bushwickstorm_0908.jpg
So says Business Week, plucking out neighborhoods primed for gentrification/good bargains where the next Soho could emerge. “Artists turned around Soho and the Lower East Side of Manhattan in the 1960s, ’70s, and ’80s, and then Brooklyn’s Williamsburg in the 1990s. Now you’ll find them in Bushwick,” they write. They track down a neighborhood landlord named Andrew Cray, whose five-year-old properties have doubled in worth. “He owns five houses, which he rents to artists and other young people with low-paying jobs who are often living in New York City for the first time. Crime has dropped dramatically and activity is buzzing around the Morgan Avenue subway stop, the closest stop to Manhattan on the L train.” Um, isn’t that Bedford, actually? “A natural foods store, a brick-oven pizza place, cafés, and art studios have popped up to serve the changing community. The yuppies haven’t arrived yet, but they will, Cray said.” Hard to say if that’s a wistful longing for yuppies, or dread.
Up and Coming Neighborhoods [BusinessWeek]
Bushwick Storm. Photo by hive.


What's Your Take? Leave a Comment

  1. 11233, we can discuss underpantsman if you can explain why everyone in the picture of Northern Liberties looks like a suburbanite that came for brunch. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but I thought the thesis statement was ‘artists pioneer neighborhoods.’

    Does anybody remember the Utne Reader article in the mid-90s that listed the ten coolest (or whatever) neighborhoods? Locally, Williamsburg made the cut and Red Hook was named the next big thing. Much angst in Billyburg at the time….

  2. Bushwick is real. The 20 somethings and artists have/are moving there. While there are obviously still younger people in Williamsburg, anyone without a very good job will soon be priced out of prime Williamsburg (west of the BQE/especially north williamsburg).

    Of course, it’s not quite ready for many couples with kids . Some families priced out of Williamsburg have gone to Ridgewood which borders Bushwick but is in Queens and is quite safe and has a nice traditional housing stock. Have friends that bought a row house there recently.