All throughout high school I would always enjoy my mornings heading to class. The time period between leaving my house and getting to school was the one moment you could see the city really blossom. It was the perfect time to see how everyone interacts with the infrastructure and how we interact as a society. Every morning would consist of taking any bus that was in the direction of Getty Square, the heart of Yonkers, New York and fortunately I lived close to the two main streets that took you directly downtown which were serviced by most of the local bus routes. As a highschooler you would receive the responsibility of figuring out how to get to school by 7:45 am. For some it would consist of just walking out the front door and taking a 5-minute walk down the street or getting dropped off at the front of the school. Unfortunately, for me it consisted of taking two buses, one that would take you to Getty Square and then I would take the second bus that took me to the school's location.
All in all, I enjoyed taking the first bus more than the second one due to the routes being more accessible to me and it allowed me to pass through many small businesses that were opening up for the day. You were not limited to only interacting with kids from your high school but kids from other schools, adults and family which made the experience unique every time. Since the bus routes passed by so often and all went directly to my second bus stop location it would make it easy to stop by at some of these shops and still be able to catch my second bus. It took an average of 10-15 minutes to reach my other destination, but mornings were specifically difficult because the center of the city was the busiest and the most traffic congested area in all of Yonkers. This could change travel time from 10-15 minutes to 20-25 minutes if there was a traffic incident. Once arriving at Getty Square, the first thing you will notice is the amount of people that are in this area and how fast paced it becomes.
The bus ride showcases the gradual change in infrastructure from small businesses to large buildings that are multi-use to accommodate the growth of the city due to its close connection to The Bronx. The city is currently under massive renovations where more modern constructions are starting to form, destroying the history of this City. Many older buildings located in Getty Square are still being utilized with their initial intention but the further you step out of that zone the more amounts of remodeling or new constructions become visible. One of the interesting parts of Getty Square is the variety of needs this area caters to in one location. One of my personal favorites is St. John's church due to its historical value and its ability to break the city away from the modern feel with its architecture and its significance within the community. Since the church was right across the second bus stop, I would see the amount of events they organized for the community. It was intriguing to find such an institution in the middle of the city's chaos able to still provide support under such circumstances and use the popularity of the location to its advantage.
On my second bus route you can see the industrialization of the city start to diminish and turn to focusing on residential neighborhoods with limited commercial streets. This area is more family oriented and tends to close its stores a lot earlier since there's no other business than students from the local schools. The traffic here is only heavy during peak school times but overall, it's a nice quiet part of town for families. My high school's location was close to Lockwood which is a street that has a few food spots and some other commercial stores. This was a popular spot for me and a staple to how I grew up. This route was my path to school for all four years of high school. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.
Comments