[psiabeyl]

I agree with you, Luxx. There should be more neighborhood control over the commercialism infiltrating some of the most historic Manhattan neighborhoods. I find it funny when tourists come to SoHo and the Villages thinking this is how real New Yorkers live.

[mkd1187]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JetSetGo! Are you saying Old Navy isn't hip and cool? jk I've been a EV/LES girl my whole life. And now, I live in Harlem...

thats a whole other story. Columbia gentrifying the neighborhood and kicking out the whole community

[JetSetGo!]

You're right, but I live on the east side of Morningside Park. By me, it's less about Columbia, and more about families desperate for "affordable" housing. It's a lot of new development with income caps to buy or rent. Where I am was a wasteland just a few years ago. Mostly empty lots and crack houses. But there is hostility, which is understandable. A lot of long-time Harlem residents have been pushed out of the neighborhood.

Sometimes gentrification can keep a neighborhood from dying completely. This is nothing like SoHo, and nothing like the EV. More like the LES, which though it's sad to watch, it needed to change.

[Sweet Jane]

I live in Los Angeles but I go to New York every summer... when I first started going I loooved Soho so much- it was my favorite place in the city. But the last couple years its seemed really touristy and while there are still some great shops, its not what it used to be... it doesn't feel like it has that bohemian artsy feel anymore.

[cocolicious]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JetSetGo! You're right, but I live on the east side of Morningside Park. By me, it's less about Columbia, and more about families desperate for "affordable" housing. It's a lot of new development with income caps to buy or rent. Where I am was a wasteland just a few years ago. Mostly empty lots and crack houses. But there is hostility, which is understandable. A lot of long-time Harlem residents have been pushed out of the neighborhood. Sometimes gentrification can keep a neighborhood from dying completely. This is nothing like SoHo, and nothing like the EV. More like the LES, which though it's sad to watch, it needed to change.

alot of those lots have been kept empty by landlords who burned down their buildings years ago since the first seeds of a gentrified harlem were sowed. since alot of harlem resident are and have been pushed out of housing in the historic neighborhood, it's much more than just "affordable living" that one takes advantage of when moving into the neighborhood

[JetSetGo!]

Hmmm...Are you saying it wasn't right to move into Harlem when it's the only place left I can afford?

Believe me. I did not want to move here. I couldn't be farther from the places I love. But as I said, it was the neighborhood I could afford.

Seeing my neighborhood become a nightlife and funded cool-kid mecca, basking in the "new and safe" New York wasn't my choice. But it is a reality.

I'm not happy about it, but it's the growth of the city. I would have loved to stay downtown, but such is change.

I can't explain the full history of each lot in my current neighborhood, but I can tell you, overall, my area was in desperate shambles in the very near past. Growth and recovery was and is necessary for its survival. Just as it was in Alphabet City.

The day is looming when I will have helped make this neighborhood an acceptable place to live again, and I will no longer be able to afford it.

Again, I'm not happy about it, but it is reality.

[modelmama]

I find it refreshing that not all Americans or TFS'er are brainwashed with con$umer'itis (not a real word)

I live in Harlem and every weekend, mainly on a Sunday, theres always a tour bus filled to the max with tourists checking out the urban landscapes.

The once forbiddened locale where danger was once lurking on every street corner...has a zoo like feel to it now - With the tourists and eager visitors entralled with the raw beauty of harlem.

Like they are on an urban safari!
It tinkles the hell outta me

Downtown is now a caricature of its old self though.

Once an area of creativity and energy is now filled with creative energy on how to grab your dollars. A friend related to me the other day on how they are now calling Bleecker Street, little Madison Ave.

Not every neighborhood should be a shopping district.


Peace &

[thounowest]

Although i must say that Soho obtains one of the most significant types of architecture in the world... Beautiful old Cast-Iron buildings mixed with Second empire baroque styles, every time Im in soho I cant help but appreciate the type of architecture it holds and it certainly never fails to inspire me not to mention I love the preservation of the old cobble stone roads.
In this sense I suppose Soho is more alive then ever

[mkd1187]

^ but we know how much you love the scaffolding!

[thounowest]

euwww ^