Seeing in the City

I was in New York City yesterday and took a quick walk between appointments. As is my habit lately, I took along my camera. There are a few pictures I like, but unfortunately, I'm not impressed with many of them. I just couldn't "see" as well in that environment. Do you think this is from lack of practice or because I might be more intuitively drawn to flora and fauna than to steel girders and sidewalks? Maybe I didn't give myself enough time since I was limited to time between appointments? I'm fascinated by work influenced by urban settings (the works of Jeanne Williamson and Elizabeth Barton to name just two). I'm thinking that if I get better at gathering / capturing inspiration from a multitude of sources my work will be richer for it. Thoughts?