Creatives Flock to Bklyn, But Are They Endangered?
Brooklynites: Artsy and disdainful of working for the man. Brooklyn experienced the fastest growth in self-employment of any borough between 2000 and 2006, according to stats released yesterday at panel hosted by Center for an Urban Future and the Brooklyn Economic Development Corporation, with those employed in the creative sector (graphic designers, artists, architects, writers,…
Brooklynites: Artsy and disdainful of working for the man. Brooklyn experienced the fastest growth in self-employment of any borough between 2000 and 2006, according to stats released yesterday at panel hosted by Center for an Urban Future and the Brooklyn Economic Development Corporation, with those employed in the creative sector (graphic designers, artists, architects, writers, etc.) accounting for the biggest chunk of that increase (their ranks rose by 33 percent). Park Slope, Williamsburg, and Downtown/Brooklyn Heights top the borough, respectively, each with between 2,500 and 3,500 residents who count themselves among the growing class of creative professionals, according to the BEDC, which used figures based on Census data from 2002 and 2005. The corporation calls these neighborhoods the borough’s creative crescent, and some of the talk at the panel yesterday was about how rising residential values in such areas threatens to crack the crescent. There’s no data to support this view, though an article on The Real Estate yesterday tried to come up with some anecdotal evidence. For example, playwright Scott Atkins, who founded the Brooklyn Writers’ Space and Room 58, says, A one-bedroom apartment with an office in center Slope is now $2,700, Mr. Atkins said. It’s unbelievable that rents could be so high and that the market is supporting it… we have seen more people come into Brooklyn, but we’ve also seen a lot of people going to Philadelphia, Jersey, and Vancouver. People go to L.A. all the time… Some move to upstate New York. If there’s a case to be made for Brooklyn’s creative class drying up eventually, the best evidence might be across the East River: Manhattan’s self-employed creative population grew an anemic 6.5 percent between 2000 and 2006.
Brooklyn’s ‘Creative Crescent’ In Danger of A Drought [The Real Estate]
Photo by Luke Redmond.
“What am I thinking? …that this is journalism?”
Nope. This is a blog.
Do you know the difference?
Hilarious, 2:24.
Re: the quotes in the article that say lots of artists are moving to L.A., I question the accuracy of that analysis. That city is hard hit with the foreclosures but the property values in the more centrally located, in-town, cool neighborhoods are still priced very high. Rents aren’t all that cheap either. Once they pay for a car that’s the same rent they’d be paying in Park Slope. I think it has much more to do with the professional art scene in L.A. vs. NYC than it has to do with real estate. L.A. is easier to break into for young artists. And to keep artists in NYC it’s as much about professional opportunities for artists, and funding for the arts, as it is affordable housing. NYC needs to recognize this. There are regions of the country that have many times more public money for the arts per capita than NYC and that’s just weird considering the role of NYC in art.
So many of the comments above are off-base, but I guess that’s what happens when a presentation and four panelists with varied perspectives are summed up in 283 words and one quote. Was Gabby even there? Or is this just a re-write from The Real Estate? No matter, since it provoked responses and that drives revenue. What am I thinking? …that this is journalism?
Oh well, at least I (like others) finally found out what a asshat is. Now, what’s a fucktard? That’s a crotchless leotard, right?
Gays like a feeling of community. That is what they are known for seeking out and creating. I can’t think of a place with as much sense of community as Park Slope. It’s a super friendly place to be gay, that’s for sure.
2:02…yeah…i’ve heard that plg has a lot of gay couples also.
most of my ps neighbors are single gays…the men anyway. lots of lesbian couples in the slope, it seems.
take a look at excelsior any weekend night. it’s so packed, you can hardly breathe.
my single gay friends without a lot of money mostly live in park slope, a couple in ft. greene and a couple in clinton hill. it’s becoming a big area for those looking to move from chelsea, hells kitchen and the upper west side.
Good point, polemicist. Nowadays, gays are more “mainstreamed” than in the past. In the future, I believe that gay enclaves like Chelsea will no longer exist as such.
“It’s been my experience, at least with my gay friends, that the era of the gay neighborhood is over.
Gay people live all over the city, in whatever neighborhood works for them.”
OH Polemicist! You a pole smoker huh??!! That explains everything.
The What
Someday this war is gonna end….
It’s been my experience, at least with my gay friends, that the era of the gay neighborhood is over.
Gay people live all over the city, in whatever neighborhood works for them.
PLG’s LM has a lot of gay couples who want to buy a house together. 1:39, where are gay singles going who don’t have money to burn, as you say? Is there a clear migration somewhere for the younger and less wealthy?