Maybe this is just me imagining things and is being completely wrong. I have just been thinking about this question and especially after watching Home Alone 2 in New York. It may just be that I think it looks more crowded in the movies because it actually is a set filled with people, but also there probably should be some truth to it as you now can do so much online that makes people able to stay inside instead of walk to a location.
I am also wondering if the movies represent the real life rush hour, and probably always shows the “most crowded” times of the day.
Are any of you living of have been living in New York that has seen a difference, or am I just imagining the change?
The screenshot is from this video (1993): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fT4lDU-QLUY witch I feel is giving me the vibes I am talking about.
I don’t go downtown too often but I did a few days ago and it was jam fucking packed. I mean every sidewalk was on overflow. Idk what you mean by fake it truly is jam packed during holiday season. On a nice spring day too. Even in the summer. Thats why I usually hang out in queens 🤣
You never said what you were comparing against. I think downtown NYC is extremely crowded and it’s a head scratcher where you got otherwise from.
Parts of NYC truly are that crowded on any given day. Locals try to avoid those parts for the most part (especially around midtown and the financial district except for work). They’re honestly the worst parts of the city, but are also the most touristy. The rest of the city is still crowded but much more sane and honestly a better experience overall
- proud NYer
The movie Koyaanisqatsi has some documentary footage of New York City streets from the late 70s, and there are some scenes where they’re packed. I’ve never been to NY so can’t speak from experience, but if they’re less busy now, maybe that has to do with cultural changes and the internet replacing much of what we used to do in real life?
I don’t know about New York specifically but I have noticed a decline of people just generally going outdoors over the last few decades. The internet, streaming TV, remote working, online shopping and unabated capitalism has all had a compounded effect on people’s desire to do just about anything.
When I visited Shibuya crossing in Tokyo there seemed to be less people there than in central Oslo
