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Has New York City been 100% gentrified?

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I recently visited NYC for the first time in a long time.

Parts of my family have been there since the late 19th century and other parts came in around World War II during the Holocaust. They have all sorts of amazing old photo albums and boxes of pictures of the Bronx and Manhattan over the last 100/125 years and the city has really changed.

I noticed that it seemed like New York used to be a place where all social classes coexisted. There were parts of the city that were affordable for everyone and there was culture in the city that had deep ties to the area due to being there for so long.

Has this changed? When I was in Brooklyn and Manhatten 90% of the people I saw were richsters and financial ("squares") people. Even when I used to live there (the early 90s) it seemed like area had tons of locals that had been there with their families for many generations. Even most of the shops have changed and are owned by people that relocated and corporate chains. My parent's house that they purchased as a fixer upper in the 70s for less than $20,000 is now worth like 3 million.

What parts of New York City haven't been gentrified? or for the most part is everywhere kinda trendy there now?
 

studyguy

Member
There's a number of parts like that all around the country though. SF is fucking crazy right now unless you're loaded. LA has changed a ton too, Echo Park area now vs a while back, etc.

I've never been to the East Coast but the West Coast has definitely experienced this in a big way.
 

Fugu

Member
It's almost there, but I don't think it's completely gentrified. There are a lot of areas of the Bronx and the aforementioned Queens that are still ethnic enclaves.
 
It's almost there, but I don't think it's completely gentrified. There are a lot of areas of the Bronx and the aforementioned Queens that are still ethnic enclaves.

What are some of these areas. I'm going to google "art gallery" or "gastrolounge" along with said streets and neighborhoods to see if they have been or not.
 

Mully

Member
Almost. There are still "undesirable," areas in northern Manhattan and the South Bronx, but since those areas are a train ride uptown, young people will move there in droves in the next couple of years.

When I finish up my degree I'll definitely be moving to Inwood or Washington Heights. Rent is still pretty low in those places considering it's on the island of Manhattan.
 

maxcriden

Member
There are plenty of ungentrified areas in the boroughs other than Manhattan. Lived in Astoria a few years ago and I didn't find it particularly gentrified at all. It felt like the ultimate cultural melting pot.
 

studyguy

Member
There are plenty of ungentrified areas in the boroughs other than Manhattan. Lived in Astoria a few years ago and I didn't find it particularly gentrified at all. It felt like the ultimate cultural melting pot.

Speaking of Astoria, it looks like hell is breaking through there right now. Fires spewing up through the ground and shit.

393951_630x354.jpg
 

Slo

Member
I don't understand why it is considered a bad thing for money to flood into a neighborhood. Is it a euphemism for too many whites and Jews?
 
I don't understand why it is considered a bad thing for money to flood into a neighborhood. Is it a euphemism for too many whites and Jews?

Well the average household income is 50k and when gentrification causes the price of a 2br to shoot to $3000+ landlords start trying to kick the "poor" people out to make way for wealthier renters.
 

SimleuqiR

Member
Almost. There are still "undesirable," areas in northern Manhattan and the South Bronx, but since those areas are a train ride uptown, young people will move there in droves in the next couple of years.

When I finish up my degree I'll definitely be moving to Inwood or Washington Heights. Rent is still pretty low in those places considering it's on the island of Manhattan.

Anything along the side of the Metro-North train lines (Hudson & Harlem) will probably get taken over in the Bronx in the next couple of decades. Living in Manhattan is too expensive. Grand Central is just about 30-45 minutes away from the Bronx on those lines.


Even something like "Fordham" where you had all the small mom & pop shots in the 90's is looking more and more line downtown shopping areas with GAP, Starbucks, Applebees', etc.
 
I don't understand why it is considered a bad thing for money to flood into a neighborhood. Is it a euphemism for too many whites and Jews?

It drives out those who have lived there for decades as everything suddenly becomes out of their price range. For a perfect example look up San Francisco.
 

massoluk

Banned
Your mistake is implying this is the case with the entire NYC instead of just midtown and lower Manhattan, which I don't really agree with anyway (if you're talking diversity).

But yup, rent is astronomical in Manhattan, that's why I live across the river in Jersey City... which is getting more expensive because everyone is moving there too :p
 
I don't understand why it is considered a bad thing for money to flood into a neighborhood. Is it a euphemism for too many whites and Jews?

The downside is when money pours in, it can force existing residents out. Escalating property values leading to higher taxes (for homeowners) and higher rents.

Personally, I like seeing "urban renewal," but I'd also like to see some protections for existing residents (such as statutory limits in increases in tax values and/or rent, lease protections, etc).
 
if my house was worth that much I'd sell it in a new York minute and move somewhere houses don't cost nearly 3 million and pocket the rest.

hope you're an only child and they're leaving you the house, Richie!


oh wait. They don't live there anymore :( I bet it burns.
 

studyguy

Member
Well the average household income is 50k and when gentrification causes the price of a 2br to shoot to $3000+ landlords start trying to kick the "poor" people out to make way for wealthier renters.

One year bruh, one. fucking. year. in SF
Screen-Shot-2014-04-10-at-7.45.52-PM.png


Imagine if your rent went up almost 15% year over year?
Fuck that.
 

nel e nel

Member
I don't understand why it is considered a bad thing for money to flood into a neighborhood. Is it a euphemism for too many whites and Jews?

