has an interesting post on how people in Manhattan shop for food and other necessities that is aimed at Avengers fandom, but is probably quite useful to those of you who write White Collar and other NYC-based fandoms as well! Er, those of you who don't already live there, you know.

(As a lifelong resident of tiny to medium-sized American towns, I find big cities disconcerting to shop in, precisely because of the issue synecdochic talks about -- the lack of the sort of one-stop-shopping centers where most American suburbanites and small-town residents are used to buying EVERYTHING. It is definitely a different shopping culture!)

Comments

[schneefink]

Very interesting! I'd like posts like this about every country/region, please :)
The weirdest part for me is that in Manhattan it's apparently cheaper and more convenient to get food delivered than to cook yourself. Logically, it makes sense, but still - no cooking? :(

[leonie_alastair]

It's a fun and informative post. But as one of the commenters points out, a lot of the statements about food and shopping are neighborhood specific. Admittedly they apply to the areas where the Avengers are most likely to be found (upper east and west sides and the east village) but Manhattan is not monolithic. There's are two honest to god supermarket chains, Fairway and D'Agostino. Neither of which are huge by suburban standards but either would be boggling to a kid from the 1940's used to Mom and Pop stores. And don't count on getting food delivered at 2am if you live in one of the poorer neighborhoods. Also, lots of people in Manhattan cook - it's possible, it's just not required ;D

[schneefink]

Sure, but just the fact that there is a (small) area where it's not required for people to be able to cook and you can get stuff delivered that's not pizza or sushi (at night!) is very different from what I'm used to :)

[astridv]

I was so torn about that part. lol. Because on the one hand I love to cook, and we treat it as a social experience. But OTOH I love all kinds of ethnic food that are impossible to come by here, so... oh, a mix of both worlds would be perfect!

[schneefink]

In my city it's even possible to get a large variety of food from all over the world, but I'm mostly too lazy to drive across town to get it. ;)

[sholio]

I do love seeing how people live differently in different places! :D

[astridv]

That is a really fascinating post. But all fascination aside, it makes me heart my little town, with its hundreds of food supermarkets and dozens of farmer's markets and the little stalls where you can buy asparagus fresh from the field.

[sholio]

I think every town probably has things that are unique and nifty to recommend it. :D And it's fascinating to me how different it can be from place to place.