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"Also, fewer people are interested in living the suburban lifestyle than in the past and come to the city to live in an urban environment, close to a subway stop and without a car."
I live in the Bronx, near the Grand Concourse and Yankee Stadium. Fiance and I just signed to renew our lease.
Am I amazed at the prices in rent? YES
I am amazed at the selling prices, too. Half a million for a two bedroom in Executive Towers. I don't think everything on the Concourse is worth $500K and change...
I would love more stores but then I think sometimes I remember I spend more time at work (in Manhattan ) than I do at home. Slowly the type of tenants that can pay $1600-$1700, $2000 rents are coming. But now it is up to landlords to entice developers to get businesses to open.
The low income people aren't getting pushed out as fast as you think if they aren't causing trouble and pay their rent on time. It cost money to renovate an apartment. A landlord needs to know that his new tenant is a good gamble before he/she kicks out another old tenant for a new one.
I think we got a damn good deal for our apartment. Why? Two words...Washer/Dryer. We NEVER would have that anywhere else under $2K.
I live in the Bronx, near the Grand Concourse and Yankee Stadium. Fiance and I just signed to renew our lease.
Am I amazed at the prices in rent? YES
I am amazed at the selling prices, too. Half a million for a two bedroom in Executive Towers. I don't think everything on the Concourse is worth $500K and change...
I would love more stores but then I think sometimes I remember I spend more time at work (in Manhattan ) than I do at home. Slowly the type of tenants that can pay $1600-$1700, $2000 rents are coming. But now it is up to landlords to entice developers to get businesses to open.
The low income people aren't getting pushed out as fast as you think if they aren't causing trouble and pay their rent on time. It cost money to renovate an apartment. A landlord needs to know that his new tenant is a good gamble before he/she kicks out another old tenant for a new one.
I think we got a damn good deal for our apartment. Why? Two words...Washer/Dryer. We NEVER would have that anywhere else under $2K.
I've been in Executive Towers before. That place is so incredibly overrated because there are so many dumpy parts on and off of the Concourse and very few condos or co-ops in the area. The elevators are so tiny. Get three people in there and you feel cramped. Hallways are dingy looking. The apartment I was visiting looked ok, but otherwise I'd pass. The lobby area had cobwebs everywhere.
I have to ask how much do you pay to live down there and how many bedrooms because on the Concourse from say 158th to 165th can be tolerable depending on the building (though some buildings on the Concourse are run down) since the courthouses are right there, but the side streets are another story, and the neighborhood overall is FILTHY. There are still plenty of ghetto/trashy people living down there that don't seem to care about the community and are just nasty (literally and figuratively speaking). Those people need to be pushed out, but I don't see that happening too quickly. There are too many housing projects and Section 8 places either near or on 161st street in the immediate area. What I have noticed here and there are a few more whites getting on and off at 161st street on the 4 train, and they used to only get off there if they were working at the courthouses, but it's obvious that some actually live down there now and that has some people concerned about gentrification. lol Their numbers are not anywhere big enough yet though, and they still lack amenities to be frank. The main reason Starbucks and Chipotle opened was for the Courthouse workers and judges, not necessarily for the residents.
If and when there is something down there besides grease spoons, diners and the like, that's when I'll know things are serious, but even as it is now, one bedrooms now routinely go for $1500.
I've been in Executive Towers before. That place is so incredibly overrated because there are so many dumpy parts on and off of the Concourse and very few condos or co-ops in the area. The elevators are so tiny. Get three people in there and you feel cramped. Hallways are dingy looking. The apartment I was visiting looked ok, but otherwise I'd pass. The lobby area had cobwebs everywhere.
I have to ask how much do you pay to live down there and how many bedrooms because on the Concourse from say 158th to 165th can be tolerable depending on the building (though some buildings on the Concourse are run down) since the courthouses are right there, but the side streets are another story, and the neighborhood overall is FILTHY. There are still plenty of ghetto/trashy people living down there that don't seem to care about the community and are just nasty (literally and figuratively speaking). Those people need to be pushed out, but I don't see that happening too quickly. There are too many housing projects and Section 8 places either near or on 161st street in the immediate area. What I have noticed here and there are a few more whites getting on and off at 161st street on the 4 train, and they used to only get off there if they were working at the courthouses, but it's obvious that some actually live down there now and that has some people concerned about gentrification. lol Their numbers are not anywhere big enough yet though, and they still lack amenities to be frank. The main reason Starbucks and Chipotle opened was for the Courthouse workers and judges, not necessarily for the residents.
