There's so much depression and gravitas in a place like Brooklyn (and Manhattan) with so many transplants just frolicking in the middle of it. On the other hand, there's a much larger population of people in the background that just lost a minimum wage job, just buried a son, or just got their results back from an HIV test. On the one hand, there are people who do yoga exercises in the park, drop $5 on lattes and sit leisurely outside of coffeeshops and read Malcolm Gladwell. In my mind, it's not so much about the absolute numbers of gentrifiers as it is the sharp contrast you see between two different worlds. I'm glad my neighborhood still terrifies my out-of-town / suburban guests a little bit. For us oldtimers the place was just a new spot to get something to eat.ĭo recent transplants really hate bodegas? I love, love, love the Yucca Market in my neighborhood - you can get so much stuff you'd never be able to get at a Trader Joe's or Wholefoods.įrom what I have read / heard, it sounds like DC and NYC are two cities that are starting to get over-gentrified in a lot of places (in LA I can think of SM and Silverlake, maybe Los Feliz as being over-gentrified). Here in CH for example, a place like Choice on Lafayette, was looked at like a godsend to the hood if you let newer residents tell it. Please NO BODEGAS! Bodegas spell doom to some folks). Next they might let you know about a vacant storefront with a speculative wish list (like restaurants, organic markets, wine stores, coffee shoppes w/ WiFi, Korean convenient store, etc. or lack thereof, in which case they will note that the “nabe” is “up and coming”, then point out a few restaurants or a place where they get good expresso and check facebook work on their writing (Does everyone now get writing inspiration in coffee shops? Hmm). Ask a newer resident and you’ll likely to hear about “amenities” like restaurants, organic markets, wine stores, coffee shoppes w/ WiFi, Korean convenient store, etc. You will probably hear things like proximity to family, close bonds with friends and neighbors, communal interactions and places of worship. Ask a long-time resident about their neighborhood.
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