Rapidly Rising Rents Drive out Recent Arrivals in Crown Heights
Gentrification is proceeding at such an astonishing pace in Crown Heights that newcomers to the neighborhood are already being forced out by increasing rents after only three or four years in the neighborhood, according to a story in DNAinfo. “Watching the gentrification of Franklin Avenue is like watching Williamsburg at warp speed” is how the story put it. The…
Gentrification is proceeding at such an astonishing pace in Crown Heights that newcomers to the neighborhood are already being forced out by increasing rents after only three or four years in the neighborhood, according to a story in DNAinfo. “Watching the gentrification of Franklin Avenue is like watching Williamsburg at warp speed” is how the story put it. The Crow Hill Community Association, which has been working to organize tenants around affordable housing and prevent long-term residents from being displaced, has been deluged with emails from what the story called “second wave gentrifiers,” who said their rents have gone up and they are being forced to move. The story was short on specific examples but may have given rise to a new phrase: A link to the story in Curbed described the phenomenom as “gentrifiers are gentrifying gentrifiers,” and some disappointed would-be Crown Heights homeowners quoted in a New York Times story about the mayoral race over the weekend used a similar phrase, “now even the gentrifiers are getting priced out by gentrifiers.” But the story didn’t actually profile a single person who had to leave the area, nor did it mention rents. Anyone know someone whose rent was raised in Crown Heights and had to move?
Newcomers Forced out by Rising Rents in Rapidly Gentrifying Crown Heights [DNAinfo]
so where is this magical place/neighborhood where rents are staying the same?
I’m not sure I am going to lose sleep over hipsters and other young “professionals” being pushed out, when they – themselves (through no fault of their own) pushed long term, elderly and minority tenants a few years ago. It’s gone and will keep going as far east to Utica Ave and beyond.
What’s going on in Crown Heights North is truly astonishing but not surprising. The area has very good public transit and housing stock.
Once the #44 Rapid bus project is finished later this year, with the north bound express #44 buses being switched over to Rogers Ave, expect the south side of Eastern Parkway to follow suit too.
Lived in Crown Heights since 2006 – as a public city school teacher, it was the best area I could afford. When we eventually left, our rent had gone from $1200 for a 625 square foot apartment to $1900 for the same place. That would have been understandable had the apartment not had bugs, leaking ceilings, or mold in the bathroom (inside the ceiling – which we could see when it eventually fell in on us!). Our rent jumped that $700 as soon as our building was suddenly sold in 2012 – before that we had only had small $75 rent increases on each lease signed.
As someone looking to buy, we could not afford Crown Heights at all – we now own a lovely home further south in Brooklyn. While we have less restaurants, bars, and boutique shops than in the new Crown Heights, we got a nice space at a price two city employees could afford.
(For more specifics, we were Park Place and Franklin Avenue)
Luckily we bought just off Franklin over 2yrs ago, and while initially concerned, are obviously quite happy with the positive changes. But the rapid change is a bit worrying, and I wonder about the sustainability, or what it will lead to. The young folks are pretty relaxed and friendly, get along with the existing community, and have lead to what I think is a nice mix of store/bar/restaurant offerings. I lived in Park Slope where it just felt like the crowd was a bit pent up and stressed, less friendly, and ultimately chains and generic offerings came in. Whatever is happening on Franklin, is making its way to Nostrand.
The pace on Franklin is remarkable. Really, we looked at a place near there about six years ago and I just could not do it (my last purchase had been in a “transitional” neighborhood, and for lots of reasons I decided that I had had enough of that.) I don’t regret not purchasing, but if things had been as they are now when we were looking back then, I might have felt differently.
Happening to us on Park Place near Franklin. Have lived here 4 years in our small building. Moved here because we could afford it. We were served (improperly) with eviction notices but are fighting it in court. Something is fishy with the deed transfer, our landlady disappeared over night, and the new supposed owners stopped paying utilities which are included in our rent. We’ve hired an attorney, formed a tenants association and are not going down easily. We have chickens, a garden and have made this our home. The sad thing is that this area will become an area of mostly renters. Additionally with all the big companies coming in and snatching up all the properties, it leaves very little for those of us who were considering buying soon. Very sad.
My husband and I moved in to a building on Washington Ave & Montgomery Ave in 2010, paying $1700. The previous tenant had been there for almost 30 years at less than $600. They did some serious renovations when she left and managed to get the rent stabilization lifted (I’m still convinced they did something shady to make that happen, but I don’t know). Our rent went up $40 the second year, $60 the third, and they wanted to increase it $100 for our fourth year… making our rent $1900. We couldn’t afford that increase, so we left for Flatbush/Ditmas Park ($1550, stabilized!!). They put our old place on craigslist for $1950. Building had a pretty bad bed bug problem though… so in the end, we were happy to get out of there but so sad to leave the neighborhood.
leave kombucha outta this