Public+Space+Project-North+End,+Boston.

Catherine Moore ENG 101 Prof. Kingsley 11/18/09 //On Hanover// The North End in Boston is a small community known for its Italian heritage. It is located right next to Faneuil Hall in downtown Boston where its streets can be found busy with the evening/night life. It is like its own village that consists of many well-regarded Italian restaurants and cafes, local markets, apartments and homes, clothing boutiques, and I even discovered a yoga studio. The North End is not only known for its restaurants, but its holds a lot of history as well. The North End is also the cite of the 1919 Boston Molasses Disaster which was very devastating and took many lives of the then residents. In the summertime, The North End is known for its feasts and Festivals of certain saints. In my own personal experience I would go to the Feast of Saint Anthony with my family. Theses are large celebrations that resemble fairs or carnivals however they are very culturally focused on the Italian heritage. The main street that runs right through the North End is called Hanover st. It is the most active street in this section of Boston where most of the shops and restaurants are and because of this I decided t would be the most effective place to observe. My first hour of observation took place on Tuesday, November 10th at 6:00pm. Just by focusing on different senses (sound, sight, touch, smell, and even taste) I was already beginning to acquire a better perspective in my first ten minutes. I chose to sit on a bench right in the heart of the North End across from Mike’s Pastries, which was still on Hanover Street. It was right during dinnertime so there was a good amount of people on the streets. For a Tuesday night it seemed there were still lots of people flooding the streets. I saw many different groups of people that included families, couples young and old, college kids, and even some business dressed people that must have been headed home from work. I heard al sorts of conversation as people passed by. Not only were the subject matters ranging from all sorts of topics, but also I must have herd about ten different languages swell. However, the most powerful sense I used at this time of night was definitely smelled. All the restaurants were filling the streets with fresh Italian cooking and it smelled so good. Almost as if I was in one of my own family members kitchen. On my way out, just before 7:00pm I thought I would even try out my sense of taste and got a cup of coffee and a Canoli at Mike’s and it was so good! On my return visit, Thursday November 12th, I began my observation at 11am. I wanted to choose I a different time of day for a different perspective. It was a lot more quite and a lot lass busy. At this time it seemed there were mostly business owners getting ready to open up. There were some people out for an early lunch though. There also seemed to be a lot more elderly people out. For example, older Italian women were sitting by market corners observing, just as I was. They often would interact and most of them seemed to know each other. Although I could not hear I assumed they were most likely speaking Italian. The smell was also a lot different at this time of day. Because not too many of the restaurants were open, that once rich aroma was now replaced with cigarettes smoke, coffee, and city air. I could hear mostly the rustling of trees. Beeping of horns and other vehicle sounds, birds and sirens. As the hour came to an end it seemed to start to bring in more people. Closer to a regular lunch hour is most likely why, however, the north end was still not as occupied as when the night crowd was there.