Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
People's opinions of NYC boroughs is all relative to experiences within the boroughs. Some felt a borough was their least favorite as a teen, then had change of heart when they matured to adults and thought about raising a family in same borough (Queens/S. I.). Others who cheered for local team as kids may now hate same borough if local team no longer exists there (Brooklyn). Yet others were fortunate to be born in a borough, go to school in same borough, and now live and work in that borough (Manhattan). A native New Yorker who is a Yankee fan who loves hip-hop probably does not consider the Bronx his/her worst and most hated borough.
Ashley you are always too harsh and unreasonable on these threads, and cannot see the bigger picture here. The Bronx is challenged not because of the people, but because of the dysfunctional Leadership and gov't policies that have sunk the borough for decades. While you blame the people, you think it was the people flooding the communities with homeless shelters? It was the people filling solid working class housing projects and communities with homeless/convicts/drug addicts/destitute? You think it was the people who said "please ignore our communities and let them crumble?" You think it was the people who self-segregated themselves and then decided to be destitute?
The problems here fundamentally come down to bad/non-existent leadership (which continues today..remember Ruben Diaz jr's "We rather not work" comment when discussing the Kingsbridge Armory?) and failed gov't policies...and we are all living with it. And the people we see today are the aftermath of these abuses and corruption. Who comes to this country looking to be just as poor/unsafe as the place they left?
I agree it's the lawmakers but hese lawmakers wouldn't exist without the crowd they cater to (low income people in the Bronx).
Would you welcome those working low income? Are they desirables? The city is building many affordable housing in the Bronx for families of $40K or $50k. All applicants must have good credit and clean criminal record. If such a project will be build next you property, will you say no at the community board hearing?
Hey Sarah --The 'quick rep' you got is from me. Thanks for making this distinction - It's a distinction tons of folks quickly forget when feeling disdain for undesirables. IMO, this desirable stratum you mentioned (in green, above) was once viewed as "less needy" of a "hand UP" but now Mayor Bloomberg has realized: Y'know what, they're the stratum who will maximize the handup and honor the concept of "handup", as opposed to the 1 or 2 strata immediately below who tend to be less resourceful and thus tend to "get stuck", marring the concept of "handup". This marring leaves a bad taste in people's mouths, causing folks to scoff at any type of handup. Unrealistic handups should leave a bad taste in people's mouths, therefore Bloomberg is trying to devise realistic ones. A Jamaican lady in the good stratum once told me she was sick and tired of being lumped together with undesirables because she was a married mother with a full-time job and family-oriented (3 claims a lot of undesirables can't make). In short, the correct strata are finally being identified by the City and getting help after all these years.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ashely2011
I'd welcome them only in a very very low percentage. No more than 10% of the community's population. Meaning the rest of the 90% should be middle class or better.
When you put too many "working poor" people together, they will force THEIR will on the community and it will turn into a HOOD in no time. Believe me I know.
By keeping the "working poor" (who are one paycheck from being broke) percentages low in any community, you keep those "loose cannons" at bay to the point that if they act up, they wouldn't bring down the rest of the community because they are out numbered and practically have no voice in the community to start demand things.
See my respnse to Sarah above. As you can imagine, that 10-90 vision you prefer would take years to evolve. Google NHMP Bloomberg Bronx and you'll get a sense of what Bloomberg envisions for the Bronx in the next few years. Bloomberg does not exactly agree with you. Not at this point in time...
To ashley and all: Bloomy believes in the Bronx. This is recent (1/14/2011):
Quote:
[Decatur Terrace] consists of 20 studio-units, 41-one-bedroom units, 48 two-bedroom units, 12 three-bedroom units, and one superintendent unit. All of the units will be affordable to tenants earning no more than 80% Area Median Income (AMI) or what is equivalent to an annual household income of $63,360 for a family of four, and marked to households earning up to 100% of the AMI ($79,200 for a family of four). The project also contains approximately 8,800-square-feet of community facility space and 60 parking spaces. Close proximity to local universities, hospitals, the Bronx Botanical Gardens and the Bronx Zoo not only add to the local amenities available to potential residents.
Quote:
"HDC has invested over $107.6 million in Community Board 7 and took part in creating 146 jobs with Decatur Terrace, said Marc Jahr, President of HDC. "What is being done in the Bronx is our goal throughout New York City - to provide opportunities, progression and hope for families."
But at the same time you have well educated, proper conduct blacks and latinos who don't live in those bad areas who don't resort to that ghetto lifestyle.
And there are MANY well educated who DO live in the poor areas and don't commit crimes either. And most Hispanics from the Bronx are working class people... who still live in those areas.
Its all about demographics people. QUALITY is the key word. The desirable areas of the Bronx has a different demographic than the ghetto areas...its that simple.
A neighborhood is as good as the residents it has.
Get rid of the undesirable "threatening looking" residents by any means necessary via gentrification, revitalization, displacement, being out-priced, stoppage or reform of entitlement programs such as Rent Stabilization, Section 8, welfare, Work Advantage, etc. and WATCH the Bronx TRANSFORM into a much more desirable borough where outsiders who once hesitated moving to the Bronx, can now do so without having the fear of being surrounded by the low class demographic that made the Bronx ghetto.
As said earlier from other posters, an outsider taking the metro north or subway base their opinion on the Bronx on what they see out the train window. The graffiti, the trash, the lack of maintenance, just overall poor "curb appeal". Change the demographics in those areas and the "curb appeal" will improve. Changing the perception of the area and people's opinion on the Bronx.
First ashley you need to understand the three concepts to improve the area and to get rid.of the dregs of society that you hate so freaking much. First step is redevelopment, next step is revitalization the last step is gentrification. Right now mott haven, melrose is in the redevelopment stage and the lower concourse is being revitalized.
Look, I'm educated and so is my wife. Combined, we're bringing in close to 150K. And we're hispanic and live in the Bronx. We could easily afford to live in Washington Heights and even Harlem, but we're choosing the Bronx. We're both living proof that the stigma of the Bronx has far outlived its reality.
I was obviously exxagerating to get a reaction. But there is some truth to what I said. Also, bluedog, I don't live too far from Riverdale so how are you going to tell me?
Looks like Fordham. Listen take the major Deegan, and you will see what Im talking about.
Wow, I live in that area and it looks *nothing* like Fordham. One side of the street has three pre-war apartment buildings and the other side is Manhattan College, a really nice, well-maintained private school. You walk one block west you're in mega-bucks, single-family home neighborhoods. You walk one block east you're in Van Cortlandt Park. How is this anything like the concrete jungle of Fordham? True, if you walk down Broadway into Kingsbridge it gets gritty and is quickly an endless sequence of $1 stores, but Kingsbridge is a far cry from Riverdale.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
ashley, Google NHMP Bloomberg Bronx
