ghettos or hoods? (Yonkers, New Rochelle, White Plains: for sale, to rent, condos)

[pierrepont7731]

Originally Posted by BxGyrl

Crown Heights is kind of a different animal. There is Starbucks, lots of hipster bars and restaurants, and lots of market rate luxury housing going up. While it’s gotten exponentially better than it was when I worked there over a decade ago, social problems still exist. The displacement caused by the rapid gentrification and the unemployment caused by COVID has created the perfect storm. Still, there are certain sections and blocks of Crown Heights where most of these shootings are occurring– Lincoln Place, St. John, Buffalo, Rochester...places to the eastern end and some side streets. St. John Place and Schenectady is a different world than Franklin Ave. and Bergen, say. I’m not completely sold on Crown Heights. A lot is just below the surface that the newcomers either are naive to.

Pelham Parkway has gone downhill a lot since I was a teenager in the late 90s. I remember when it used to be one of the places you moved to that was seen as a step up in the Bronx. You’d go to Bedford Park if you made a little more money and to Pelham Pkwy if you had a bit more than that. I was appalled to see how most stores on White Plains Rd. are now corporate franchises and how there’s so much begging near the train. We went for drinks at Kirven’s during the summer and I couldn’t believe how many addicts I saw milling around and begging on White Plains Rd. and Lydig. Even some of the people in the stores seemed unkempt. It’s so disappointing that the city is doing absolutely nothing to help the Bronx. Once again, we’re in our own as our politicians line their pockets and not much else.

Well to hear bluedog tell it, Pelham Parkway is totally fine. We must be talking about another Pelham Parkway because I find certain parts of it to totally seedy and dirty, especially by White Plains Rd and under the subway.

[SeventhFloor]

The Bronx will always be an upward climb because its one of the oldest parts of the city, meaning that the housing stock is old. Most of the apartment buildings below Fordham Road are over or approaching 100 years old, have fun with the upkeep. That's a major reason why change is so slow. If I owned a building in the Bronx I would just demolish it and sell. Take the proceed, find an empty lot and build something new. Sad to say you'll make more money that way. People buying in LPC Perry Ave district have the pockets for upkeep. Buildings in the 190s north of Fordham Road have turned co-op, that's another way.

[Robert.Dinero]

Originally Posted by yodel

Being where I am in Bedford Park, the only retail that's close is that one block of Bedford Park Blvd. and whatever is around the corner
from there on Webster. There's also stores on the western side of Bedford Park Blvd. and 204th but that's not close for me. It's the basic, everyday stuff in that little retail area -- hardware store, supermarket, drug store, barber, bakery, diner, pizza, chinese, dry cleaners etc. Still I think Bedford Park's location is pretty strategic. It's probably less than 15 min to Fordham Road on foot and whatevers there, Old Navy, Gap outlet...For me, I'm more often in Fordham to go to Battambang (Asian specialty store) and the Indian or Pakistani markets next door, or to go to the main Bronx branch of NYPL. Eating out is another 15 min or so to Little Italy. The hospital is about a 15-20 min walk in the other direction, and for the bank it's 204th in Norwood (there's also BofA on 198th but I don't bank there). Then there's the NYBG right here which for me was one of the main draws of living here. The zoo is also about 15-20 min walk.

Even though it's not a lot of retail, when we first moved here I was soo excited to have what we do this close by because where we lived in Inwood had nothing close by. If you needed even a roll of paper towels you had to walk a ways for it. If you needed something quick from the supermarket for something you were cooking, forget it.

If there was one thing I would want to improve in Bedford Park is takeout! At least there's Mexican food at the diner, and or a while there was a tiny Japanese/Thai place on Webster closer to Fordham but that closed. There's gonna be a keto place opening on Webster for those who are watching carbs...Jolly Tinker does takeout now but I don't like any of it. I guess we could get delivery from Norwood, but I don't know what's there that's good either. Then there's restaurant delivery from Little Italy but just seems too expensive. I hope with new stores on Webster that there'll be some improvement eventually.

After writing the other post I was thinking about where I'd want to move to if we were to leave here and everywhere I'd be giving up something. I like Van Cortlandt Village but it's isolated, less shopping, no metro north, no NYBG. I love Inwood but prices aren't in the same league and I don't love it enough to trade a house for an apartment again, and besides, it's not perfect either. Pelham Parkway is great, but it's not for me. I'm a west Bronx/Upper Manhattan person I guess mostly for the topography and density. You can walk to Inwood from here a lot quicker than what most people realize (it's about a 30min walk to Target and then over the bridge from there). Belmont has restaurants, but the lack of subway is a deal breaker for me, plus there's more crime, and too much Fordham crap built there. Even the metro north is a much longer walk. If I had the money I'd probably move to a townhouse on the Upper West Side (despite homeless lol), but that's not reality.

