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So there are a few threads that have got me thinking about my recent move to Pelham Parkway and the Bronx in general so I figured I'd try to consolidate my thoughts into one. The first is that although my apartment has all the features that l like, it just doesn't feel like home.
Though I think the real reason is not the apartment. It’s the neighborhood. It’s just not “hip” enough and I feel a bit out of place as a single 30 something college educated white-collar non immigrant with crunchy granola leanings lol. Also, it’s sorely lacking in updated and interesting restaurants, shops and pubs. A few places look like they haven’t been updated since the 80s or 90s. This wouldn't matter that much to me if it wasn’t so far from the types I places I prefer to spend time. It’s a bit disappointing because I thought the pros would out-way any cons.
But focusing on the pros, what's really perplexing to me is how a neighborhood like Pelham Parkway has stayed so mediocre for so long with all it has going for it. Pelham Parkway is virtually the same as when I moved to NYC in 2000. Similar neighborhoods like Ditmas Park and Jackson Heights have gone through significant changes but Pelham Parkway - not so much.
Pros: Surrounded by parks on 3 sides – World renowned Bronx Zoo & Bot. Garden – Attractive and well maintained pre war housing stock (apt., coops, single family homes) - East/West side transportation – Highways right there - Low crime - Solid working/middle class - Fordham U, Jacobi & Einstein all a stones through away. Oh and Orchard Beach which isn't nearly as ghetto as people make it out to be.
Why hasn’t a hotel been built in the area already? Imagine a hotel with views of the park, zoo and gardens. Why aren’t there more restaurants on Lydig, Astor, and White Plains Rd to snatch the attention and dollars of the local and foreign tourist? Tourist come out of the zoo and go straight to the BxM11 or 2 train when they could be “making a day of it” in the neighborhood. Actually, there’s a diagonal "Greenway" of ripe Bronx neighborhoods from Van Cortland, Norwood, Mosholu Parkway, Bedford Park, Pelham Parkway, Morris Park down to Parkchester that are at varying levels of mediocrity. As stated in another thread, other areas in the city are 2013 but the Bronx is still in 2000.
Is it a lack of investor interest due to the Bronx's rep? Is it store/restaurant owners not stepping their game up? Is it a lack of political vision or effort (Marty Markowitz vs Ruben Diaz Jr.)? Are there old school criminal elements intimidating new businesses from opening? Why haven't these prime Bronx neighborhoods pushed to the next level? I know not everyone wants change due to social and/or economic reasons but is it possible that these Bronx neighborhoods are too average for their own good?
Is it a lack of investor interest due to the Bronx's rep? Is it store/restaurant owners not stepping their game up? Is it a lack of political vision or effort (Marty Markowitz vs Ruben ?I know not everyone wants change due to social and/or economic reasons but is it possible that these Bronx neighborhoods are too average for their own good?
The reasons you list here are all part of it.
Personally,I find the old school averageness of Pelham Parkway refreshing.I couldn't wait to leave Williamsburg and felt a sense of relief to move to a real neighborhood.I have no problem with walking a few blocks to the restaurants and bars on Williamsbridge Road ,down to 900 Park or over to Little Italy.
I think it will be a while before places Pelham Parkway and Morris Park experience the kind of demographic changes that would bring about the changes you seem to want.It may never happen.Part of the attraction in my mind is that it isn't like gentrified or gentrifying Brooklyn.It's actually more interesting in a lot of ways.
If having a nice big inexpensive prewar apartment in a very green low crime neighborhood with good transportation isn't enough for you you can always move to someplace you find more appealing but there is always a trade off in NY.You are likely to wind up in a significantly more expensive apartment or in a higher crime neighborhood or a much less green neighborhood or all of the above.I know,I've lived in them all.
The big hotel you want is under construction right now but it's at the other end of Pelham Parkway from Bronx Park,at the intersection of Pelham Parkway and The Hutch :http://articles.nydailynews.com/2012...-residence-inn
You should be thankful. "Cool neighborhoods" are simply not possible in NYC in 2012. They are destroyed by real estate hype the moment they emerge. Only average, unexciting neighborhoods are safe.
I was hoping you'd chime in Blue. I've lived in quite a few and very different NYC neighborhoods so I'm well aware of the trade offs that need to be made lol. But some things just aren't as apparent about a neighborhood and how you'll fit in until you've lived there for awhile and I've only been in my place for 6 months. I really don't want anything from Pelham Parkway and if I feel the balance of trade offs is off, I have the freedom to move. I accept it for what it is as I have all the neighborhoods I've lived. But I still like to understand how they developed into what they are.
