Can Ditmas Park Save The Middle Class?
Despite tremendous quality-of-life gains, more residents left New York City in 2006 than in 1993. (Brooklyn was the one borough that bucked that trend.) The main reason, says an article from the American Enterprise Institute, is the the rising cost of living for middle-class families. In fact, New York now has the lowest rate of…
Despite tremendous quality-of-life gains, more residents left New York City in 2006 than in 1993. (Brooklyn was the one borough that bucked that trend.) The main reason, says an article from the American Enterprise Institute, is the the rising cost of living for middle-class families. In fact, New York now has the lowest rate of middle-income families of any city; and, except for Los Angeles, it also has the smallest percentage of middle-income neighborhoods. One exception—and a model for the future—is Ditmas Park:
The ‘place’ Ellen and Joe looked for was not just a physical location but something less tangible: a sense of community and a neighborhood to raise their hoped-for children. Although they considered suburban locations, as most families do, ultimately they chose the Ditmas Park neighborhood of Brooklyn, where Joe had grown up. At first, this seemed a risky choice. While Joe was growing up in the 1980s, the neighborhood—a mixture of Victorian homes and modest apartments—had become crime-infested. The old families were moving out, and newer ones were not replacing them. Yet Joe’s Mom still lived there, and they liked the idea of having grandma around for their planned-for family.
Politicians genuflect to the idea of maintaining a middle class, yet their actions suggest otherwise. In a city that has been losing middle-class families for generations, the resurgence of places like Ditmas Park represents a welcome change. In recent years, child-friendly restaurants and shops have started up along once-decayed Cortelyou Road. More important, some local elementary schools have shown marked improvement, with an increase in parental involvement and new facilities. Even in hard economic times, the area has become a beacon to New York families, as well as singles seeking a community where they will put down long-term roots. There’s an attempt in this neighborhood to break down the city feel and to see this more as a kind of a small town, notes Ellen. It may be in the city, but it’s a community unto itself, a place where you can stay and raise your children.
If cities like New York want to nurture their middle-class populations, the article suggests, they will need to shift their priorities away from “subsidizing developers for luxury mega-developments, new museums, or performing arts centers” and instead focus on “those things critical to the middle class such as maintaining relatively low density work areas and shopping streets, new schools, and parks.” In our opinion, at the end of the day, it’s all about the schools.
The Luxury City vs. the Middle Class [The American]
I was going to write something Rob but I think I’ll let DIBS respond to this one!
That’s an interesting question that Mr B raises,whether there should be a different income standard for “middle class” in NYC. Certainly nationally many of the people that he mentions (making 150-250K) would qualify as being on the upper echelons in terms of income, here in NYC as we all know, that kind of money just doesn’t go as far.
Rob–you totally just busted the article writer!
people these days making 200K + seem to be afraid to admit they are um, let’s just face it… RICH! that is not middle class. it’s not middle class for the entire earth, for this country, and let’s face it, not even nyc. there are some rich people who like to flaunt it and there are some rich people who just seem embarrassed by it or something and like to pretend they are middle class. plus newsflash, there really isnt a middle class in this city anyway. there’s poverty, the tranisitional poor, the potential poor who are one tragedy away from being poor, and the affluent.
*rob*
FYI, who wrote this? or claims to have written it without proper notations?
quote:
“Politicians genuflect to the idea of maintaining a middle class, yet their actions suggest otherwise”
that line comes straight from word for word, The New American Poverty written by michael harrington in 1984. i know cuz i am currently reading that book right now :-/
*rob*
A big part of the issue is obviously how you define middle-class…plenty of households making $150-250K feel middle class in this town, especially if they’ve got kids…
quote:
Although they considered suburban locations, as most families do, ultimately they chose the Ditmas Park neighborhood of Brooklyn
good lord is that for real!? Ditmas park is as suburban as it gets. i can’t stand when people who live in certain areas of queens and brooklyn say they live in the city. yeah maybe it’s nyc by name and legalese, but um, sorry brooklyn and queens were always a suburb of manhattan.
*rob*
Before the economy crashed blogs such as this and other real estate news sources were saying that places such as Cortelyou, Newkirk, and other parts of Ditmas Park were likely to become the next Smith Street or experience Park Slope-like gentrification. When the market turns around, don’t you think that will continue to be the case?
I’ve lived in the neighborhood for 7 years and long predicted that because of the area’s big homes, mixed with apartment buildings, and the proximity to the B/Q lines for easy rides into Manhattan, that the area would sooner or later be gentrified just like any other neighborhood. Which I’m okay with. It’s happening. Cortelyou is getting new restaurants all the time, Newkirk Plaza is getting a facelift and some new businesses, and a lot of the condo/co-op buildings are sprucing up.
Considering that the neighborhood can offer many of the benefits of the suburbs for families (big homes, driveways, yards) along with many of the benefits of the city for those who wouldn’t want to leave (public transportation, good restaurants, walkability) I’m sure it will become less middle class as time goes on.
If the schools continue to get better AND houses are selling for over a million bucks? Please. Part of the reason Park Slope is so appealing to families is that PS 321 is so good.
One day there won’t be a piece of this city within walking distance of a subway line that isn’t gentrified. The rich don’t want to be stuck in traffic out in LI or NJ. Areas like Ditmas allow them to live a somewhat urbanized life while still having the trappings of suburbia.
Yes, I would think of much of Queens, Staten Island and further south in Brooklyn before Ditmas Park in defining middle class neighborhoods in NYC.
As dittoburg says, a house in Ditmas Park is currently too expensive for a middle income couple who do not have a lot of equity built up in another property.
I don’t see how it’s middle class neighborhood. Houses are over a mil. and a fairly nice 2-3 bedroom runs about half a mil or more. I grew up in Ditmas Park/Kensington and it was middle class but don’t think it is anymore. Maybe along the lines of upper middle class, unless you had a chance to buy in the 90s.