Manhattan’s population has declined by 25% in the past century due to the rise of the subway and the high cost of housing. Many workers now commute to affordable homes outside the borough. Manhattan has one Main Street on Roosevelt Island and some streets allow drivers to go 17 mph through green lights. The Empire State Building has its own zip code.
The New York borough of Manhattan is one of the most densely populated places in the world, but it could be worse. Indeed, it was. A century ago, Manhattan was bustling day and night with people who called it home and worked there. Today, the bustling neighborhood is still buzzing with people and activity all day long, but an exodus takes place at night. There aren’t nearly as many people now living in Manhattan as working there, and over the past 100 years, the population has declined by nearly 25 percent. It might come as a surprise, but when you compare life in the early 20th century to today, the main reasons become clear: the rise of the subway and the price of a house. For example, factory workers and their families once had no choice but to pack up public housing on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. The cost wasn’t prohibitive and they really didn’t have the opportunity – or the means of transportation – to relocate. Today, few people can afford the ever-rising price of a Manhattan home, but most working people in Manhattan can hop on a partially subsidized subway and end the day by returning to an affordable home elsewhere.
Learn more about Manhattan:
Manhattan has one Main Street, but it’s across the East River on Roosevelt Island, which is technically part of Manhattan.
Driving is notoriously difficult in Manhattan, but some city streets are programmed to allow drivers to go about 17 mph to go all the way through the green light.
In 1980, the Empire State Building, which houses more than 150 businesses, received its own zip code: 10118.
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