What's with all the hate on "Hipsters" and "Yuppies" in NYC? (New York: apartments, rental)
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Thread after thread is the same old story: "Hipsters" ruining the city, "Yuppies" driving out the innocent, hardworking families, and middle America white folks moving in and "white washing" communities.
Why are so many painting these people as the "problem" with this city, yet seemingly provide a free pass to all the thugs, hoodlums, and wanna-be gangstas that are the REAL problem in NYC? As of late the popular people to despise are these groups, who are NOT involved in crime, who are NOT dependant on welfare/government programs, who are NOT the ones littering, destroying property, or vandalizing, who are NOT hanging out attacking people or otherwise making communities unsafe, etc.
These people are simply bringing mainstream American values back into many communities that had NONE, providing new investments, and new attention onto these communities. They have just as much right to live in these communities as the 3 generation welfare recipients that have a stranglehold on many areas.
So I ask...who is the real problem? And why such disdain for these people...because they are different? Have different needs/desires that do not mesh with you? Because you believe they are evil and out to get you? Please help me understand the seemingly acceptable hate towards these groups.
cuz every time theses hippies/yuppies move in these area they drive the rental prices up for the local and local have to move somewhere else....thus the resentment. im not saying it is right or wrong...but just giving u a reason.
Thread after thread is the same old story: "Hipsters" ruining the city, "Yuppies" driving out the innocent, hardworking families, and middle America white folks moving in and "white washing" communities.
Why are so many painting these people as the "problem" with this city, yet seemingly provide a free pass to all the thugs, hoodlums, and wanna-be gangstas that are the REAL problem in NYC? As of late the popular people to despise are these groups, who are NOT involved in crime, who are NOT dependant on welfare/government programs, who are NOT the ones littering, destroying property, or vandalizing, who are NOT hanging out attacking people or otherwise making communities unsafe, etc.
These people are simply bringing mainstream American values back into many communities that had NONE, providing new investments, and new attention onto these communities. They have just as much right to live in these communities as the 3 generation welfare recipients that have a stranglehold on many areas.
So I ask...who is the real problem? And why such disdain for these people...because they are different? Have different needs/desires that do not mesh with you? Because you believe they are evil and out to get you? Please help me understand the seemingly acceptable hate towards these groups.
By that logic the "poor lowlifes" that everyone wants to run out of this city and the middle class blue collar people should have the right to move to the Upper East and Upper West Sides. If that were to ever happen, all the anglos and new transients with money would throw a FIT.
You think everybody needs to stay together and mix perfectly. Dont you understand that often times (not always) people tend to gravitate toward their own people due to cultural reasons.
I dont have a problem with them. If I walk through the Village, I would hope to see hipsters, and not a quota style mixture of everyone. If I go to the UES I like to see the wealthy, and all the nice apts on Park Ave. The different types of neighborhoods is what makes this city interesting.
What I do have a problem with is this whole urban pioneer thing. Mainstream American values seem to include shopping at whole foods and drinking a mochafrappalatte at Starbucks...I say NO THANKS to that. Guy you said you are a 3 generation resident I think, correct me if I am wrong. Many of these people (from fake poverty hipsters to the richest yuppies) are from places like Ohio, Iowa, Montana, etc, and move here alone. Maybe they meet friends but their family is elsewhere, and eventually they will get tired of NY and move back home, as opposed to someone like you who will stay. This turns the community into a TRANSIENT place. Why replace people who CARE about the community and plant roots there with transient 1-10 year residents?
Go check out a place like Philly where a higher percentage of the ethnic whites have left. Its pretty depressing as most of the city can either be classified like Bed-Stuy or Midtown. Some of the remaining areas, such as Italian South Philly, have the feeling of being past their prime, and stores/restaurants run as tourist spots by people who now may live outside the community. It just has this kinda dead feeling, I dont know how to explain it. Even though the NY communities are on that path, we dont want that for all the NY ethnic communities. It takes away character. It makes the city (outside of Manhattan) a less interesting place.
It's funny because when reading this board I usually feel the same way - "what's with the hate?" But then when I actually go to an area like Bedford Ave, Williamsburg and see all the hipsters who are dressed EXACTLY alike even though they think they are being subversive - I feel extremely annoyed. (but I still don't hate them, and wouldn't make comments about them here, except when directly asked to!)
I don't have anything against yuppies, however, as there doesn't seem to be the same posturing involved. At least when they wear suits and carry laptop bags slung over their shoulders, they are not trying to give you the impression that they are being subversive.
It's funny because when reading this board I usually feel the same way - "what's with the hate?" But then when I actually go to an area like Bedford Ave, Williamsburg and see all the hipsters who are dressed EXACTLY alike even though they think they are being subversive - I feel extremely annoyed. (but I still don't hate them, and wouldn't make comments about them here, except when directly asked to!)
I don't have anything against yuppies, however, as there doesn't seem to be the same posturing involved. At least when they wear suits and carry laptop bags slung over their shoulders, they are not trying to give you the impression that they are being subversive.
You hit the nail on the head with that one. Its not an issue of hating the people. Its more of a disdain for the fact that they often (not always) tend to have a holier than though attitude toward everyone else, yet they themselves are the biggest contradiction.
Along those lines, that link you posted to those new Jackson Heights apartments, I know someone who designs graphics in the EXACT SAME MANNER, from the swirling around of whatever (in this case flowers) to the words of a single phrase being in different colors. For self proclaimed creativity, its EXTREMELY generic.
