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ugh.
2007 @ 12:09 pm
For those of you with me here in Brooklyn, in spirit or in residence, please watch this brief video on Downtown development. This neighborhood is located smack between where we live and where my husband owns a business. While the Downtown district is no doubt tired, I take issue with several things presented here. Not individual buildings, but rather the idea that real art and commercial “vitality” in the form of chain retail can co-exist, that small business will have any chance to “thrive”, and, most of all, the fact that long-time residents will no longer be able to afford their homes (many have been lost already) and probably their groceries too. Forced gentrification has implications that cross many moral lines for me.
I would love to hear comments.
Comments
As someone who has lived in Brooklyn, in the downtown area to be specific, my entire life I take huge issue with this. I have been here long enough to know that Downtown as we see it now is a far cry from the way it was in my childhood. If you could see what Metro-Tech looked like before you may never have moved to Brooklyn. I love the fact that the area is more beautiful, I don’t love the price we had/have to pay for it. I can no longer afford to live in an area that I love and know like I know myself. As a kid I dreamed of living across the street form Ft Greene Park, if it ever became a safe street. Can you imagine that that was once one of the worse streets in the area. People jog in Ft Greene park now! At night no less! This is really weird/surreal to people who grew up in the projects across the street like me. What about all of the stores there that stuck around when their business stood a better chance someplace else. Now that the money has moved into the area none of their landlords will renew their leases. While I never saw the need for 17 sneaker stores on one strip places like the Bridge street fabric stores and Save-a-thon should be given a chance to stay. I think the changes are great on so many levels I just wish I, and more people like me, was there to enjoy it. Rant over =)
while normally i agree with you that gentrification is one of the killers of good “home-grown” business in brooklyn, i’m sort of excited about the development in downtown brooklyn. it would be different if they were moving into a wholly historic neighborhood, but that area of downtown needs work and new business. if it’s not developed it’ll end up like downtown detroit with all of the businesses boarded up and everyone living on the outskirts. i would really love a true downtown area with performing arts centers that i can take the peanut to! so, in essence, i have no problem with this.