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such a long thread devoted to such a modest neighborhood, Bedford Park.
With respect to what it was like 20 years ago, it seems to me that the area north of Bedford Park Blvd was better but south of that in Fordham Bedford remained about the same as it is now.
I can understand why someone would move to E 201 street as it certainly has held up well; however I would be concerned with those coming up from points south to cause trouble
That is what I am saying.
I would not move to an area at risk of declining. In fact it already is with all the affordable housing units being built in the area (Norwood/Bedford-Park). 20 years ago all the crime and problems associated with poverty were only seen as a problem south of Bedford Park Blvd. Today the problems are a reality for much of Bedford Park and Norwood.
This thread needs to be closed already.
Quote:
Originally Posted by scatman
I see everyone's puttin' Hustla in deep check! I'll sit on the sidelines for this one!
Two yuppies who don't have a clue what they are talking about? I don't think a lot of people would agree they have me "in deep check". They can't even post legit sources of information. Only a few real estate ads. Real estate ads are bull****. They are infuenced by investors.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Moth
It was wonderful. It was like time traveling back to when New York was filled with quaint neighborhoods that were like small towns.
I agree, Bedford Park and Norwood were very different back then. Different demographics, less poverty, less problems. Fordham-Bedford (South of Bedford Park Blvd), unfortunately that area has been problematic for a long time. Although it hit rock bottom during the crack epidemic. It never recovered.
Where are your legit sources? You keep talking about stats that never seem to appear. You also discount any argument other than your own. And to refer to two homeowners in the neighborhood you are disparaging as 'whiteboys’ and ‘clowns’ is just a tad ignorant. And frankly it borders on racist to refer to every white person with a job as a ‘yuppie.’ Much like your vision of Bedford Park, your terminology is stuck in the 1980s. The word ‘yuppie’ conjures up the image of a bad Michael Douglas movie from the 80’s.
Bedford Park in the northern parts has declined since 20 yrs ago. to me there is no doubt about it. north of bedford blvd is still "ok" i guess. go south from the 190's towards fordham and it was and still is garbage. there is major drug activity there. stay alert if ur walking around there.
I didn't know the area 20 years ago. But I do know that crime has fallen dramatically since that time. I can't imagine that the area looks that different today. There are no burned out/abandoned buildings or empty lots. Most buildings are very well maintained. I do understand that the color of people on the streets has changed. It used to be heavily white (Irish), who have now left--a demographic change that has taken place in other Northern Manhattan/Bronx neighborhoods such as Norwood, Kingsbridge and Inwood. Hustla keeps pointing out white people percentages in relation to the neighborhood's "decline," and I'm sure others may agree with him.
The way I see it, the Irish have gone from the neighborhood and they're not coming back, and those who feel compelled to follow their trail to Woodlawn should feel free to do so. To others, including myself, their presence or absense is irrelevant. What I don't understand is why someone who claims not to be white keeps dragging out these statistics to indicate which neighborhoods are "good". Because if you are of color (I'm thinking of Hustla) and you honestly believe that the whiter the neighborhood, the better, than your presence will only bring down any neighborhood in which you choose to live. By the way I'm sure that prejudice has something to do with the lack of integration in neighborhoods such as Woodlawn. If you feel you must perpetuate this situation, it's on your conscience.
Last edited by Pete Piper; 08-20-2007 at 08:27 PM..
2 legit sources. Meanwhile you and the pipe tell me how much you "like" Bedford Park. NY Times real estate ads are not legit information. Real estate articles in the paper are infuenced by investors. They are supposed to make the neighborhoods appealing to sell the product.
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Originally Posted by NooYowkur81
Why does the thread need to be closed? If people still have things to say about the area, let the thread go on.
Point were made a long time ago. Now this is just an ongoing argument.
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Originally Posted by el luchador
Apparently b/c people disagree with Hustla's doom-and-gloom crack epidemic, 80's movie, Dinkins' era view of the Bronx.
Were you even alive during the Dinkins era? I think not if you felt the 80's were that bad. You just go on hearsay.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Concept
Bedford Park in the northern parts has declined since 20 yrs ago. to me there is no doubt about it. north of bedford blvd is still "ok" i guess. go south from the 190's towards fordham and it was and still is garbage. there is major drug activity there. stay alert if ur walking around there.
Yes.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pete Piper
I didn't know the area 20 years ago. But I do know that crime has fallen dramatically since that time. I can't imagine that the area looks that different today. There are no burned out/abandoned buildings or empty lots. Most buildings are very well maintained. I do understand that the color of people on the streets has changed. It used to be heavily white (Irish), who have now left--a demographic change that has taken place in other Northern Manhattan/Bronx neighborhoods such as Norwood, Kingsbridge and Inwood. Hustla keeps pointing out white people percentages in relation to the neighborhood's "decline," and I'm sure others may agree with him.
