Public transportation offers a look into the culture and socioeconomic structure of a city. For a brief period of time, people from across the city with different lives, cultures and destinations sit together. In New York, I learned to tell which stops people would get off at depending on their appearance and the general make up of the neighborhood.
Since arriving in Paris, I have started to similarly learn the city’s composition. I came to Paris with a general idea of the different arrondissements, but the actual demographics of the neighborhoods seem more nuanced than I expected. For example, heading to the Cité Universitaire in the 14th arrondissement at the end of the 4 line at Porte d’Orleans you see an interesting mix of passengers. Elderly and middle aged, middle and working class, native and immigrant, student and professionals flood off the train. A fair amount of the African immigrants head west from the metro towards les habitants sociaux that line le boulevard de Jourdan. Many of the white passengers seemingly more middle class and professional turn north on l’avenue du General LeClerc, an area with private apartments and lots of shops, both local and chains.
The intersection of Jourdan and LeClerc bustles with movement. People cram into the tram that runs down bd. de Jourdan in their hurry to get home after a long day at work. Cars squeeze through the lights in their hurry to exit the city and return to their homes in the banlieues accessible just across the peripherique that encircles Paris. Mothers grasp the hands of their children toddling home from the elementary school just up the block. Older women walking their little dogs pause on the corner as their dogs sniff the base of a lamp post. An Indian vendor sits quietly behind his card table covered in inexpensive, ripe fruit and occasionally exchanges a bunch of bananas for 1€50. None of the travelers seem to carry briefcases or don suits, as this is neither a professional nor upper class neighborhood. Rather, many people carry grocery bags from their recent shopping trip. It’s a residential area, maybe not nearly as gentrified as Morningside Heights in New York, but similarly has a mix of races, social-economic statuses, immigrants, students and families cohabitating.