Dangerous areas and ghettos (Bedford, Inwood: house, living, move)

[DITC]

Originally Posted by Guywithacause

Yeah Rob3in.....the worst advice I have ever heard and more of the same fear mongering. Let's just avoid the Bronx and everyone in the city lives happy, safe, free, and a perfect life right? Lol....just a sample of what you'd be missing if you "just avoided the Bronx":

-The most parks/parkland of any borough....and the largest park as well, Pelham Bay Park.
-The best zoo in the city and the country for that matter: The Bronx Zoo (lions, tigers bears oh my!)
-The most higher educational institutions of any borough: Fordham U, SUNY Maritime, College of Mount St. Vincent, Manhattan, and others.
-The ORIGINAL little Italy: Arthur Avenue
-The MOST affordable housing and overall most affordable cost of living in the city.
-The MOST diverse housing stock in the city: Luxury condos, affordable housing, Mansions, low-income housing, Estates, seaside bungalows, 2/3 family homes of all kinds, high rises, coops, super-urban/suburban/country areas, etc.
-Arguably the BEST neighborhood in the all the city: Riverdale. Beatuiful estates, panaramoc views of the Hudson and Palisades, Wave-Hill Gardens, etc.
-A HUGE upside potential as the Bronx is now being repositioned as the middle class choice for housing in the city.

And thats just off the top of my head! Anyone that says to "just avoid the Bronx" is the same person that was saying "just avoid Brooklyn" 10 years ago, and "Just avoid the East Village" 5 years before that, and "just avoid the Upper West side" 10 years before that. This posters "advice' is ignorant, dumb, and plain nonsense...don;t believe the BS...the Bronx is in play.

The BX is a great place. The Grand Concourse has some nice looking older buildings and Riverdale is a better version of Todt Hill on this side of the Hudson. The Bronx is a good place to visit (although an outsider might disagree while looking out their car window on the Cross Bronx). The zoo is a must.

However, I dont know if I (or many of the locals) would want to see the other extreme, vans of tourists with fanny packs and LA dodgers hats pouring into places like Arthur Ave. The anti-Manhattan, anti Mulberry St feel of Arthur Ave is what gives this place the little bit of charm it has left.

From your posts, I get the idea you want to see a Brooklyn style cleanup since youre a property owner, and that is understandable. But people on the other end arent necessarily pro 70s style ghetto BX. I think people just dont want Manhattan style culture (the spectrum of hipsters to yuppies) expanding into the Bronx. It seems like generic coffee shops and fedder homes follow this type of crowd when they go to the outer boroughs. I try to get to know people like the hipsters and yuppies. Yuppies are looking for street cred and think they own any neighborhood they move into. Hipsters will rep their grimy Brooklyn hood, but we all know they arent native, and when you ask them where they are REALLY from they give an answer like Fairfield CT or Short Hills NJ, and they will have 1 and 2 ivy league degrees... yet they appear like they are homeless? Voluntary poverty (a fake self inflicted struggle) is the antithesis of Brooklyn and the Bronx. So is white collar arrogance.

[DAS]

However, I dont know if I (or many of the locals) would want to see the other extreme, vans of tourists with fanny packs and LA dodgers hats pouring into places like Arthur Ave and clogging up the place with their photo taking, etc. Thats what Manhattan Little Italy is for. The anti-Manhattan, anti Mulberry St feel of Arthur Ave is what gives this place the little bit of charm it has left.

I have been posting concerning this whenever there is a posting where someone mentions that the area is developing into the next Manhattan. Most Bronxites don't want to live in anything that resembles Manhattan. There are also residents in other boros that also feel the same and may consider purchasing in the Bronx if it is developed in a way not to be the next Manhattan.

[DITC]

Originally Posted by DAS

I have been posting concerning this whenever there is a posting where someone mentions that the area is developing into the next Manhattan. Most Bronxites don't want to live in anything that resembles Manhattan. There are also residents in other boros that also feel the same and may consider purchasing in the Bronx if it is developed in a way not to be the next Manhattan.

