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September 25, 2008

Bushwick Is Officially "Up and Coming"

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.




Posted by lisa at 9:30 AM | Comments (16)
Categories: Bushwick

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Comments

Ah, thanks, Business Week, I was glad to learn of this place you call Bushwick.

Posted by: plgdude at September 25, 2008 9:47 AM

Morgan avenue, the closest stop to Manhattan on the L line? Really? Funny, I bet the folks in Williamsburg would have something to say about that.

Posted by: new2hood at September 25, 2008 9:56 AM

You know, this "Bushwick" is probably full of swinging American foxes doing the performance art! Other places, called "Astoria" and "Bedford-Stuyvesant," are also mentioned, Yortuk--let us go there and have groovy times! This magazine must do deep research; they say that artists often take over lofts in bad neighborhoods and then the areas become more desirable! I am full of desire already! This could be more groovy than the time we went to meet foxes in the middle of the Holland Tunnel!

Posted by: Brenda from Flatbush at September 25, 2008 9:58 AM

LOL, Brenda!

Posted by: plgdude at September 25, 2008 9:59 AM

Brilliant, Brenda.

What can anyone possibly say after that?

Posted by: Montrose Morris at September 25, 2008 10:03 AM

Eh, Bushwick's been up and coming for so long I think it got up and went.

Posted by: theneek at September 25, 2008 10:15 AM

Brenda, you are one wild and crazy chick!

Posted by: GHB at September 25, 2008 10:26 AM

I think by closest to Manhattan, they meant the closest Bushwick stop to Manhattan on the L train - although i always thought Grand Ave L stop was where Bushwick began.

Posted by: A Guest at September 25, 2008 10:38 AM

Brenda's above post - Quote of the Day.

And so damn early in the day, to.

Posted by: bayridgegirl at September 25, 2008 10:38 AM

"Brenda's above post - Quote of the Day."

Agreed. The snark is strong in this one. Might as well call it a day. Cocktail, anyone?

Posted by: SnarkSlope at September 25, 2008 10:55 AM

I'll take an old fashioned snark.

Posted by: A Guest at September 25, 2008 11:02 AM

Since Brenda wins for the day, can we discuss what I think are the orange underpants and green leggings of the guy in the Miami picture? (click the link to the 15 up and coming neighborhoods to find).

Whiskey Sour, please, snark.

Posted by: 11233 at September 25, 2008 11:23 AM

What ever happened to all those new condos they were putting up in Bushwick?

Posted by: A Guest at September 25, 2008 11:26 AM

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.

Posted by: wine lover at September 25, 2008 4:07 PM

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....

Posted by: altervoce at September 25, 2008 5:34 PM

Yes, I remember that, the sassiest boy in America, and subway tokens. There are lots of kids in Bushwick, winelover.

Posted by: Heather at September 25, 2008 5:46 PM

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