If and when there is something down there besides grease spoons, diners and the like, that's when I'll know things are serious, but even as it is now, one bedrooms now routinely go for $1500.
$1750 for a 2 bedroom.
My Mom's great uncle used to live in Executive Towers so as a kid I spent time there and I thought it was the most amazing place compare to our apartment on Sheridan. But the area around Executive Towers is like in a bubble. Because the building on 163rd looks like a hot spot. 165th has the museum, and a senior house (I think). Yet it sits on a weird square of Sheridan and Grand Ave, Sherman Ave. That has nothing of noteworthy. I mean they are useful to the neighborhood and if they were replaced with something else I don't think they would do as well. Like the 4 deli's on each corner, I would love a sit down cafe. But I don't know if a proper cafe would do well in the neighborhood.
But now I see that the area is just as it was when we left in 1993. Once you get past 165th you get into the Section 8 area.
A few buildings along the Concourse in the 150's are renovating the fronts. But you are right getting people in that care is how you clean up a neighborhood.
1) The side streets are still basically just blank space. No businesses, not really clean. Once the court house closes businesses close. Bail Bonds are everywhere. I know they are needed but one or two places for families to eat. Why?
2) I will say this the Plaza where the "movie" theater is and the Food Bazaar (which is my preferred) place to shop IS THE MOST DEPRESSING AREA. WTF, can a Target be there, heck a Kmart? The space is so undeveloped and I know it is because of the people in the area. Developers don't want them to shop there or don't think they will.
My Mom's great uncle used to live in Executive Towers so as a kid I spent time there and I thought it was the most amazing place compare to our apartment on Sheridan. But the area around Executive Towers is like in a bubble. Because the building on 163rd looks like a hot spot. 165th has the museum, and a senior house (I think). Yet it sits on a weird square of Sheridan and Grand Ave, Sherman Ave. That has nothing of noteworthy. I mean they are useful to the neighborhood and if they were replaced with something else I don't think they would do as well. Like the 4 deli's on each corner, I would love a sit down cafe. But I don't know if a proper cafe would do well in the neighborhood.
But now I see that the area is just as it was when we left in 1993. Once you get past 165th you get into the Section 8 area.
A few buildings along the Concourse in the 150's are renovating the fronts. But you are right getting people in that care is how you clean up a neighborhood.
1) The side streets are still basically just blank space. No businesses, not really clean. Once the court house closes businesses close. Bail Bonds are everywhere. I know they are needed but one or two places for families to eat. Why?
2) I will say this the Plaza where the "movie" theater is and the Food Bazaar (which is my preferred) place to shop IS THE MOST DEPRESSING AREA. WTF, can a Target be there, heck a Kmart? The space is so undeveloped and I know it is because of the people in the area. Developers don't want them to shop there or don't think they will.
$1750 for a two bedroom versus $1600 for my studio, but my neighborhood is like the complete opposite of yours. lol
1) The side streets aren't just a blank space. My street sense tells me there's still drug activity on those side streets and I try to avoid them where possible and especially at night. I would stay on 161st until I reach the Concourse.
2) I agree about that area. For now the Section 8 types rule. Not only that, but there is clearly still drug activity there despite the Courthouses being so close. If you walk to 161st and Morris Avenue, that little corner there is non-stop activity with people standing there in all types of weather, including the dead of winter when most would be inside, and it doesn't help that there's what looks like a Section 8 building across the street either. What developer is going to want to build anything there and invest when it will likely just get destroyed anyway? You'd have to do something like they do for the Yankees games where they literally have the immediate area all the way from the Stadium across to where the Courthouses start crawling with cops. If you notice how tranquil things are then, you see that the hood rats stay away. I think for now the longtime residents who are afraid of gentrification won't just mobilize, but they'll also keep the place is filthy as possible to deter any gentrifiers, similar to what I see in East Harlem.
It can be difficult to justify paying $1500 - 2000 for an apartment and then you walk out and see the kind of stuff I've seen. I have friends in East Harlem that will be paying just shy of $2000 for a studio and they are annoyed at the idea given that the area is still quite ghetto and will take a while longer to get better.
It can be difficult to justify paying $1500 - 2000 for an apartment and then you walk out and see the kind of stuff I've seen. I have friends in East Harlem that will be paying just shy of $2000 for a studio and they are annoyed at the idea given that the area is still quite ghetto and will take a while longer to get better.
From what I see, POC who are professionals are the ones gentrifying East Harlem as it is the last affordable place for anyone looking to buy/rent in Manhattan. There is still a lot of value in saying you live in Manhattan.
