Franklin Avenue's Boom and Its Discontents

Only a few days after landing on the cover of the New York Times Real Estate section as being an affordable alternative to Carroll Gardens, Crown Heights North gets more attention today in the paper of record. While Sunday’s piece emphasized all the reasons the nabe has been rising in popularity (beautiful housing stock, tons of new stores and restaurants, proximity to transportation and Prospect Park), today’s piece, which focuses on the Franklin Avenue corridor between Atlantic and Eastern Parkway, takes a look at the inevitable tensions between old and new that happen when any neighborhood undergoes rapid change. If it feels like you’ve seen this movie (or this article before), it’s because you have. Here’s the recipe: Cite some sensational statistics (rents up 36 percent in one year! white population up 15 percent in last ten years!), quote a long-time resident about how unfriendly the newcomers are (“being an old timer, I don’t see that warmth and neighborliness kicking in yet because folks are still strangers”) and then show the other side of the story. In this case, the other side of the story is Evangeline Porter, a 79-year-old woman who started the Crow Hill Community Association 25 years ago and has been embracing the more recent changes, to the chagrin of some of the existing stakeholders. From The Times:

“Franklin Avenue is my baby,” said Ms. Porter, who recounted a recent conversation with one landlord. “He said to me, ‘You’re letting these people come in and take over.’ I told him, ‘I am.’ ”Ms. Porter, who is black, criticized African-American merchants for being complacent in rebuilding the neighborhood years ago and praised many of the “young Caucasians” for attending community meetings. “They saw the potential of the neighborhood and said, ‘What can we do to help?’ ” she said.

And to wrap up the article, how about a light-hearted reference to a silly tempest in a teapot? Sure! In this case, last year’s effort by some real estate brokers to rebrand northwestern Crown Heights as ProCro (referencing the area’s increasing overlap demographically and commercially with Prospect Heights) and Assembly Member Hakeem Jeffries’ humorless response provided perfect fodder. Prepare the printing presses!
Unease Lingers Amid a Rebirth in Crown Heights [NY Times]
So You’re Priced Out. Now What? [NY Times]
Photo by bondidwhat