Sunday, March 04, 2007

there goes the neighborhood

this is where Andrea and I live. the only newsworthy part is when they note that the Dominicans are moving out not because they're "movin' on up" like the previous immigrant groups, but just because they can't afford to live here anymore.

its funny, just walking around here, you can definitely perceive the layers of culture that have caked down onto the prior ones. walking up broadway, like I did last year, you still see a ton of Irish bars, now mostly full of Dominicans, with the odd Irish holdout who seems out of place when he steps outside to smoke and watch the world go by. our building, which used to be almost entirely european jews is now, i'd say, half yuppies like me and andrea.

but i don't know why this is news. Little Italy no longer exists, other then maybe one block. I guess Chinatown is still Chinatown. my old neighborhood on the upper east side used to be hungarian and german, and they're just gone. the village used to be gay, now its chelsea.

i suppose there's a point to noticing the change (see prior post), but other than that it feels like saying gas used to cost 40 cents a gallon.

2 Comments:

AETYL said...

I've lived in Washington Hts or WaHi for 6+ years. A yuppie breeding boom has taken place since I moved up here (just go see for yourself in Bennett park on a sunny Saturday), but aside from the Starbucks and a few better restaurants on 181, the neighborhood has not changed that much. 187th has always been more expensive and there are still plenty of old hold outs, business-wise.
Good or bad, in the end, in real estate, it's whatever the market will bear. And eventually, we'll probably move because of rising rents.

5:48 PM  
Elizabeth Hern said...

I guess we're yuppie breeders now. I feel like this is one of the last affordable neighborhoods in Manhattan. We certainly would have trouble find an apartment the size of ours for what we pay in other neighborhoods and where else would we get such nice neighbors?

Also, can we talk about how the example of a trendy bar in the neighborhood is the Monkey Bar?

4:03 PM  

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