It's a euphemism for Middle Class Is No Longer Able To Afford To Live Here. When the trend is that studio apartments start at $700k, there is a serious problem.

Factor in that our economy has been steadily shifting to a service based instead of production based model, and the general attitude is that service industries are not worth a living salary, then the picture becomes clearer.
 
There's a number of parts like that all around the country though. SF is fucking crazy right now unless you're loaded. LA has changed a ton too, Echo Park area now vs a while back, etc.

Same thing is happening here in Seattle. Suffering the same fate as San Francisco with the massive influx of tech employees.
 

Konka

Banned
I was drunk once visiting a friend and he lives at the end of the 1 train in the Bronx and I accidentally took the 2 train to the end at like 3am. I pulled up a map for it and it was just a couple mile walk but a few NYPD at the base of the station said they weren't going to let me walk it out of my own safety and paid for me to ride the train back to Manhattan to get the 1 train...
 

nel e nel

Member
Ah, Coney Island. Being at the end of the subway line will do that. Did it recover from Sandy? I understand there was a lot of infrastructural damage.

Looked good when we were there this summer a couple of times, the boardwalk at least. Rockaway got slammed harder
 

Avixph

Member
Anything along the side of the Metro-North train lines (Hudson & Harlem) will probably get taken over in the Bronx in the next couple of decades. Living in Manhattan is too expensive. Grand Central is just about 30-45 minutes away from the Bronx on those lines.



Even something like "Fordham" where you had all the small mom & pop shots in the 90's is looking more and more line downtown shopping areas with GAP, Starbucks, Applebees', etc.

The GAP was in Fordham since the late 90s.
 

tbm24

Member
Not 100%, but it's pretty jarring compared to 6 years ago. The corner I live on in Bushwick 6-7 years ago a hotbed for trouble, today, every weekend I can look out my window and spot at least 1 small tour group waltzing around. Pretty sure you won't find many neighborhoods that will 100% succumb to it like Williamsburg has for example.
 

nel e nel

Member
One year bruh, one. fucking. year. in SF
Screen-Shot-2014-04-10-at-7.45.52-PM.png


Imagine if your rent went up almost 15% year over year?
Fuck that.

I was actually reading up on the SF situation recently, and the problem there is that SF has very strict regulations regarding building new residential buildings, so they haven't been able to keep up with demand, hence the ultra competitive market.

Middle class folks with good jobs living out of their cars and shit.
 

Manbig

Member
I don't understand why it is considered a bad thing for money to flood into a neighborhood. Is it a euphemism for too many whites and Jews?

It might be that for some super disgruntled locals, but there is legitimacy to the bullshit that comes with gentrification. My area for example...

I live in Rutgers projects at the lower east side of Manhattan near where the FDR Drive and Manhattan Bridge intersect.

- Friends that lived in small apartments that were not in a part of affordable housing were forcefully kicked out despite rent control.

- Hotels and super fancy condors are replacing buildings left and right.

- A Pathmark Supermarket with 30 aisles that had a great selection of affordable food for us was bought out so they could build another fancy complex to house more rich people.

- Several local restaurants with cheap food are gone and being replaced with more expensive chains.

I'm sure that there's a lot that I'm forgetting to mention too, but hey, at least we have more police presence in the area. It's almost like they give a shit about the area now!
 

Slo

Member
Well the average household income is 50k and when gentrification causes the price of a 2br to shoot to $3000+ landlords start trying to kick the "poor" people out to make way for wealthier renters.

It drives out those who have lived there for decades as everything suddenly becomes out of their price range. For a perfect example look up San Francisco.

The downside is when money pours in, it can force existing residents out. Escalating property values leading to higher taxes (for homeowners) and higher rents.

Personally, I like seeing "urban renewal," but I'd also like to see some protections for existing residents (such as statutory limits in increases in tax values and/or rent, lease protections, etc).

I guess it stands to reason that as a neighborhood becomes more desirable it becomes more expensive. It seems like people are hoping for some scenario where the neighborhood becomes an awesome place to live , yet the prices stay low because nobody rich wants to live there for some reason.

Seems like the options are cheap and sucky, mediocre and reasonable, and hip and expensive. The hip and cheap option doesn't really exist imo.
 

Manbig

Member
I guess it stands to reason that as a neighborhood becomes more desirable it becomes more expensive. It seems like people are hoping for some scenario where the neighborhood becomes an awesome place to live , yet the prices stay low because nobody rich wants to live there for some reason.

Seems like the options are cheap and sucky, mediocre and reasonable, and hip and expensive. The hip and cheap option doesn't really exist imo.

As I hinted to in my last post, being able to afford to live in an area is not only about the rent. Gentrification drives up the prices of EVERYTHING around you.
 

anaron

Member
I guess it stands to reason that as a neighborhood becomes more desirable it becomes more expensive. It seems like people are hoping for some scenario where the neighborhood becomes an awesome place to live , yet the prices stay low because nobody rich wants to live there for some reason.

Seems like the options are cheap and sucky, mediocre and reasonable, and hip and expensive. The hip and cheap option doesn't really exist imo.

Lol, you sound like an upper class apologist
 
Slo, the people who are suffering the most don't give 2 shits about white hipster stuff. They just wanna keep living in the same neighborhood that they grew up in, where their friends and family live etc.
 
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