The Decline of the Bronx (university, income, to live in)

[SuperMario]

Originally Posted by Guywithacause

But regarding the Bronx in general, I was up in Stratford and Westchester Avenue area..and the place was a freaking zoo yesterday. I had not been there for awhile but I was amazed how it felt worse than it used to be (just my feeling of course). However I went to a friends house and he was on the top floor of one of the tenement buildings, and his apt was renovated, open kitchen, hardwood floors, high ceilings, it was really nice and he pays $1,000 for a 1 bedroom. He indicated that as units are being turned over they are renovating and bringing in new people (he was one of them). I was happy to see the investment but they certianly have their work cut out for them..nonetheless, as I said....the Bronx is being brought back one apt at a time, one building at a time, one block at a times..and it is working.

Yeah...Stratford is rough. Soundview in general sucks.

[Guywithacause]

Lol...well it certianly was not my cup of tea, as I prefer to be much closer to the city. It really didn't feel like you were anywhere..kinda just a random poor urban environment with tons of people everywhere. I quickly realized why I like Mott Haven so much! I came back to my area and saw the housing projects were quiet and calm...as they usually are..and that makes me wonder...are the neighborhoods with a high concentration of the old tenement buildings actually worse than areas with housing projects?

[SuperMario]

Originally Posted by Guywithacause

Lol...well it certianly was not my cup of tea, as I prefer to be much closer to the city. It really didn't feel like you were anywhere..kinda just a random poor urban environment with tons of people everywhere. I quickly realized why I like Mott Haven so much! I came back to my area and saw the housing projects were quiet and calm...as they usually are..and that makes me wonder...are the neighborhoods with a high concentration of the old tenement buildings actually worse than areas with housing projects?

I doubt that they were. The highest crime neighborhood in the Bronx, Hunts Point, is mostly tenement buildings. BUT, alot of those buildings are NYCHA rehabs. These are virtually projects because of the astronomically low rents. In general the trend has been that the neighborhoods with projects had higher crime than the ones without. Perfect example is the geographical south Bronx and the west Bronx. I truly believe that if you take the projects out of Mott Haven, that the crime rate would be similar to Parkchester. There are alot of private homes in Mott Haven...way more than you would find in west/central Bronx. Why do you think Washington Heights and Inwood, which visually are no different than the Bronx had lower crime rates? Because between the two they had only 2 NYCHA projects. The south Bronx has something like 24. Neighborhoods like University Heights, Tremont, Fordham etc have high crime with virtually no projects. Imagine if they had the projects. Same can be said with Morris Heights but it has alot of NYCHA rehabs. There is no other explanation for the difference in crime in the borough. I seem to remember that Edenwald back in the 90's was responisble for 30 of the say 40 homicides in the north east Bronx. Project rents are lower than tenements. Projects also house more of the poor. Now there are some tenement blocks that are crazy like 183rd Valentine, 175th Davidson, Andrews and Fordham etc and some softer projects like the Dyckman houses or Bailey houses. But there is a reason why some projects have their own precincts. Thats how bad they get. The above tenement blocks dont have any special precincts. They are covered by the neighborhood precinct.

So to conclude projects are worse than tenement blocks. Not in all cases, but in the vast majority of them.

[Guywithacause]

That makes sense...but it seems to me that the city has more control over the housing projects versus tenements, as the city outright owns and manages the housing projects, while the tenements are oftentimes owned by random owners. As a result, the city, as far as I can see, are constantly swarming the housing projects, inside and out, which they do not necessarily have the same access to privately owned tenements.

Which would explain why the projects are often times quiet around me...but walking around tenement heavy areas are much more "active" to put it nicely. Of course this is just my observation..but there is no doubt housing projects = higher tendency for crime.

[SuperMario]

Yea...I would rather walk on a block of Projects than a block of tenements. Projects are usually fenced in some way. You can afford to walk on the block and not have to deal with the elements because you're not in the projects. But tenement blocks have people chilling right on the block where you're passing through. I was walking on University ave towards Fordham on saturday and you wouldn't believe the amount of guys chilling on the block. I was a little uncomfortable but nothing happened. Now I would rather walk on a tenement block than be inside the projects...but they're both intimadating.

I hate the blocks that are packed. The buildings on University are literally attached one after the other and it goes on from 167th to about the reservoir.

[Guywithacause]

Yes that is very true..the housing projects are typically set back quite a bit from the street, and have lots of trees, grass, and have some fencing. They also have small parks, benches, and kiddie playgrounds too...so in comparison to the rows of tenements that are all connected and abut the street...I can see and feel the difference. Which reinforces my assertion that I would rather live around the housing projects than blocks of tenements...maybe cuz I am just used to it...but when I look outside my window I see lots of open space, trees, greenery, and park space (I face large housing projects)...all of which tenement blocks severly lack.

[colorsofspring]

Originally Posted by Hustla718

NYC is an example of a horrible school district. The Bronx takes that to another level. So many children live in poverty in the Bronx. So many families are homeless. Many broken families, unguided children. The Hip Hop mentality strong in these low income communities. This is the future of the Bronx and it does not look good at all. Uneducated, poor hostile upbringings combined with a Hip Hip mentality fueled by violence. And the same old problems continue, that is the harsh reality.

This is exactly why I left.

[Guywithacause]

That is why alot of people leave...but it is changing and the city, including the Bronx, are on the upswing. Maybe you will return!

[cotb16]

Originally Posted by bxchick

I am tired of people always speaking negatively about the Bronx half of them probably don't live here nor have they ever been in the bronx they are just going by what they see on t.v or read in the papers. The Bronx has it's good/bad parts just like any other borough in the city.

Me personally I am happy but somewhat sad to see the changes being made in the Bronx being born and raised here I don't want what happened in Harlem and some parts of BK to happen here. When you walk through Harlem and Bk it's not the same anymore it has become so commerical and superficial that it lost what made those areas popular and distinct. I am starting to see that slowly happen to the Bronx. Does anyone else feel like that? Or is it just me? I still love it regardless. I just hope the Bronx never loses the bodegas they make the BEST sandwiches.

By the way good posts guywithacause

I agree with the bodegas. I hope the Bronx does not lose its barber shops/beauty salons either. Stuff like this makes me love Morrisania and a good chunk of the Bronx.

[SeventhFloor]

Originally Posted by Guywithacause

Yes that is very true..the housing projects are typically set back quite a bit from the street, and have lots of trees, grass, and have some fencing. They also have small parks, benches, and kiddie playgrounds too...so in comparison to the rows of tenements that are all connected and abut the street...I can see and feel the difference. Which reinforces my assertion that I would rather live around the housing projects than blocks of tenements...maybe cuz I am just used to it...but when I look outside my window I see lots of open space, trees, greenery, and park space (I face large housing projects)...all of which tenement blocks severly lack.

well GWAC you bring up something interesting....which is the whole point of public housing was to try and stem the overcrowding, and bring open space areas into the slums of the city. in my opnion they are well planned and thought out in terms of building, but they're not managed well. my prediction is that the middle-class will eventually live in the projects, blue-collar workers and clerical jobs, basically the people that help run this city. and the low income people will have to flee town, with they way things are going.