Bronx area - Fordham/Kingsbridge (New York, Union: real estate market, 2009, condos)

[norm]

Thos were great pictures of Da Bronx. I grew up on Southern Blvd between Intervale Ave & Tiffany St. When I left for the Air Force in 1956 our block was the last halfway decent one in the neighborhood. I haven't been back there since. After I got out of the Air force I lived on Montgomery Ave. &
174th St in what was then the "good part".

I went to Jr. High School 22 when it was brand new and the best in The Bronx, now I understand it's one of the worst. I remember when the Grand Concourse was called the Park Ave. of The Bronx.

As a young kid we could walk just about anywhere without fear but as a teenager I would only walk with the street gang I belonged to.

I'm really happy to read that The Bronx is coming back.

[Hustla718]

Originally Posted by scatman

I didn't say that everything was gonna be peaches and roses. I'm not saying that things don't and won't happen. But I'll say this: people who have been in this city for the long haul have gone through hell and back. And there's no way they should be discouraged from owning a piece of this city, especially since everyone else is making a profit. And the rhetoric of "avoid this place" or "avoid that place" is doing just that.

Years ago, Williamsburg was the place to avoid. Plenty of Puerto Ricans, etc. jumped up and left, due to the crime in the area back in the day. Now, people are buying property in that area in droves, and the much of the native Boriqua population has missed out on its renaissance!

The same with Park Slope. No one likes to be reminded of the Slope being a drug and gangsta neighborhood in the 60s, 70s up until the mid 80s. My former neighbors (longtime residents) told me of the various Puerto Rican, Italian and Black gangs that rumbled in the Slope. Now, none of those three groups, as a whole, have any piece of Park Slope! (individuals may, but not as a whole).

I am glad my uncles are keeping their properties in Crown Heights and East Flatbush (both had it since the 60s). Let me tell you, they've gone through hell in their communities, but now, people are calling with offers to buy literally everyday. One uncle (Crown Heights) has retired to NC, but he isn't selling. The other is still in East Flatbush, and he isn't going anywhere. Not selling, either! Property in this city is power, dammit!

If I had a choice between Bedford Park and another area in tha nation (comparatibly priced) you better belive I would turn Bedford Park down in a second. The stuff I am reading here is out of this world. Never seen a police car in Bedford Park? Kids out in the streets, baseball games. She made it sound like the burbs. It's not, FAR from it. She is fortunate to live on a decent block in the area. However that doesn't mean all is well. There are blocks in Bedford Park with serious crime problems. She is downplaying that to the extreme. At least be realistic. The area has many problems but there are pockets of decent blocks around Mosholu Pkwy. My problems with that neighborhood is I saw it decline first hand, get somewhat better (if you call it better) and now start to decline again.

[yodel]

Obviously I've seen police, but I haven't seen them making all the busts and carrying out all the dead bodies as you imply, and yes there are baseball games on the corner and lots of kids playing, but it's not the suburbs. The suburbs are much quieter. Truthfully I'd prefer to live on a quieter block, but for me it's not a deal breaker.

[NooYowkur81]

I don't recommend the Bronx for people that are not street smart or who have not lived in NYC for a while. But otherwise if you know the ins and outs you can be just fine here, and it's cheap for the most part. Let's hope it stays that way! I wish I could tape the noise inside my building, and right outside of it, so you guys could hear. You'd think I'd live in the burbs or something. I live on a side street, off Fordham road, but it's so quiet here!

I'm not saying all of the BX is like where I live, that would be stupid to say, but there are decent spots.

[BXGEAR]

Hustla718 is right. Bedford Park is a dump. I went to the area yesterday. The area above Mosholu Pkwy (north of Tracey Towers) was decent. However, anywhere in Bedford Park proper is rundown. There are lots of young people (3 high schools and Lehman College) and they are NOT happy. I honestly think the people who post here and say the area is gravy are either living in a fantasy world or a real estate agent.
I work in Allerton and the area is there is much better than Bedford Park.
Finally, thanks to Hustla's honest- no bullsh*t- comments, I have given up on Bedford Park and I am looking for an apartment on the east side of Manhattan. If you are insightful, you can tell I am trying to live along the 4,5, or 6 trains. Any ideas?

[yodel]

Obviously to each their own. Why don't you just live in Allerton? East side of Manhattan is either in another economic universe or East Harlem, which I doubt you'd like any better.

[Hustla718]

Originally Posted by yodel

Obviously I've seen police, but I haven't seen them making all the busts and carrying out all the dead bodies as you imply, and yes there are baseball games on the corner and lots of kids playing, but it's not the suburbs. The suburbs are much quieter. Truthfully I'd prefer to live on a quieter block, but for me it's not a deal breaker.

