[BC TRIPS] RESEARCH JOURNAL #21 - NEW YORK 1

Hello everyone, this is Yasu from Borderless Creations.

It's been 4 years since my family and I have been on an overseas trip, and this time we went on a 10-day trip to New York City, which has been my long-cherished dream.

Having said that, the number of days is not so long so perhaps it's not really a "trip". To maximize our stay, we decided to enjoy the local lifestyle as much as possible and not create a jam packed schedule and rather decided to spend our time as if we lived in the city.

We stayed at a condominium on the East Side for this trip. We were off to a very good start with this awesome location, with a view of the Empire State Building from our room.

The main means of transportation for us was either on foot or by subway.

First of all, we saw "Citi bike" bike rentals were every where while walking around the city. Compared to central Tokyo, where they are located in parks and public facilities, Manhattan has a number of them in different locations that are accessible by all. It was surprising that there are about 100 bikes in one of the location we saw. Most of the people who ride bicycles use these rental bikes, so the city seems to be filled with Citi bikes - what a terrific advertising campaign!

Next, we saw many digital billboards installed at many intersections. I had never seen anything like this in Japan and was very impressed. I felt that if there were many such digital boards in Japanese cities, they could be used not only for corporate advertisements but also as a nudge communication tool for environmental beautification and other purposes in cooperation with local governments.

After arriving; first thing first... We went to a large supermarket for groceries.

Prices in New York City are the highest...but if you take that out of the equation, it is a very livable city. If you take the time to walk around on your days off, you will find a number of supermarkets that are well-stocked and reasonably priced. There are seasonal fruits and vegetables, and even the way they are presented is creative!

Products sold in convenience stores are about twice the price of those in supermarkets. I bought beer and mineral water several times and were surprised at the difference in price, which was not even marked and not even close to open price...just a FYI for you to be aware of next time you're in NYC!

Furthermore, there were many things in the large supermarkets that caught our attention.

For example, shampoo bars and solid soaps... The package designs are cute, and of course, there is a wide variety of package-free products!

There are many more I would like to introduce, but that is all for today.

Please look at the photos of the streetscape with brief descriptions in the rest of this article and stay tuned for our next NYC journal!