What I dont understand is these people's living styles are too trendy and they are too transient. They always pull the Williamsburg is the new LES, Bushwick is the new Williamsburg, where is it going to end up, Flatbush is the new Bushwick, and Soundview will be the new Flatbush? I do not dislike the hipsters, however, I feel they shouldnt be pushing into every neighborhood just to outcool one another. The yuppies are usually a neighborhood or two behind in the movement. They usually are not permanent staples in the community, and the hipsters couldnt afford to settle in these places anyway. There are plenty of coffee houses and Jamba Juices in Manhattan, we dont need that stuff in a place like White Plains Rd.

[Guywithacause]

DITC I think your comments are just as ignorant and dumb as those of Rob3in. The hipsters, yuppies, old, young, black, white, rich, poor, and everything in between are in fact ALL welcome to live wherever they choose in this city, especially the Bronx. People come to the city to live for a variety of reasons, back in the day it was poor immigrant families that moved in, and were ridiculed and isolated by the "natives"....and this influx of "hippies" and "yuppies" is the latest wave of people moving into formerly off-limits communities...and now they are oftentimes ridiculed as some sort of scourge on society by people like you...gimme a break! You are casting the same insults.....just with different reasons...and there is ALWAYS a reason to hate something/someone new.

So no I disagree with your assertion that there is something inherently wrong with hippies wanting to move into communities to outcool someone else...who cares? We live in a free country, and the reality is much of these areas they are venturing into are SORELY in need of a new face, new ideas, new people, new life, and attention...so they are walking a well worn path....and everyone has their own reasons for doing so.

Furthermore, as a LONGTIME Mott Haven resident, there IS a REAL, palpable thirst for new life in these communities, which INCLUDES new residents, amenities, services, and investment, whether it come from inside or outside the borough. That does not mean that people are hungry for 10 Starbucks within a 3 block radius, but it DOES mean they want more amenities LIKE a Starbucks, restaurants, retail, increased safety, etc. Does the Bronx want to be the "the next Williamsburg"...the answer is no...and I don't know why that is something to strive for. The Bronx has always been the affordable housing resource and working/middle class enclave...and it is being repositioned back into this resource for the city. As a result, the Bronx is becoming the borough of INCLUSION, where EVERYONE, even the hippies (gasp!) have a place...whereas the other boroughs pride themselves on EXCLUSION...there is a fundamental and important difference here.

Please do not villafy hippies, yuppies, or anyone else you believe is somehow not worthy, or somehow does not have any "real reason" wanting to live in any community in this city. Whether they want to move in to be cool, outcool your friends, want street credibility, etc.....WHO CARES...they have just as much right as anyone else and do not need ANY reason to move anywhere, nor provide any kumbaya-pro-society reason to justify their existence anywhere. I welcome the hippies, the wealthy, the poor, the middle/working class, the yuppies, the families, and everyone else...for whatever reason they are here: affordable housing, more space, b/c its "cool", to buy their first home, to buy a condo, to have a short commute to work, to live cheaply, and everything else...you should too...if not...there are 4 other boroughs in this city that would be happy to join your "exclusion" mantra...leave the Bronx out of it.

[SeventhFloor]

gentrification started when peter minuit bought manhattan island from the indians lol

[sevdie]

Originally Posted by KRaZy

Also in Brooklyn: BedStuy, Parts in Flatbush, Crown Heights, Canarsie.

Bronx: Parts in Kingsbridge, parts in Fordham (like Decatur) parts Fordham RD.
Wakefield-241st street. Botherline to Mt. Vernon.


Manhattan: Lower Eastside, Delancey st./Essex st.

OMG...
I grew up on Decatur ave. and you could not be more correct in your statement. Dont know why but was shocked to see my childhood street mentioned specifically in this thread. It's true though. Decatur is ROUGH!

[cyrusjul]

Good post Guywithacause.

[Guywithacause]

Thanks dude...just putting things into perspective..some people need to be reminded sometimes.

[KRaZy]

Originally Posted by sevdie

OMG...
I grew up on Decatur ave. and you could not be more correct in your statement. Dont know why but was shocked to see my childhood street mentioned specifically in this thread. It's true though. Decatur is ROUGH!

It still is, isnt it??? I havent been there in a while. I used to get my nails done right on Decatur next to the game shop off Fordham RD.

[sevdie]

Probably. I haven't been to the bronx in a very long time...like I said it was rough. I've never been back to Decatur ave.