By Serena Solomon
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MIDTOWN — Upper West Siders need to take a long hard look at themselves and a presentation Thursday about the make up of the neighborhood will give them the opportunity to do so.
Graduate students from the Pratt Institute will present their findings to the community after conducting a 10-week study of the area. The project hopes to help develop ideas on how to move the neighborhood forward.
"It is a chance to learn about a very unique area of Manhattan," said Peter Arndtsen, district manager for the Columbus/Amsterdam Business Improvement District, the organization that commissioned the study. "We are going to learn about what makes us tick."
Arndtsen, who dreamed up the study six years ago, hoped it would take a sweeping view of the Upper West Side looking at areas such as housing, ethnicity, use of public space and the history of the area. The students used a variety of methodology to reach their findings such as door-to-door surveys, observation, historical texts and data from sources like the 2000 census.
The study would definitely reveal some surprises on subjects like the amount of diversity in the neighborhood, according to Arndtsen.
"Our area has this great mix and all around us there is so much less of a mix," he said. "That one I really loved."
Another meeting has be scheduled for March 6 to give people the chance for an open forum on the findings.
"Part of what we want to do is encourage people and them thinking and not being passive," he said.
The initial presentation of the study's findings will be at 6 p.m on Thursday at the NY International Youth Hostel at 891 Amsterdam Avenue. The follow up forum will be held at the Red Oak Apartments at 135 W. 106th St. on March 6.
