Closing Bell: Are You Happy to Call Brooklyn Home?
As first reported by Brooklyn Hall of Fame, an article from YourNabe.com reports that most Brooklynites are happy. In fact, 81% of those surveyed said they were either very satisfied (27%) or somewhat satisfied (54%) with the quality of life in their neighborhood. Only 19 percent of those surveyed reported being not at all satisfied….
As first reported by Brooklyn Hall of Fame, an article from YourNabe.com reports that most Brooklynites are happy. In fact, 81% of those surveyed said they were either very satisfied (27%) or somewhat satisfied (54%) with the quality of life in their neighborhood. Only 19 percent of those surveyed reported being not at all satisfied. However, 53% of Brooklynites felt their neighborhoods would become too expensive for them in the future.
So are you happy to call Brooklyn home?
Kind of torn on this one. While I will always identify with Brooklyn as my home (born and raised) I can’t help but feel that it’s totally overrated. I live in Bay Ridge which has always been a solid neighborhood..maybe not as trendy as the re-born Park Slope, but we’ve held our own. I don’t think I’m blessed to live here when people are just plain nasty, cars block my driveway all day long (maybe, just maybe I will have an emergency where I really need to get my car out), kids (and adults too) seem to have no manners, the R train is basically a slum on wheels, and I can’t so much as put a garbage pail outside without it being stolen.
But then again, it’s Brooklyn and what do I expect? I am used to this. There is something about Brooklyn that I can’t quite put my finger on, but it is and will always be home. Maybe I would be slightly happier if I were one of those people priced out of Manhattan who counts their lucky stars to have only paid 1M for a house/condo..then I could feel like I got a bargain on something and that makes everything else look okay.
I think Brooklyn (and all of NYC) is really a catch 22. You can love it and hate it all at the same time. Just depends on your mood on any given day.
i doubt many of you listened to rap music from the 80-s til the 00’s, but most rappers, all of those born in broolyn, have pride that ive NEVER heard exist in any other place in the entire world. that should say something
*rob*
Of course there is crime, racism, xenophobia, dirt, poor people, crumbling buildings and late trains. There are many neighborhoods where at least somebody may be unwelcome, and there are places where hope hasn’t touched down in years. There is also great beauty, neighborhood pride, there are gardens and playgrounds in neighborhoods rich and poor.
One can still be happy, even though everything is not perfect. Where and when will everything be perfect, anyway? The bad things are everywhere, whether you are in Bklyn or on a beach in the Caribbean. The best we can do is try to carve out some area of happiness, whether that’s your house, your neighborhood, or a corner of your bedroom.
quizzote:
The nouveau riche who have settled here are self centered, care little about their community, disregard the “natives”and the people who came before them, shop at corporate chains and for the most part ignore and disregard established businesses and institutions that help shape the borough, They have little respect for what came before them.
dude, you gotta blame people like steve jobs and the brain trust of the interwebs for that sh-t/.. human beings are like Peakcocks. they are a lazy species.
*rob*
quote:
Indeed its not. Its amazing the bubble Brooklyn newcomers live in. They think Brooklyn is Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens, Park Slope and Williamsburg and not the 75% impoverished urban wasteland that it REALY is. Open your eyes people.
good point… my own grandmother who when she found out i broke up with my ex and now live in brooklyn actually said (that’s where bad people live!!!) btw she lived right across the river since 1936.. i told her no no no seriously it’s not that bad anymore! she believed me i guess. it’s funny cuz i told her i was like, um do you know where my last address was? and she was like no. i was like it was harlem! woo woo! she bugged OUT! places change for the good for the worse for the good for the worse and then a whole bunch of stuff in between duh.
this board has shown me that a lot of people do have a lot of newfound pride in where they live and that no matter what, in the end, they will still love their homes and neighbors, and even if things turn to pooptose, i think most people will have each others’ backs. and that comes from a melting pot of various places. a lot of “true new yorkers” like to say that things will get bad and most of the transplants will go back to where they came from, but i truly kinda sorta honestly believe (and im psychic btw AQUARIUS) that they won’t and make their neighborhoods a safe place to exist.
*rob*
quizzote:
Seriously, if Brooklyn ( and NYC for that matter ) just aren’t your cup of tea GO THE HELL BACK to whatever dismal suburb or 3rd tier city you came from.
that would be jersey city for me. it’s not like i moved to nyc cuz i wanted to it’s cuz it’s all i had. it was the nearest city where you dont need a car and i just wound up here. it’s not like im some im bumblefu*k from idaho nor a resident from bay ridge. how do you classify me? who cares. this city is huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge. especially Broke-Lynn.
*rob*
Santa-
Heres what I’m getting at.
Im not born here. I come from another place. I am NOT a native so I CANNOT be called a xenophobe. The vast majority of Brooklynites and NYCers are from another place. But what I’ve seen in the last decade or so is disheartening. The nouveau riche who have settled here are self centered, care little about their community, disregard the “natives”and the people who came before them, shop at corporate chains and for the most part ignore and disregard established businesses and institutions that help shape the borough, They have little respect for what came before them.
I’m not ignorant. I’ve seen a city full of character, uniqueness and flair turn into a Gap ad.
I’m with buttermilk channel.
“But Brooklyn is not as great as people make it out to be. ”
Indeed its not. Its amazing the bubble Brooklyn newcomers live in. They think Brooklyn is Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens, Park Slope and Williamsburg and not the 75% impoverished urban wasteland that it REALY is. Open your eyes people.
[quote]No, I have no issues with the people who have moved here from the Caribbean, China and Poland.
Try San Francisco, LA, Seattle, the Midwest, Florida, St Louis, Ohio.
lame beyond words.[/quote]
WHY?
seriously this makes no sense to me. Who gives a shit where someone is from. This kind of Xenophobia is the shit I tried to move away from when I left the south. I guess you can never truly remove yourself from ignorance.