ESL Podcast 398 - Parts of a City
residential neighborhood - an area in a city where many people live, with many houses and/or apartments
We'd like to move to a residential neighborhood closer to where my wife works.
alley - a narrow street between buildings that is not used by cars very much
It isn't safe to walk through the alleys alone at night. Stay on the busier streets.
to lose (one's) bearings - to get lost; to become disoriented; to not know where one is or how to get to where one wants to go
She was reading a book on the bus, and when she looked out the window, she realized that she had lost her bearings and didn't know where she was.
to go in circles - to go around without getting to where one wants to go; to travel but end up back where one started
They rode the subway all morning to try to learn how it works, but they were going in circles and always ended up back in the center.
downtown - the center of a city; the central part of a city where there are many businesses and tall buildings
Let's meet at the café downtown on Third Avenue and Madison Street.
financial district - an area in a city where there are many banks, investment firms, and other businesses related to money
Wall Street is a famous financial district in New York City.
housing project - an area where houses and/or apartments are built inexpensively so that people who do not have very much money can live there, especially if they wouldn't have enough money to live in other parts of the city
The families living in this housing project make less than $35,000 per year.
historic district - an old part of town with many old buildings that have been preserved or kept as they used to be
The businessman wanted to build a new restaurant in the historic district, but it isn't allowed, so he had to change an existing old building instead.
uptown - the part of a city that is far from the center, usually where there are many homes that are bigger and more expensive than homes in the center of the city
They bought a beautiful home in uptown, but now it will take them longer to drive to work every day.
hazy - unclear, confusing, and difficult to understand; unclear and difficult to see
Aisha's understanding of physics and chemistry is great, but her understanding of biology is a little hazy.
outskirts - the edge of a city, far from the center and near where the city ends
There are a lot of trees and parks in the outskirts of the city because people haven't begun to build there yet.
city limits - the line drawn on a map around a city where the city ends and the countryside begins
The city ends at the river, but some people want to expand the city limits so that they can begin building on the other side of the river.
back road - a small, narrow, and unimportant road where cars drive slowly; not a main road
You can reach our home in 15 minutes if you take the freeways, but if you aren't in a hurry, take the back roads which are slower but much more beautiful.
lay of the land - layout; physical arrangement; the geography of a place; where things are located in an area
How long did it take you to understand the lay of the land after you moved to Los Angeles?
like the back of (one's) hand - a phrase used to show that one knows something well or is very familiar with something
Drake grew up playing around in the woods, so he knows that forest like the back of his hand.
the blind leading the blind - a phrase used to show that a person who doesn't know how to do something is trying to show other people how to do it
I've never baked a cake before and neither has Shannon. When she tried to teach me how to do it, it was like the blind leading the blind.