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The next gentrification wave is starting to hit, and it's coming to Harlem's Hamilton Heights finally, most specifically the Sugar Hill section.
The most obvious part of Sugar Hill getting ready for the explosion is Broadway from 147 to 150 Streets. Since the Columbia University tower is just starting to go up, landlords have cleared the way for new businesses catering to a different demographic to enter into the neighborhood. It seems like every week a new space goes up for lease--and I'm confident this is due to the landlord increasing the super low rents and forcing the businesses out.
Already this strip of Broadway has seen the Chipped Cup, Harlem Public, an organic juice store (although kind of a failed attempt at an upscale vibe, and an "upscale--sorta" Papasito grocery store on the west side of Broadway. Although that last attempt is kind of tragic, since it seems to be confused between a franchise, a higher demographic branding and a ghetto supermarket--so we'll see.
I see a ton of gays in the neighborhood, as well as increased mix and shifts of other demographic populations far from the historic neighborhood mix--like Asians, Caucasians, and more Europeans.
Is this good or bad for the area's future? Many would argue good, but this specific part of Hamilton Heights has been pretty quiet due to the Dominican and Latino lower to middle class families settled there for years. They'll be pushed out and where do they go....?
Thus is the story of gentrification ....
Last edited by jjbradleynyc; 04-13-2013 at 05:29 PM..
Reason: change title--mis-spelling.
The next gentrification wave is starting to hit, and it's coming to Harlem's Hamilton Heights finally, most specifically the Sugar Hill section.
The most obvious part of Sugar Hill getting ready for the explosion is Broadway from 147 to 150 Streets. Since the Columbia University tower is just starting to go up, landlords have cleared the way for new businesses catering to a different demographic to enter into the neighborhood. It seems like every week a new space goes up for lease--and I'm confident this is due to the landlord increasing the super low rents and forcing the businesses out.
Already this strip of Broadway has seen the Chipped Cup, Harlem Public, an organic juice store (although kind of a failed attempt at an upscale vibe, and an "upscale--sorta" Papasito grocery store on the west side of Broadway. Although that last attempt is kind of tragic, since it seems to be confused between a franchise, a higher demographic branding and a ghetto supermarket--so we'll see.
I see a ton of gays in the neighborhood, as well as increased mix and shifts of other demographic populations far from the historic neighborhood mix--like Asians, Caucasians, and more Europeans.
Is this good or bad for the area's future? Many would argue good, but this specific part of Hamilton Heights has been pretty quiet due to the Dominican and Latino lower to middle class families settled there for years. They'll be pushed out and where do they go....?
Thus is the story of gentrification ....
They will go like where my parents went. My family left the Heights in 79. No one ethnic group has a personal license to a neighborhood.
They will go like where my parents went. My family left the Heights in 79. No one ethnic group has a personal license to a neighborhood.
I agree. The city is constantly changing. New people come and others leave. It is usuallu driven by economic and social forces. When I was growing up, living in the city was not the preferred situation for families. Once you had children, you moved to the suburbs for the "better life". Now that view is changing. The suburbs while certainly nice are not the safe havens they were once belived to be. Now urban living is becoming a viable alternative. That is one of the reasons behind the gentrification of several neighborhoods in NYC.
I agree. The city is constantly changing. New people come and others leave. It is usuallu driven by economic and social forces. When I was growing up, living in the city was not the preferred situation for families. Once you had children, you moved to the suburbs for the "better life". Now that view is changing. The suburbs while certainly nice are not the safe havens they were once belived to be. Now urban living is becoming a viable alternative. That is one of the reasons behind the gentrification of several neighborhoods in NYC.
No middle class parent is leaving Westchester or Long Island to raise their kids in the ghetto streets of Harlem. Not gonna happen. The young Omahanians, Oklahomians, Iowans, Ohioans and Idahoans that move to NYC tend to be the cynical atheist types that call people "breeders" and wont have kids because the world is "already overpopulated". I know from experience, trust me. Once they've had their fun, it's back to mommy and daddy's house in Billings. This isn't always the case, of course, but I still doubt they'd be raising their children in the hood.
How can a Landlord just "clear the way" ? Their commercial tenants usually have pretty long leases, and their residential tenants have right to renewal, and I am guess they have stabilized rents, and are pretty low too.
