(The) Two Things I Like About New Haven (The Most)

So I’m back. Leaving Chicago is always a little hard on me, and since I did a sixteen-mile all-night charity walk on Saturday night (with my mom, who is almost sixty and most definitely awesome!), I’m also a little groggy and out of it. I’m a fake Chicagoan, too, having spent the first 75% of my life in the ‘burbs of Philly and the backwoods of Massachusetts, but like many of you, I have spent and continue to spend not a little time grieving the life given up to come to YDS. I miss my old apartment, my home parish, and cheap, terrible beer.

In the joint spirits of cheering myself up and informing you (which continues to be the main objective of this blog, even with the rambling), I will now share with you the two areas in which New Haven completely outpaces Chicago.

1) Recycling. (Maybe environmentalism in general?)
Chicago has had a long flirtation with recycling, but can’t really get it together. It’s not that we don’t care about the environment, it’s just that … we don’t care that much. We were doing something else, and then it got late, and we always leave work at 4:55pm, and then we forgot for a while. We like to bike, and we love our lake, but the logistics of effective curbside recycling continue to elude us.

In New Haven, not only are recycling resources plentiful at school, with bins and reminders everywhere, but also curbside recycling is really easy! If you live on-campus, you’ll have recycling containers outside near the dumpsters you’ll take your trash to. If you live off-campus, you’ll find a blue bin somewhere in your apartment. By keeping an eye out on your street, you’ll be able to figure out that everyone puts their trash and recyclables out one night a week (100 block of Linden – Wednesday night!) for an early morning pickup. The bin will look like this:


(I contemplated putting up a picture of my own bin, but decided against it, to avoid any uncomfortable questions about my Diet Coke consumption. I’m down to one a day … most days.)

You can figure out what to put in the bin at this helpful site from SoHu New Haven. While you’re there, marvel at the fact that “SoHu” is its own neighborhood now.

2. Food from carts.
Having grown up near enough to Philly to understand that soft pretzels are supposed to be smothered with brown mustard, I was initially confused when I found that I couldn’t buy a hotdog from some guy with a cart in the Loop. Apparently they think you need a running hot water hookup to serve food properly. I think that this is why everyone is suddenly allergic to peanuts. Not that I’m hating on people with allergies – I have a cousin and a good friend who are both peanut-intolerant – but has anyone else noticed that everyone is allergic to peanuts these days? My basic assertion is that, like asthma, we'd have fewer food allergies if kids ate more dirt. And while they’re at it, a hotdog.

“The carts” are a wonderful part of life at YDS. I’ve been talking like the only thing you can buy from a cart is a hotdog, but if you’re willing to make the quick drip down to the School of Management at the corner of Prospect and Sachem (and, more daunting, the trip back up the hill) on a weekday around lunch, you’ll be able to take your pick: burritos, Indian, Ethiopian, Italian, Thai, Chinese, Japanese. Sometimes there’s a cupcake truck, too! A complete lunch (food plus a drink) will run you in the neighborhood of $5/$6. That price is so good it deserves its own low-budget local commercial.

If you grew up in Chicago or on the moon, here is a picture of what food from a cart looks like that I stole from the Yale Daily News:


(Again, I considered taking my own photo of a cart in New Haven serving food. Then I remembered that I’m lazy and didn’t want to go downtown today.)

OK, that totally worked. I feel better. Hopefully you feel more informed, too. Long-time CT residents and lurking YDS people, what do YOU love about this city/state?

-Kate