In the 1970s, New York City was a stinky, dangerous place. Not many people would have wanted the “I love NY” t-shirts you find on every city block today.

 

NYC used to be a bustling, prosperous city, but in the 1960s when people started moving to the suburbs, manufacturing companies and their employees relocated to New Jersey, and the world’s economy declined, the city struggled to survive. In 1970, NYC was saved from bankruptcy by the federal government, and in 1977, when a power outage in the middle of the hot summer led to fires throughout the city and countless burglaries, NYC’s future seemed dim.

 

However, between the I Love NY marketing campaign and initiatives to clean up the city’s streets and parks, NYC became a magnet for tourists and new residents. Tourism, loans, and less spending saved the city and helped transform it into the NYC we know today. When you look around at all the buildings, parks, and neighborhoods, can you imagine what areas like Central Park, Harlem, the East Village, or Hell’s Kitchen used to look like?

 

Do you think NYC is a successful city today? What actually makes a city successful? How does it feel to live here? Are there good schools, affordable apartments, things to do on the weekend? And jobs that pay enough to live on? Are the city’s streets and its air and water clean? Is there art and music, people with many different backgrounds? How about safety? And does the city have a soul?

 

What’s your verdict on New York City?