What about Kingsbridge if you like the West Bronx? Prices went up a lot there, and that neighborhood d’or sure will not decline. Maybe it’ll create a ripple effect towards Bedford Park, who knows.

I like my area but right now right away if I could I would move further East, Morris Park or Pelham Bay, or Pelham Gardens. Or Woodlawn, next to Metro North, or I would even take the step to move to East Yonkers. Of course I would get a house, I can’t deal with neighbors anymore.

[Robert.Dinero]

Originally Posted by pierrepont7731

Well to hear bluedog tell it, Pelham Parkway is totally fine. We must be talking about another Pelham Parkway because I find certain parts of it to totally seedy and dirty, especially by White Plains Rd and under the subway.

The subway is the subway... and let’s not forget that Pelham Parkway and White Plains is a hub. Two train lines and countless buses, both NYC MTA and Westchester Bee Line. It is also a shopping area with stores supermarkets, pharmacies... so it will always be seedy somehow.

[yodel]

Originally Posted by Robert.Dinero

Sometimes even when they’re not section 8 they’re nightmares, I’ve been through it, and had to have junk removal in the apartment, and fog the place because roaches and mice had declared this was now their house.
I ended up having to renovate most of it.
Now my new tenants have new upstairs neighbors making their life a living hell, guess what? Section 8 !
It’s not only being section 8, it’s the quality of the section 8, there are a lot of people on Section 8 that are amazing people. My best friend’s grandma was on the program til her death she was an amazing person.
The problem is generational, crappy parents raising crappy kids that have been enabled to behave a certain way because it’s ok to them and society encourages that in the name of inclusion or not being too harsh, being humane or whatnot.
Lately every person I speak to that has Section 8 tenants told me it was a terrible experience. And it is the hardest to get rid of them.

I'm sure that's true. I've been lucky after that (big knock on wood). I have a friend in Pelham Bay whose tenants brought bed bugs and then stopped paying. The tenants are white so you can't generalize. My friend and her family are so PTSDed from the situation and after 1000s of dollars in exterminations, the bedbugs keep coming back!

Actually bedbugs are one of the reasons I don't want to ever live in an apartment building again. I've known so many people in big buildings who continually struggle with bedbug infestations, including a family member right by Prospect Park in a supposedly nice building. In fact the building we lived in when in Inwood has struggled with bedbugs since we left - it's a nice building in the more desirable part of the neighborhood.

[yodel]

Originally Posted by Robert.Dinero

What about Kingsbridge if you like the West Bronx? Prices went up a lot there, and that neighborhood d’or sure will not decline. Maybe it’ll create a ripple effect towards Bedford Park, who knows.

I like my area but right now right away if I could I would move further East, Morris Park or Pelham Bay, or Pelham Gardens. Or Woodlawn, next to Metro North, or I would even take the step to move to East Yonkers. Of course I would get a house, I can’t deal with neighbors anymore.

I have great friends in Woodlawn but there's no subway and I don't like to have to take the metro north. They've been spared the supportive housing so far but not Fedders. And life sucks there without a car. And I consider Van Cortland a big downgrade compared to the NYBG. If you're talking about KIngsbridge proper, houses are not the same price, the subway service in inferior and again I'm an open space snob. Kingsbridge Heights has had a lot of teardowns, open space is still an issue, no metro north, more dangerous. I see no upside (for me).

[BxGyrl]

Originally Posted by Robert.Dinero

Yet you say you’re done with the area because that same agency that you say is terrorizing a part of the population is not present and active enough to “terrorize” the troublemakers who are two inches from running you out of the neighborhood you love.
My father is brown, my spouse black, and I know it is not politically correct to say but in Bedford Park, when there is a stabbing, a shooting, shady people bothering others, they are usually black or from DR or PR. Some would call this statement racist or bigoted on the spot, it is not.
It is politically incorrect but it is a fact, the uncomfortable truth.
Same in Pelham Parkway, these “newcomers” who decided they could try to turn the neighborhood into gangland are not the Arabs, Asians, Albanians, Bosnians and old school Russian Jews. They’re not the hard working Mexicans either, or the handful of Colombians and Ecuadorians. They are a small fraction of the neighborhood’s Puerto Ricans , Dominicans, West Indians and Black Americans, a small fraction, yet every single one of them have these backgrounds. And the reason why last summer was crack alley with gatherings of hundreds is because that agency was asked to stop “terrorizing” them.

Question: are you white? If you are you are basically announcing you will be white-flighting Bedford Park, in the most typical way.

