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No, I don't have to blame myself for anything and no, I don't have to nor do I want to leave. This is not a bad neighborhood. I am simply voicing my questions and concerns about the lack of amenities here and searching for an answer that involves a higher standard of living in this area without total upheaval. It IS possible. But people need to pull their heads out of their holes.
OK, fair enough. But it's kind of funny that you CHOSE this neighborhood and then within a few months of moving in you're making a huge rant about the lack of amenities in your CHOSEN neighborhood.
If you don't want to move, then stay and stop complaining.
Not a gentrifier. I grew up in a poor neighborhood, I have a mixed race family, I don't belong in Tribeca or what have you. But at the same time, both sides of the equation need to realize that a place can experience development and increased commercialization without total upheaval. It seems to be very black and white in this city. There is a positive middle ground in there.
OK, fair enough. But it's kind of funny that you CHOSE this neighborhood and then within a few months of moving in you're making a huge rant about the lack of amenities in your CHOSEN neighborhood.
If you don't want to move, then stay and stop complaining.
Ah yes, the ultimate cop out.
"If you don't like it, leave/don't deal with it/shut up/do something else"
Searching for a solution and sticking it out is never part of the answer, why is that?
If you don't like him/her, divorce them! Break up with them! Stop complaining, just get rid of it!!!
Kinda silly, don't you think?
Why are we so scared to commit to something and see it through thick and thin? This is part of solving problems in society. Doesn't mean we have to like everything or anything about it.
I like this neighborhood enough to complain about it AND stay here WHILE complaining about it and looking for solutions. That's why.
I like this neighborhood enough to complain about it AND stay here WHILE complaining about it and looking for solutions. That's why.
OK, good luck then. But your examples suck. A person you get married to is very different than a neighborhood. You could see even before you signed the lease there were no restaurants you'd want to eat in, and no grocery stores to shop in.
However, if you insist on continuing to use the marriage analogy, then I guess it would be one of those marriages where the wife sees the negative personality traits of the husband but willfully ignores them in the hopes that all of those problem traits will change after the wedding.
And lastly, I don't see where you're looking for solutions. I see a big huge rant.
if you live uptown, past 167th & the concourse right now, forget about it. nothing is coming up there anytime soon, because you have to look at it, as they do. any business wants to see a profitable return. they know that minorities are not gonna support certain food options in their neighborhood. it makes no sense to even consider setting up shop there, because there are a lot of folks are stuck in what they like in terms of palette, and the others just don't have the finances. its not necessarily racism, it's business 101, and the unsavory climate of the bronx right now in certain ratchet areas
It's not that they are stuck in their patterns. The Bronx is just mostly POOR. And yes most of the Concourse is straight up ghetto. They don't take food stamps at restaurants.......
I see plenty of "poor" people standing in line at a downtown TJ's or convenience store.
This isn't about poverty. For instance, prices at a DR or major convenience store would be cheaper than what you get out here, quality would be better too.
I have 1 half assed grocery store here and the prices are on par with or more expensive than TJ's.
This assumption that black/brown equals destitue poor and that people in this neighborhood just flat out dont have money to spend on anything is WRONG. They just have to travel to other areas because those businesses REFUSE to come here.
Your last paragraph is true. To do something about it, you'd need to collaborate with like minded people.
It's not entirely true that big businesses snub heavily minority areas. Harlem has huge investment from the retail sector including Whole Foods opening up, and it does have more restaurants. But Harlem is in Manhattan and benefits from gentrification, plus it has major academic institutions and hospitals.
Yes grocery stores in poor neighborhoods are often more expensive than Trader Joes and at times more expensive than Whole Foods.
You do have more drug stores opening up in the Bronx, but to bring more in will take time. When I lived in Wakefield there were Walgreens and CVS nearby.
But yes if you look into the overall history of the Bronx there was certainly urban disinvestment and race was a factor no doubt.
If I were a restaurant owner I would have to take into consideration RENT and INCOME. Considering the mass closures of restaurants in popular parts of the city, why wouldn't any entrepreurial owner consider an underserved place? You have cheap rents to offset it, and little to no competition.
There's just no excuse. I don't buy it. I've never walked by an empty food place here. The pickings here are slim and I have no doubt a place with GOOD food would make a killing.
You know perhaps you can do something about this. Continue talking about it, blog about it, go to community board meetings, work with activists groups who speak to businesses, etc.
OK, good luck then. But your examples suck. A person you get married to is very different than a neighborhood. You could see even before you signed the lease there were no restaurants you'd want to eat in, and no grocery stores to shop in.
However, if you insist on continuing to use the marriage analogy, then I guess it would be one of those marriages where the wife sees the negative personality traits of the husband but willfully ignores them in the hopes that all of those problem traits will change after the wedding.
And lastly, I don't see where you're looking for solutions. I see a big huge rant.
I think he is looking for solutions. He would like their to be more investment from businesses and moneyed interest in these areas.
These improvements are slow but they can and do happen. For all my criticisms of the Bronx they do indeed have developments and expansions in the retail sector. For working class people the Bronx is one of the parts of the city where you can realistically afford to stay ANYPLACE. Manhattan is OVER for the working class.
So I think as a working class person he would like his neighborhood to have more amenities. It's where he can AFFORD to live, so he's concerned about making where he CAN AFFORD to live more livable for people like him.
White working class people, if they chose to live in NYC these days have to do the Bronx and Staten Island.
There are plenty of amazing restaurants in the Bronx, unfortunately none of them are in the Mt. Hope/Jerome-Cromwell area in which you now live. Riverdale and Kingsbridge for the most part have the best selection of spots in the entire Bronx. Arthur Ave in Belmont and Pelham Bay are close runners up.
In Riverdale/Kingsbridge you can find beer halls, sushi, thai, BBQ, tapas, greek, you name it. They are about to open Barcelona Bites in Riverdale (from some guy on one of those Top Chef shows) and a Bronx BBQ Pit and Gastropub in Kingsbridge.
The area you live in will change in time, hopefully when it gets rezoned and the neighboorhood changes for the better but for now it is like you say, a wasteland full of auto repair shops, 99c stores and bodegas.
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