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Location: Watching half my country turn into Gilead
3,530 posts, read 4,172,934 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BajanYankee
125th Street also has mad foot traffic and way more vibrancy in general. Poverty doesn't always equate to a neighborhood or city having a generally lethargic feel.
Cosign. 125th west of Park or even 3rd is always vibrant during mornings, afternoons and well into the evenings (7/8 pm or whenever stores close these days). Easily the most vibrant street in Harlem, and only really challenged by Broadway, 181st and Dyckman for all of Northern Manhattan. Even then, I'd say it's number one north of 96th st.
Baltimore is bigger in size than DC. I could care less about the population there basically the same. And Baltimores street vibes seem more urban and grit than DC
Baltimore is bigger in physical area, but if you rope in the approximate same physical area (you can get about there by adding the part of Virginia that was retroceded), you get a much larger DC. DC also has a lot more visitors and commuters at any time so you end up with a lot more activity, density of people, density of retail and businesses, etc. It's really dependent on what you feel urban means. If you mean it just in a specific cultural way, then maybe, sure, but that might not be what other people's definitions are going on.
Are you comparing gentrifying Harlem to poverty stricken areas of Baltimore where people don't have any place to be? How vibrant were those bombed out neighborhoods in NYC before the city started gentrifying?
A lot of Harlem ain't gentrified. And pedestrian traffic didn't start on 125th Street in 2001. That strip has always been one of the busiest in New York City.
Location: Watching half my country turn into Gilead
3,530 posts, read 4,172,934 times
Reputation: 2925
Quote:
Originally Posted by KodeBlue
Are you comparing gentrifying Harlem to poverty stricken areas of Baltimore where people don't have any place to be? How vibrant were those bombed out neighborhoods in NYC before the city started gentrifying?
Harlem really hasn't gentrified yet in full swing, though. There are still plenty of rough spots and projects, and the area is still predominately black/Latino and poor. The only residential gentrification that really has occurred is on the West Side, near Columbia. An H&M, Buffalo Wild Wings and a couple of Starbucks doesn't equal neighborhood gentrification. It just means mainstream businesses can now exploit different income brackets. Outside of daytime shopping, Harlem still isn't a white people, dog walking neighborhood yet (except for the West Side).
Boston and DC are very similar, both in terms of population and size. One thing to note, Boston has more land mass, a smaller rail and bus transit system, and a smaller population than DC (though both are very similar). I would actually put DC ahead of Boston. But I would say from a build space perspective these two cities basically share a great deal. I would put DC and Boston basically tied for number 5. Beyond that is anybodies guess.
Likewise I would not even put Baltimore in the running. The city has fewer people than DC, a poor rail transit network, over a wider land mass. It is also a declining city, abandonment is a major issue.
That's what I was saying. No American city is anywhere near NY in liveliness, whether in poor neighborhoods or rich.
The point was not that poor areas in Philadelphia or anywhere else are as busy as poor areas in NYC. I'm not sure how anyone could read one of my posts and arrive anywhere near that conclusion. The point was that Baltimore has a wider scale of abandonment than other cities, which can be proven by data, and that this leads to a generally slower feeling even in poorer areas.
A lot of Harlem ain't gentrified. And pedestrian traffic didn't start on 125th Street in 2001. That strip has always been one of the busiest in New York City.
125th a commercial corridor, in an extremely dense borough in an already extremely dense city, so what you're telling me isn't something new.
The point was not that poor areas in Philadelphia or anywhere else are as busy as poor areas in NYC. I'm not sure how anyone could read one of my posts and arrive anywhere near that conclusion. The point was that Baltimore has a wider scale of abandonment than other cities, which can be proven by data, and that this leads to a generally slower feeling even in poorer areas.
I was agreeing with you. Someone said poor areas in NY are the same as in Philly and Baltimore and I was refuting that.
Harlem really hasn't gentrified yet in full swing, though. There are still plenty of rough spots and projects, and the area is still predominately black/Latino and poor. The only residential gentrification that really has occurred is on the West Side, near Columbia. An H&M, Buffalo Wild Wings and a couple of Starbucks doesn't equal neighborhood gentrification. It just means mainstream businesses can now exploit different income brackets. Outside of daytime shopping, Harlem still isn't a white people, dog walking neighborhood yet (except for the West Side).
You forgot that Joe's Crab Shack and Red Lobster, which stay packed around the clock.
But yes, Harlem isn't some gentrified playground. It didn't take gentrification to get people into the streets; there were always mad businesses in Harlem, and it has been one of the most active areas in the city for as long as I can remember.
Many of the most active pedestrian corridors in NYC aren't the gentrified ones anyway.
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