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I wonder how much denser The Bronx would be without all the arson in the 1970s. Up until the 00s, it seems like they replaced most of the former buildings with ugly rowhomes with driveways.
Bronx certainly got hit hard especially in 1970s and 80s I would imagine without all the arson and decay the urban fabric would certainly be all the more impressive and even withstanding that its pretty damn good.
Bronx certainly got hit hard especially in 1970s and 80s I would imagine without all the arson and decay the urban fabric would certainly be all the more impressive and even withstanding that its pretty damn good.
Thankfully The Bronx West of Webster Avenue seems to be mostly intact. I wonder if all of Central/Southeast Bronx looked like that prior to the arson wave
And yeah, even the neighborhoods that were hit hard are still very dense. Mott Haven was hit very hard, but still has a lot of the original buildings. And since the 00s they've been rebuilding with apartment buildings instead of the rowhomes with front driveways.
Thankfully The Bronx West of Webster Avenue seems to be mostly intact. I wonder if all of Central/Southeast Bronx looked like that prior to the arson wave
And yeah, even the neighborhoods that were hit hard are still very dense. Mott Haven was hit very hard, but still has a lot of the original buildings. And since the 00s they've been rebuilding with apartment buildings instead of the rowhomes with front driveways.
Yeah not every area of the Bronx was hit equally so the building stock varies by area Your right a bunch of apartment buildings have been going up since the 00s good to see more building up instead of just out.
In case you didn't know: NYC is filled with undeveloped land throughout the city. Take a tour! Even Midtown Manhattan you had some next to UN Plaza, but they immediately developed in the last few years.
Quote:
Originally Posted by the topper
I went to NY for the first time in 1977. I came from New Jersey side since I arrived at Newark Int.. The whole city liked swiss cheese: filled with open land and huge open vacant land. Bronx was filled with open land as well as Brooklyn and Manhattan. Coming from Calif., where L.A. and Bay Area were basically well developed, I was shocked how NY looked at the time. Even in the 80's and 90's, it was like that. Recently, it's been more built. There are still lots of land not developed but a whole lot more developed now than back in those days, at least it doesn't look like swiss cheese. Maybe it's because I'm using JFK now.
Sorry for the late reply I have been away for a while.
This explanation makes a lot more sense to me now. I was picturing large open fields and stuff like that lol.
I was born in the 90s so I have never seen this city in the 70s or 80s, but looking at photos from those days fascinates me, especially of the subway in that time. My earliest memories of this city are of Queens and Manhattan in the later 90s. I do believe that the NYC that I have known my whole life and grown up with is a very different one from your first visit here. Yeah there are empty lots left over from urban decay but they’re filling in very rapidly, especially in Brooklyn. Not too long ago Bushwick used to have a ton of empty lots, but now it’s rare to see them there.
You’re right that they exist in Manhattan too, even though they are a bit less common there. Everytime I see an empty lot in Manhattan — no matter how small — I just think of all the potential and what insane amount of money those tiny plots of empty land must be worth. There’s one in particular that I can think of in The East Village that has been empty for years and it bothers me.
They’ve become a lot less common since your first visit though, and even just from the 90s/2000s. I imagine that your first impression of the city from 1977 probably left this image in your head, no matter how recently you’ve been back. NYC in the 70s really was a completely different place. Some of my older family members that have left the city for NJ still have that rundown crime-ridden image of the city. Although empty lots still do exist, I don’t think they are very widespread anymore.
Both boroughs have a large chunk of them that were developed in the early ages of the automobile and are thus less urban. Like (with some exceptions) Brooklyn South of Flatbush or the Bronx East of the Bronx River. These areas are still mostly very urban by US standards, but not the same full blown, nearly pure urbanity of neighborhoods like Bushwick, Bed-Stuy, Crown Heights, Fordham, Kingsbridge, etc.
Both boroughs have larger chunks of them that were built before WWII and mainly did not cater to car owners, which lead to some extremely urban neighborhoods.
The Bronx had a lot more of its very urban buildings destroyed by arson in the 70s, though parts of Brooklyn (especially Brownsville) were also destroyed during this time.
The Bronx reaches higher highs with urbanity IMO, but Brooklyn probably has a wider swath of highly urban neighborhoods. I'll probably outline these on a map later.
It blows places like SF and Chicago out of the water even.
That's a tough one. But If Brooklyn we're it's own city it would in fact be a top 5 urban area. I don't know if it can blow Chicago out the water on an overall ranking but it would be a fun debate. And Frisco was basically built like an NYC borough in terms of population density. Still the answer here is Brooklyn over the Bronx slightly.
That's a tough one. But If Brooklyn we're it's own city it would in fact be a top 5 urban area. I don't know if it can blow Chicago out the water on an overall ranking but it would be a fun debate. And Frisco was basically built like an NYC borough in terms of population density. Still the answer here is Brooklyn over the Bronx slightly.
I gotta say that if it weren't for the 70s arson wave, The Bronx would easily win this IMO
If you browse the South Bronx and parts of the West Bronx on Google Maps, there are blocks on blocks of suburban rowhomes that are on lots formerly occupied by Manhattan style 4-6 story walkup buildings. Basically a sea of midrise apartment buildings from the Harlem River to Bronx River.
It's still not that far behind Queen's.If any city could be the 6th borough of NYC, it's probably San Francisco or Philadelphia easily.
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