Open House Picks: Townhouses

Nice CHP! Haahahaha!! LOL!!
Great post!

8:08, while I am, on the one hand, glad you love your Bed Stuy neighborhood, I have to be rather appalled by some of your statements.

First of all, you are correct, BS is ripe for a turnover. That is not, however, necessarily a good thing precisely because of some of the things you assert later. Personally, the arrival on the scene of big real estate firms like Corcoran has done nothing positive for the people of Bed Stuy except help to inflate the property values well above what they should be. I truly fear the day one of them opens an office in Bed Stuy. The very people you laud for owning much of the property in BS – the black civil servants, teachers, etc, are the people who established a beachhead in the community against the poverty, drugs and lawlessness that almost consumed it, going back to the 50’s, but especially in the 70’s and 80’s when drugs became the scourge of the inner city. These people, some of whom are my relatives and friends, established stable families, businesses, social and religious ties in BS that are still strong today. The reason there is a community that people are now wanting to live in is because of these people, not just the great architecture. To hope that they all now sell off, and leave, is the worst sancitimony of gentrification. Not all of these people are so eager for money that they are going to abandon the homes they maintained through the bad times, and what about their families? I know so many people whose children love and cherish their homes and neighborhoods. They buy houses on the same blocks, or take over the parents’ homes and continue the traditions of home ownership in BS. Many people in BS own several homes, and many times you will find 4 or five houses on the same block owned by one family, both for extended family, as well as income.

Regarding big real estate firms – it is a fallacy that they are the only ones who can sell a house for a good price. What about the hundreds of independent brokers who have been working the black neighborhoods of this city for the last 60 years? When Halsted didn’t know where Bed Stuy was, or Corcoran had never heard of Stuyvensant Heights, local brokers were making a good living moving real estate in the community. These people did not have an easy job either, when red lining was as common as an oak parquet floor, and banks would not lend to people in the hood without them having to jump through hoops that most people today, black, white or otherwise, would be up in arms about, and rightfully so. Many of these real estate professionals are now finding themselves forced out of the market, as they find that they cannot compete with the budgets that the big firms have in pushing their properties – not just the slick websites, but the mass mailings,upscale marketing techniques, and over inflated price offerings that many of the big firms dazzle people with. These are not computer illiterate bumpkins, either.

I’m sorry, but these big firms, as money making entities, not neccessarily the individual agents, do not care what happens to Bed Stuy, or its people,or its heritage and history, they care about making money. I do not want to trust the future of a multi cultural, multi ethnic, but primarily black community, rich in tradition and history, to their tender graces. Bed Stuy may end up as a much more gentrified place than it is now, in fact, that is inevitable and in many ways, desirable, but the departure of its soul – the hardworking core of its population, would be a tragedy that I hope never occurs.

“Anon 9:07, I counldn’t have said it better. I am truly appalled.”

Appalled at what? Give us a break. Please get a thicker skin, Ralph Tresvant (Mr. Sensitivity). The 7:18 poster didn’t criticize or condemn the nabe. He or she just pointed out obvious facts as to why change PLG has been slow to change. PLG is one of my favorite nabes and every year it changes for the better. It’s a great community and most Brooklynites know this fact.

As a PLG resident, I agree with what 10:34 says regarding Ocean Ave and Lincoln, though it is only VERY noticeable to those of us who live here. Nonetheless, the basic issue that 7:18 points out is still VERY much true and will continue to be. Even if Ocean, Lincoln, and other streets with large buildings change, it will take eons for the buildings on Flatbush and the western side streets to change, so the low-income population will continue to far surpass the middle/upper income population, and there will still be a demand for those stores catering to the low income population as well as all of the negative issues related to drugs, hanging out, etc. The increase in middle income renters and owners that 10:34 writes about has had no impact on the general quality of life issues in the area. I and most of my neighbors accept the fact that life in PLG isn’t going to change for an extremely long time. We accept the neighborhood as it is, and we enjoy it for what it is. For the record, I also wrote the 11:40pm post.

Anon 9:07, I counldn’t have said it better. I am truly appalled.