You do know in the true burbs around NYC, most counties haven't had shootouts in 10-20 years. Drug activity is very minimal. Poverty is low. Housing is roomy, spread out well. Lots of land for activties. Does not sound like the confines of the 52 precinct at all.

It's nothing like the burbs. Kids play on the corners of the South Bronx as well. It's due to a lack of park space. Something the bulk of the Bronx shares. We have many huge parks, but they only serve certain areas. Pelham Bay, Van Courtland, ect. The only big parks in the ghetto are Saint Marys, Crotona, Soundview, Roberto Clemente, and Macoombs. Tremont and Claremont Park are kind of big but horrible condition. Everything else is playgrounds. Basketball courts and the occational baseball field plotted down. Of course being this is the Bronx you don't want to play in many, you need alternatives for the safety of your children. There is also a lot of people per park. More parks and ESPECIALLY greenspace is needed.

Originally Posted by NooYowkur81

I don't recommend the Bronx for people that are not street smart or who have not lived in NYC for a while. But otherwise if you know the ins and outs you can be just fine here, and it's cheap for the most part. Let's hope it stays that way! I wish I could tape the noise inside my building, and right outside of it, so you guys could hear. You'd think I'd live in the burbs or something. I live on a side street, off Fordham road, but it's so quiet here!

I'm not saying all of the BX is like where I live, that would be stupid to say, but there are decent spots.

Oh it will stay cheap thanks to NYCHA, section 8, welfare, LAMP, HUD, HFH, Mitchell Lama and many other low income housing programs. You get what you pay for. A low cost apartment in Country Club is a steal. A cheap apartment in Castle Hill is a rip off, it ain't cheap enough for the all the crap that goes on in that area for example. Bronx has the most low income housing in the nation, which is why it's the poorest urban borough in the USA.

Originally Posted by clubBR

Hustla718 is right. Bedford Park is a dump. I went to the area yesterday. The area above Mosholu Pkwy (north of Tracey Towers) was decent. However, anywhere in Bedford Park proper is rundown. There are lots of young people (3 high schools and Lehman College) and they are NOT happy. I honestly think the people who post here and say the area is gravy are either living in a fantasy world or a real estate agent.
I work in Allerton and the area is there is much better than Bedford Park.
Finally, thanks to Hustla's honest- no bullsh*t- comments, I have given up on Bedford Park and I am looking for an apartment on the east side of Manhattan. If you are insightful, you can tell I am trying to live along the 4,5, or 6 trains. Any ideas?

I wouldn't go as far as calling it a dump. The dump is south of Bedford Park Blvd. Horrible area. I would call Bedford Park (Bedford Park Blvd to Moshulo) an undesireable place to live. Swaths and pockets of bad blocks close to Bedford Park Blvd, swaths of okay areas near Mosholu. The bull**** just takes the whole area down. North of Mosholu, Norwood, a steadily declineing neighborhood. Good and bad blocks. Better places to live.

For the East side, try to avoid anything north of 96th Street or close to the PJ's of the L.E.S. A lot of people are able to find affordable apartments on the Upper East Side. Nice neighborhood. True NYC living.

[briarwood]

/\ Outside of the hot spot around 125st and the Pathmark, I find East Harlem to be kinda okay. And as for the Bronx, beileve it or not, I heard that the farther south and West you go, the better (Meaning around the stadium and Concourse).

[Hustla718]

Originally Posted by briarwood

/\ Outside of the hot spot around 125st and the Pathmark, I find East Harlem to be kinda okay. And as for the Bronx, beileve it or not, I heard that the farther south and West you go, the better (Meaning around the stadium and Concourse).

As someone who worked the 42 precinct and still works the Bronx in a high crime precinct I will not release. I would have to disagree. I'm actually surprised you know about 125 and Lex, what a dump. East Harlem is ****ty becuase there are way too many bad blocks. That neighborhood is all about good secure buildings. The yuppies live in them. Only in the ghetto do you have drive-bys in front of police precincts that leave bullet scars near the entrance. 23rd Precinct a couple weekends ago for example.

[Freak]

I'm new to the site, and I live in the Van Cortlandt Village section of the Bronx. Two posts above, a very disturbing comment was made:

And as for the Bronx, beileve it or not, I heard that the farther south and West you go, the better (Meaning around the stadium and Concourse).

You don't know how wrong you are. The southwest Bronx is the worst part of the Bronx, and has been for the last four decades. Crime, poverty, all of that is predominate in the South-West Bronx.

I'd say the North-West (Riverdale, Woodlawn, and Van Cortlandt Village) and South-East (Throgs Neck, Country Club) sections of the Bronx are easily the best, safest, and cleanest sections of the Bronx.