$1750 for a two bedroom versus $1600 for my studio, but my neighborhood is like the complete opposite of yours. lol
1) The side streets aren't just a blank space. My street sense tells me there's still drug activity on those side streets and I try to avoid them where possible and especially at night. I would stay on 161st until I reach the Concourse.
2) I agree about that area. For now the Section 8 types rule. Not only that, but there is clearly still drug activity there despite the Courthouses being so close. If you walk to 161st and Morris Avenue, that little corner there is non-stop activity with people standing there in all types of weather, including the dead of winter when most would be inside, and it doesn't help that there's what looks like a Section 8 building across the street either. What developer is going to want to build anything there and invest when it will likely just get destroyed anyway? You'd have to do something like they do for the Yankees games where they literally have the immediate area all the way from the Stadium across to where the Courthouses start crawling with cops. If you notice how tranquil things are then, you see that the hood rats stay away. I think for now the longtime residents who are afraid of gentrification won't just mobilize, but they'll also keep the place is filthy as possible to deter any gentrifiers, similar to what I see in East Harlem.
It can be difficult to justify paying $1500 - 2000 for an apartment and then you walk out and see the kind of stuff I've seen. I have friends in East Harlem that will be paying just shy of $2000 for a studio and they are annoyed at the idea given that the area is still quite ghetto and will take a while longer to get better.
But we came from East Harlem, minus a bedroom and half the space even when we looked at one bedrooms. We weren't seeing laundry in the building or an elevator. I did not want to pay $2K for a walk up with no laundry.
Yeah there is drug activity I'm not naive but compared to the gun shots I was hearing in East Harlem we picked the lesser.
Sad thing is the cops only come out the there is a game. I don't see cops patrol. I see cop cars when I leave at 6am. I go home and go to work. What I don't get in Manhattan fiance brings or it waits till the next day.
Now if there was more in the neighborhood that would be different but it is what it is.
But we came from East Harlem, minus a bedroom and half the space even when we looked at one bedrooms. We weren't seeing laundry in the building or an elevator. I did not want to pay $2K for a walk up with no laundry.
Yeah there is drug activity I'm not naive but compared to the gun shots I was hearing in East Harlem we picked the lesser.
Sad thing is the cops only come out the there is a game. I don't see cops patrol. I see cop cars when I leave at 6am. I go home and go to work. What I don't get in Manhattan fiance brings or it waits till the next day.
Now if there was more in the neighborhood that would be different but it is what it is.
lol I can attest to the gun shots. I've heard them myself. In that sense East Harlem is worse, and when you factor in the meth heads... That said I still think East Harlem is gentrifying faster than that part of the South Bronx. Some of the side streets are actually decent and several new buildings have come online along 3rd Avenue.
That's the ironic thing about the Bronx... Many of its residents are tied to Manhattan if they really want good shopping. Surely not everyone wants to shop at K-mart, Aldis, H & M or any of those types of cheapo stores. I don't think the South Bronx is there yet in part because some residents don't want it to be there. They fear gentrification.
Quote:
Originally Posted by NYer23
From what I see, POC who are professionals are the ones gentrifying East Harlem as it is the last affordable place for anyone looking to buy/rent in Manhattan. There is still a lot of value in saying you live in Manhattan.
I'd say it's a mix to be honest. In my friend's building, it's a mix... Some whites, some Latinos, some blacks and even some Asians. Mainly singles or couples with no children seems to be the trend.
lol I can attest to the gun shots. I've heard them myself. In that sense East Harlem is worse, and when you factor in the meth heads... That said I still think East Harlem is gentrifying faster than that part of the South Bronx. Some of the side streets are actually decent and several new buildings have come online along 3rd Avenue.
That's the ironic thing about the Bronx... Many of its residents are tied to Manhattan if they really want good shopping. Surely not everyone wants to shop at K-mart, Aldis, H & M or any of those types of cheapo stores. I don't think the South Bronx is there yet in part because some residents don't want it to be there. They fear gentrification.
I'd say it's a mix to be honest. In my friend's building, it's a mix... Some whites, some Latinos, some blacks and even some Asians. Mainly singles or couples with no children seems to be the trend.
The meth heads mostly hang near the Chipotle which is why I don't travel to get any. I don't have the patience.
Yeah a lot of the residents do love the those type of stores because that's what they can afford. I think all people like variety of things. Even if others think they aren't great in quality but if you can't afford something on a regular basis I wouldn't want it in my backyard either.
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That said I still think East Harlem is gentrifying faster than that part of the South Bronx. Some of the side streets are actually decent and several new buildings have come online along 3rd Avenue.
which is why I don't travel to get any. I don't have the patience.