Actually I lied. I do want the businesses in the neighborhood to do well and excel and I'm sure the owners want the same. And that's why I don't understand why there's not more of an effort to pull in the tourist and get them to spend their money in the neighborhood instand of them going back to have lunch or dinner in Manhattan. Can Pelham Parkway and the Bronx afford to let that money slip away?
If I asked the question: "How did Pelham Parkway remain stable through the downturns of the 80s & 90s" when other similar neighborhoods got hit hard, I'm sure there would be XYZ reasons. I'm basically asking the same question just coming from the other side: "How did Pelham Parkway remain stable through the economic upswing of the 2000s while other similar neighborhoods (or neighborhoods that weren't even as good) saw more development?" What do you see as the factors?
You should be thankful. "Cool neighborhoods" are simply not possible in NYC in 2012. They are destroyed by real estate hype the moment they emerge. Only average, unexciting neighborhoods are safe.
That's part of my question. Is this what the average neighborhoods in the Bronx should shoot for? Are the average neighborhoods of the Bronx that way by design or by default due to the Bronx's reputation?
I think your point is valid JaasNYC and I often feel the same way. What is a youngish professionally educated person to do in such a neighborhood? And almost all Bronx neighborhoods are like that.
It's not that there is anything specifically wrong with that fact, it's that the Bronx was never about the things you seek, nor is there such a sustained demand for it either, from the locals or enough newbies, to warrant such nightlife/lifestyle. There is a bit of an attitude of "If I want that, I will go to the city for it", because we as Bronxites have becomed used to that fact.
If you are looking for a suburban lifestyle, you don't move to Starret City and wonder why it hasn't changed to be more suburban like other neighborhoods. You realize that neighborhood has no need to be suburban, nor is there a demand for it. It is kinda the same with Bronx neighborhoods not being "cool" for younger professionals. It's just not been that way historically nor is anyone trying to make it so (in general).
That may be my biggest gripe about the Bronx...we are missing a particular neighborhood which is attractive to the single, professional 30 somethings who want a nightlife, a few trendy bars, etc... a place to meet, network with others. It's just not here, and the only semblance of that is in the Mott Haven/Port Morris area of the Southern Bronx. It is taking shape, albeit slowly.
However much of the rest of the Bronx, including places like Pelham Parkway, really are not changing in a way that would make it enjoyable/dynamic enough for people like us. It's a big problem IMO.
Most people stereotype the whole Bronx as the South Bronx, and you're stereotyping the whole Bronx as Pelham Parkway...But yes, it's true, people don't move to the Bronx to live in a cool or trendy neighborhood because really no one is impressed when you tell them you live in the Bronx so it doesn't tend to attract people who value the cool and trendy. I'm not super knolwedgeable about Pelham Parkway, but maybe Woodlawn would attract similiar people - a lot of working class and middle income people looking for a nice, safe and affordable place for themselves and their kids. The population in Woodlawn also tends to be more socially conservative than NYC as a whole, so that has an impact on the neighborhood as well.
But again, I do think you're painting all of the Bronx with the same brush. I think that in the future, the South Bronx is more likely to attract the kind of people that you seem to be looking for - hipsters, trendy types. Bedford Park (where I live now)/Norwood seems more likely to attract the same ilk as Inwood (where I used to live). More down to earth in my opinion - here I know a fair amount of govt. workers, but also a decent amount of the very politically liberal/ fairly crunchy, some social justice/community minded types. Riverdale would attract a different type as well - more upscale and more focused on status perhaps, but again, not trendy, cool or hip.
The Bronx has always seemed to be a place where people just live, but don't really hang out in. To go out to the movies people either head to the city, or head further north to New Roc, Ridgehill, or Pallisades. Same with dinner, or shopping. Maybe the Bronx just needs to do a better job of advertising itself. There are still some people who think the Bronx still looks like it did in the 70's, LOL, that's a problem..
As a new resident of PPSo. I have to say the "uninteresting" nature is a relief 90% of the time. Having lived in LES, being so close to the bar/restaurant scene was vexing.
But a good beer garden or two. A local hotel and a few interesting shops on WPR would really be a nice change. I dont know if you can have one w/o the other. Either its going to stay boring, or be inundated with Hipsters, which would be just as vexing.
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