Week 2. Mapping the City.

KDTM Sky City (88 Lang Ha)

      The location we went this week is near the new developing Sky City Building. The building was still under construction when we got there so we could not check out the inside of the building. The building has about more than 20 floors and an underground parking lot. Around the building there's more construction projects that are currently being build.  The area around is very similar to the location we went last week, Ngo Van Nham va Nguyen Thi Tham. It seems to me that it was not fully develop into a private neighborhood yet, compared to other private-gated neighborhood other groups went. All the places on the list are all available no further than two blocks down the main street. Everything were surprisingly closed by that it was not as tiring as last time going around to find all the shops in different direction.  I was also surprised they had a closed by traditional open market, however, no pagoda to be found. The area also have an area for badminton which we could not find last week. This was not on the list to find, but I noticed there was very few places for Bia Hoi. I only saw about 3 places near the area compared to every Bia Hoi restaurant on every corner elsewhere. Even though the area was not fully develop into a private neighborhood yet, but the surrounding has becoming very like the modern city. I did not see any street vendors walking around. There were many many automobile shops and big buildings are under construction. Big shops were on the front of the street while little houses or shops are pushed back into the little alley and hidden. As modern construction projects are moving into the neighborhood, it will set a whole new standard for the local who live around there.

    I would not live in this area in which it is too busy and might be expensive for me. As high class apartment like this being build, I wonder whether it is beneficial for the local or more for foreigner that can afford to pay rent  in those apartments. The streets are busy with vehicles and there's fewer and fewer local interaction as the area will continue to develop and soon everyone will be behind their shop doors that prevent them from interacting with their neighbors. As new businesses coming in, jobs like knife sharpener  and shoe shine boys will slowly disappear.  There's no nearby pagoda but just shops after shops after shops. There was no park and spaces for local use besides the badminton place we found. Will all of this upgraded city will forced the traditional ways of life disappear  eventually? And with all of the resources available to make it more convenient for local and/or foreigners to live in the neighborhood, how will it might affect the number of international residents that might move there?

-mai