Who said anything about running? We’re still here for the foreseeable future and haven’t made a single decision to leave. To be clear, the increased crime is not why we are are thinking about moving. Like you, my spouse is Black (and strangely enough, has been on the receiving end of a few racist incidents, and not by Whites either.) We’re not looking to go to Park Slope or Williamsburg or Cobble Hill or one of those type of areas. We’re most likely going to Flatbush if we do leave. My husband grew up around there and we want a neighborhood where we’re both comfortable in. Pre-COVID, with work I was barely ever home. We spend a lot of time in in Flatbush and Crown Heights, so it makes sense for us. If we had a car, I wouldn’t mind considering Canarsie. We’ve also been considering buying a house somewhere in the East Bronx, perhaps in Wakefield or Williamsbridge area.

The impetus for my wanting to leave the neighborhood is... well, there is almost no neighborhood left. The neighborhood is literally being demolished blocked by block. There’s almost nothing left of entire blocks. There’s no longer any thing here that I am familiar with. If I had left 10 or 15 years ago and come back now, I wouldn’t recognize entire streets because everything has been demolished and rebuilt. I know that this is happening in other areas and it’s not just here, but for such a small neighborhood a huge proportion of it has been completely obliterated. It’s a complete free-for-all for real estate developers. A lot of my friends have already left in past years, so I don’t have the social network that I used to. I could just hang out, run into a few people, and just play it by ear. If everything and everyone I love is gone, what is the point?

Bedford Park hasn’t been a White neighborhood in decades. It was a lot of Puerto Ricans and of course older Irish, Jews, Italians, and then later, the Albanians. Most of them are long gone. There aren’t even a lot of Puerto Ricans left. Pelham Parkway has changed quite a bit to over the last 15 to 20 years. It’s whiter thank Bedford Park, but I wouldn’t necessarily call it a White neighborhood anymore. The Bronx itself is under 10% White at this point.

I also don’t understand this mentality that if you condemn police brutality and corruption, then you should have to fend for yourself. Therein lies the problem. People should be able to live in safe communities and not be harassed by cops– it should never be one or the other. The same thing with the overabundance of social services, shelters, and supportive housing. It’s like, if you don’t want your entire neighborhood to be inundated with these types of programs, then you’re anti-homeless or anti-poor or anti-addict. Yet, there is not nearly the pushback when White folks from a community like the Upper Westside or some neighborhood in Queens does the same. Why is that? If this is not okay in other folks’ communities, why is it okay for ours?

What what race or ethnicity I am really doesn’t matter at this point. Because to you if I leave, I’m either a Tom or part of the White Flight.

[BxGyrl]

Originally Posted by pierrepont7731

Well to hear bluedog tell it, Pelham Parkway is totally fine. We must be talking about another Pelham Parkway because I find certain parts of it to totally seedy and dirty, especially by White Plains Rd and under the subway.

It certainly has gotten that way. I have some friends over that way and they say the same thing.

[BxGyrl]

Originally Posted by Robert.Dinero

What about Kingsbridge if you like the West Bronx? Prices went up a lot there, and that neighborhood d’or sure will not decline. Maybe it’ll create a ripple effect towards Bedford Park, who knows.

I like my area but right now right away if I could I would move further East, Morris Park or Pelham Bay, or Pelham Gardens. Or Woodlawn, next to Metro North, or I would even take the step to move to East Yonkers. Of course I would get a house, I can’t deal with neighbors anymore.

Now, are we talking about Kingsbridge or Kingsbridge Heights?That area immediately down the hill from Riverdale is okay, but like a lot of the West Bronx, many of those private houses are not lived in by the owners anymore. A lot of the houses in Kingsbridge Heights going down the hill was on streets like Cannon Place, Heath, Kingsbridge Terrace, etc. are in decline. They’re even taking one of the old nice houses on Sedgwick and demolishing it to build another apartment building. It’s hard to say what will happen with Kingsbridge. For every upgrade I see to the area, I see various things that make me believe otherwise. A lot of the houses appear nice but need extensive work inside. Many of the houses have also been subdivided so now our former one family house it is now housing two or three families. The housing stock is a bit better than Bedford Park, so I imagine that some people are buying them as investment properties

[yodel]

Originally Posted by BxGyrl

The impetus for my wanting to leave the neighborhood is... well, there is almost no neighborhood left.

That is beyond an exaggeration. The vast majority of the neighborhood is untouched by that development. I'm with you that your area of Bedford Park is unrecognizable, but I wouldn't have even seen it if we weren't bored with nothing to do in the pandemic and walking each block just because. Like I said, I hadn't been to Villa or 202, 203 in years (10-12 probably lol). It doesn't make it right, but it's as if you want the whole neighborhood to be destroyed since the part that you live in was.