The way I see it, the Irish have gone from the neighborhood and they're not coming back, and those who feel compelled to follow their trail to Woodlawn should feel free to do so. To others, including myself, their presence or absense is irrelevant. What I don't understand is why someone who claims not to be white keeps dragging out these statistics to indicate which neighborhoods are "good". Because if you are of color (I'm thinking of Hustla) and you honestly believe that the whiter the neighborhood, the better, than your presence will only bring down any neighborhood in which you choose to live. By the way I'm sure that prejudice has something to do with the lack of integration in neighborhoods such as Woodlawn. If you feel you must perpetuate this situation, it's on your conscience.
20 years ago the neighborhoods north of Bedford Park Blvd were BETTER then today. South of Bedford Park Blvd the same problems exist now. Drug dealing, poverty, single parent homes, prison, ect. The neighborhood south of Bedford Park Blvd continues to deal with these issues. It has nothing to do with Whites. It has to do with the fact the old middle class population has all but taken off, replaced by low income individuals. This middle class was White, while the Dominican moving in now are low income. That stable population is leaving for a reason. Now an unstable class of people, low income, are replacing them. Now problems you would normally only find south of Bedford Park have crept north. Taking control of pockets in the neighborhood.
Once again. South of Bedford Park Blvd, the ghetto. North of Bedford Park Blvd, on a decline. Especially the areas closest to Bedford Park Blvd or Gun Hill Road. Pockets of social problems, and decent pockets. However you can't have a **** section in a swiming pool. Even these decent areas are effected by the bad. Is it so hard a concept to grasp...
Last edited by Hustla718; 08-21-2007 at 12:26 AM..
But if you think that the decline in the middle class caused more crime, why berate those middle class who are moving in? You seem to want it both ways.
As I and others have said, being white and perhaps college educated does not make one a yuppie--though of course it may depend on your definition of this somewhat ephemeral term. I have no desire to uproot or displace anyone--the coop I've moved to is already middle class (mostly black; families and retired folks). My (white) boyfriend is disabled and lives at the poverty level (and gets a big ten bucks a month in food stamps) and yes, has Section 8. He has survived some very tough times--living in flops and shelters at various periods. He watches his back and is naturally paranoid, but we, like the vast majority of Bronxites, somehow survive.
The folks who live in his building (mostly Spanish speaking) are primarily families and very decent folks. To say that low income automatically equates with high crime is not true. This is stereotyping the poor, who have always been part of the city and likely always will. Every new ethnic group that has come in over the past century or two has been seen as a blight on the neighborhood.
All of the local merchants are ethnic minorities here. No yuppie infiltration that I can see as far as local businesses.
Like some other Bronx developments which went coop, the elderly were not forced out of my complex if they could not buy in--instead, there are programs available for the elderly here.
I'm not whining about the lack of Starbucks. If you want to see yuppies whining, try those whites in areas of Manhattan where people want it both ways--they complain about the high cost of living, but want the pricey amenities they are "entitled" to at the same time.
One of the ways I gauge the state of the area is buy reading the local paper (Norwood News) which reports on the positive and negative developments in the Fordham/Bedford Park/Norwood area. The Kingsbridge Armory (if it ever gets going) will likely bring in things like movie theaters, maybe a (gasp) bookstore, perhaps a sports center, and other businesses--again, for bettter and/or worse. (Apparently the original plan for including some schools/classrooms may not happen, though, so the neighborhood may lose out in this regard, which is not a good thing.) The new public library on Kingsbridge Road is state of the art and offers lectures and other programs, as well as internet access to the community (not enough, but a start).
The local parks (and there is a fair amount of greenery in the Fordham area) are all being renovated. Extra money has been allocated to the borough in part because of the water filtration plant being built in Van Cortlandt. Again, for better and worse. There are solid efforts to develop more of the waterfront area for public use. And so on.....
What I would be pissed off about are not the few "yuppies" moving in, but the craven real estate developers like the Pinnacle Group who have systematically taken over a number of buildings in upper Manhattan and the Bronx, and thrown out the old residents in an attempt to make big profits on the backs of those they've displaced. If there's a hell, I think there's a special circle reserved for these heartless, greedy F**ks.
Hustla, if the issue is not about race, then why do you keep harping on it? If the issue is economics than bring out those statistics rather than the racial ones. I think Elvira made a good point about Hustla lamenting the decline of white middle class people in Bedford Park while berating new white middle class people who are moving in.
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