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Yeah but all the housing projects are only on one side of the neighborhood. In Brownsville and East Harlem, there everywhere.
Brownsville is a different neighborhood from East Harlem when it comes to talking about gentrification. East Harlem is in Manhattan, is already gentrifying and has received new development and to add it will be part of the 2nd ave line. Brownsville is considered too far and borders worse neighborhoods than East Harlem.
In an ideal situation, what the government would do is rent the project buildings out at market rents and give the former residents a voucher to pay the rent in whatever area they choose (pretty much, turn them into Section 8 tenants). They would be making a lot of money, as Manhattan is prime real estate due to its proximity to jobs and transportation.
The problem is that instead of the projects being concentrated in the inner-city, they would end up concentrated out in the suburbs (and the far-out parts of the outer boroughs). Either way, you end up with the same problems with concentrating poverty in one area.
So I guess what could be done as a compromise is to leave the ones in the outer boroughs (except the ones that are close to Manhattan, like the Queensbridge Houses). The government could then spread them out across middle class areas. The projects in middle-class areas (like Throgs Neck, Pelham Gardens, Todt Hill, South Beach, Sheepshead Bay, Marlboro, etc) tend to be better managed and don't have so much of a negative impact on the neighborhood (and the QOL in the projects themselves is better).
Of course, the problem with this is that you'll have people protesting putting projects in their neighborhoods (understandably so).
Unfortunately, "gentrification" will not be coming to Brownsville or ENY, anytime soon, for the reasons stated above by NYur. It is pushing north and east.....with East Harlem and Harlem already in its grasp.
Haven't noticed much gentrification anywhere in the last couple of years and there is a distinct possibility we won't be noticing any anywhere in the foreseeable future.
All this talk about gentrification might be viewed as kind of a joke in another 5 or 10 years.Like old people talking about "the old days."
"Hey,remember when we had gentrification?"
There was a time a few years ago when everyone just assumed that the gentrification juggernaut would steamroll every corner of the city.Now,given the new realities ? Not so sure at all.Everything could just as easily slowly sink into decay.
When I was studying Sociology in college one of the biggest topics of discussion was how the huge increase in "leisure time" for everyone was going to change the US by 2000 and speculating about those changes to society.It was assumed that nobody would be working more than 20 hours a week and everyone would have endless time on their hands and wads of cash to blow on "leisure activities"Everyone was sure to have at least 2 homes,fleets of cars and spend most of their time traveling the globe.
I often wonder what the "futurists" are talking about now.
I can tell you that the revitalization in the Southern Bronx is going strong, as all of the new middle class housing is coming online and residents are moving in in droves. New developments are in the pipeline, and we still have huge developments like The Via Verde and St. Ann's Terrace coming online in 2012.
The changes are occuring, but not the "luxury condo" types...those are on hold..temporarily.
I can tell you that the revitalization in the Southern Bronx is going strong, as all of the new middle class housing is coming online and residents are moving in in droves. New developments are in the pipeline, and we still have huge developments like The Via Verde and St. Ann's Terrace coming online in 2012.
The changes are occuring, but not the "luxury condo" types...those are on hold..temporarily.
I agree but I don't think what is going on in The Bx is the "gentrification" that people assume when they talk about "gentrification".....thankfully.
I agree but I don't think what is going on in The Bx is the "gentrification" that people assume when they talk about "gentrification".....thankfully.
I agree...I doubt there will be a Starbucks or a Crunch gym on 149th St anytime soon, if ever. Matter of fact, I was in the Bronx a few days ago and it seems to be more working class folks and immigrants (legal and illegal) for the most part. I think the Bronx has become the "final frontier" of affordable housing in the 5 boroughs.
Not all of those are projects. Quite a few are mitchell lamas which is a similar but different animal.
Penn South isn't a project (nor is it a Mitchell-Lama, but similar), but the Robert Fulton Houses sure are, as are the Chelsea-Elliot Houses. Complete with hostile people with hostile pit bulls, right next to million-dollar condos. So the projects certainly aren't an absolute bar.
I would say that neighborhoods without projects would gentrify faster than neighborhoods with them, but having them is not a guarantee that there will be no gentrification. If the pull is strong enough (good commute time, beautiful architecture, parks, hype, etc), then a couple of projects won't stop anyone. Examples: Fort Greene, Williamsburg.
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