The next gentrification wave is starting to hit, and it's coming to Harlem's Hamilton Heights finally, most specifically the Sugar Hill section.
The most obvious part of Sugar Hill getting ready for the explosion is Broadway from 147 to 150 Streets. Since the Columbia University tower is just starting to go up, landlords have cleared the way for new businesses catering to a different demographic to enter into the neighborhood. It seems like every week a new space goes up for lease--and I'm confident this is due to the landlord increasing the super low rents and forcing the businesses out.
Already this strip of Broadway has seen the Chipped Cup, Harlem Public, an organic juice store (although kind of a failed attempt at an upscale vibe, and an "upscale--sorta" Papasito grocery store on the west side of Broadway. Although that last attempt is kind of tragic, since it seems to be confused between a franchise, a higher demographic branding and a ghetto supermarket--so we'll see.
I see a ton of gays in the neighborhood, as well as increased mix and shifts of other demographic populations far from the historic neighborhood mix--like Asians, Caucasians, and more Europeans.
Is this good or bad for the area's future? Many would argue good, but this specific part of Hamilton Heights has been pretty quiet due to the Dominican and Latino lower to middle class families settled there for years. They'll be pushed out and where do they go....?
Thus is the story of gentrification ....
I find that line funny because we all know that all gays have money and good taste. None of them are poor. You know all those gay people with their hoity-toity art galleries, gourmet cuisine, season tickets for the ballet, and full priced tickets for the latest Broadway musical extravaganza. Who knew back in the day that Charlie the tuna fish was gay.
How can a Landlord just "clear the way" ? Their commercial tenants usually have pretty long leases, and their residential tenants have right to renewal, and I am guess they have stabilized rents, and are pretty low too.
A lot of 30-year commercial leases signed in the doldrums of the 1980s, when retail landlords were desperate for tenants and offering comically low rents, are coming up for renewal right around now. Not just in Sugar Hill/Hamilton Heights, but all over the city.
I find that line funny because we all know that all gays have money and good taste. None of them are poor. You know all those gay people with their hoity-toity art galleries, gourmet cuisine, season tickets for the ballet, and full priced tickets for the latest Broadway musical extravaganza. Who knew back in the day that Charlie the tuna fish was gay.
All gays have money and good taste? That is a bit of an exageration. Many do but not all. What makes these "undiscovered" neighborhoods appealing to gays is usually something that others do not value like art deco or art moderne style or being able to get to the arts centers fairly easily. Since marriage and children have only recently been a reality for gays, school quality was not always a major concern. Also most gays understand the benefits of diversity. I don't think it's necessarily a money thing. I'm gay and I know that I and many of my fellow friends of Dorothy see the value of things differently than our straight brethren.
All gays have money and good taste? That is a bit of an exageration. Many do but not all. What makes these "undiscovered" neighborhoods appealing to gays is usually something that others do not value like art deco or art moderne style or being able to get to the arts centers fairly easily. Since marriage and children have only recently been a reality for gays, school quality was not always a major concern. Also most gays understand the benefits of diversity. I don't think it's necessarily a money thing. I'm gay and I know that I and many of my fellow friends of Dorothy see the value of things differently than our straight brethren.
Affordability also makes neighborhoods attractive to gays. With places like Chelsea and the West Village simply being out of reach for gays (or anyone else) who isn't high income, neighborhoods uptown, the outer boroughs, and the Bronx are now much more in demand.
Truthfully, with one bedrooms in Spanish Harlem going for $2400, all over Harlem is getting pretty expensive (Whole Foods is coming). Washington Heights is almost there, particularly with Columbia's expansion in Harlem and Washington Heights.
The young Omahanians, Oklahomians, Iowans, Ohioans and Idahoans that move to NYC tend to be the cynical atheist types that call people "breeders" and wont have kids because the world is "already overpopulated". I know from experience, trust me. Once they've had their fun, it's back to mommy and daddy's house in Billings. This isn't always the case, of course, but I still doubt they'd be raising their children in the hood.
Very true. It is just an unquestioned belief in these circles that "you can't raise kids here unless you get rich." So the ones who get rich raise their kids in Manhattan or Park Slope. The rest leave. It doesn't occur to anyone to move to an uncool, safe neighborhood in Queens with decent schools. They would rather leave the city if not the metro area altogether. I don't really understand why this is.
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