Yuppies are more respectable, as they tend to stick to Manhattan, and know their place, as opposed to the hipster faux-Brooklynite who proclaims hard knock hardships while being subsidized by daddy to live in williamsburg. But when you spend time inside the Yuppie circle (which I have) you see a complete mockery of anything middle class. Many of these people feel that an average New Jerseyan, Staten Islander, Bronxite, etc are "beneath" them, even though they were probably raised as some average middle class kid in a coal mine in western PA or on a farm in Ohio.
You hit the nail on the head with that one. Its not an issue of hating the people. Its more of a disdain for the fact that they often (not always) tend to have a holier than though attitude toward everyone else, yet they themselves are the biggest contradiction.
Along those lines, that link you posted to those new Jackson Heights apartments, I know someone who designs graphics in the EXACT SAME MANNER, from the swirling around of whatever (in this case flowers) to the words of a single phrase being in different colors. For self proclaimed creativity, its EXTREMELY generic.
Well, regarding those images, I was told by a graphic designer that the figures on that site are most likely stock images, so of course they are not going to look unique. As for the swirly stuff, surely you know that there are trends in graphic design and not to follow the trends is going to make you fail as a graphic designer. So your point is not really that a propos.
And regarding your other points, I would say that disagree on more issues regarding the hipster influx than agree. Perhaps the only thing we agree on is feeling annoyed by the way hipsters dress.
I think some people get thrown into these groups undeservedly just because they are young or White. But in general people have a problem with neighborhoods losing their character. Downtown Manhattan especially has become just one big downtown area. It used to be that each neighborhood downtown had its own flavor and identity. Now not as much.
Hipsters are usually young and flashy. Yuppies are usually young and very wealth. So it is easy for these two groups to draw the most attention and get the most hate.
The problem is beside their wealth, they really don't add much to the city culturally. At the core, the makeup of both these groups is a soul-less, shallow, non-creative bunch. Especially in the case of hipsters.
Last edited by NooYowkur81; 04-01-2008 at 08:51 AM..
Thread after thread is the same old story: "Hipsters" ruining the city, "Yuppies" driving out the innocent, hardworking families, and middle America white folks moving in and "white washing" communities.
Why are so many painting these people as the "problem" with this city, yet seemingly provide a free pass to all the thugs, hoodlums, and wanna-be gangstas that are the REAL problem in NYC? As of late the popular people to despise are these groups, who are NOT involved in crime, who are NOT dependant on welfare/government programs, who are NOT the ones littering, destroying property, or vandalizing, who are NOT hanging out attacking people or otherwise making communities unsafe, etc.
These people are simply bringing mainstream American values back into many communities that had NONE, providing new investments, and new attention onto these communities. They have just as much right to live in these communities as the 3 generation welfare recipients that have a stranglehold on many areas.
So I ask...who is the real problem? And why such disdain for these people...because they are different? Have different needs/desires that do not mesh with you? Because you believe they are evil and out to get you? Please help me understand the seemingly acceptable hate towards these groups.
Guy I think you are confusing regular people with Yuppies and Hipsters. Yuppies and Hipsters are not mainstream american values.
For me the issue depends on what neighborhood you're talking about and how big an issue crime and gangbangers were there in 1990. I have plenty of experience with Bay Ridge, and in a place like that there is frustration about people who grew up in the area having a very hard time buying a home there, and a feeling that the neighborhood is losing character as a result.
I can already anticipate the comments about free markets and nobody being entitled to a house just because they grew up in the area, but I think it's a legitimate gripe. People are allowed to be annoyed if their home has changed in ways not to their liking, and maybe something is out of whack when it's that hard for the son of a Con Ed employee who raised a family of six in a four-bedroom house can go to college, work in an office, have a working wife as well, and still not be able to afford a house in his parents' neighborhood. There is a sense that the gap between blue collar people and people in high-income fields or children of privilege has grown dramatically since 1970, and that is borne out by statistics. So I don't agree that they should all accept and respect the yuppies or hipsters.
DITC I could not disagree with you more. Although I see the value of having different neighborhods with different feels, it's when you HATE other groups and demonize them, and purport that somehow they don't belong in "your" neighborhood is where we disagree.
Your arguments are quite hypocritical and poorly thought out. You actually state " Yuppies are more respectable because they tend to sick to Manhattan and know their place." WOW...are you serious? As opposed to: "people of color who are more respectable because they stick to the projects in East New York...they know their place." Furthermore, you believe that somehow those that look, dress and act similar to eachother in areas like Williamsburg are somehow uniquely laughable and generic. Yet you give the free pass to all those thugs/hoodlums dressed in their even more laughable baggy FUBU pants, 10x too large Sean John shirts, and durags..and yes they all look, act, and sound the same. How is this not laughable and generic? Why is one viewed negatively by you and not the other? They try their best to be as ignorant and sound as ghetto as the next guy....versus as creative/philosophical as those that you detest in Williamsburg.
You also believe that these white-bread Americans are somehow wrong for wanting to live in NYC for anything less than a lifetime. I did not realize we had to sign 99 year leases to live in this city, and it was only for those that shun Starbucks and prefer the soothing ambience of blaring merengue at the Bodega or the delicacies of the Fried Chicken Shack. What exactly is wrong with having a cup of coffee from a place you like? Or shopping at Target?
Many of the people I see in my community DO NOT CARE about anything, let alone the community..so cut the BS that they are all helpless victims and life is paradise before new people arrived. There are TOO MANY that prefer to be criminals, low-lives, and do not care about anything...that is the reality...and that's largely due to the isolation and segregation that has occured in this city, and that people like you who shun those from your community that do not submit/accept the established ghetto subculture.
It seems to me that your hate of "Hipsters" is no different than the ignorant hate people of color. Same hypocritical logic and superficial justifications...which I already knew...I was hoping for some insight as to why they are viewed as a problem, but I keep getting lame excuses....
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