I visited the East Village in the early nineties. It was funky like the Haight, but I felt safe. It was gentrifying. And pushed by the march of time, it's still gentrifying. The neighborhood is filling up with condos and expensive hotels. There are still nightclubs, hip bars and sex toy stores, but long term residents are being misplaced. Even with those huge government housing projects on the edges of Manhattan, New York seems to be me so expensive that I'm surprised they have any middle or lower class at all. The same could be said for my city.
I live in the Castro, one of the more expensive neighborhoods in the city. It might have been a gay ghetto, but now it's so fabulous that upscale hetrosexual couples, who have enough green to hire all those Latino nannies I see during the weekday, have started to move in. All neighborhoods change; it's the nature of the city. And gentrification has its nice side: good coffee, lower crime rate, less garbage.
But it also becomes less funky. Businesses have a hard time staying open with expensive rents. There are a lot of empty store fronts. The Castro has many bars, but they've shrunk. At one time, there were 32 bars in the area, now it's shrunk down to 14. I'm not complaining; I don't need 32 bars, but with the bars passing, so does a zeitgeist of that time. It must have been a wild place. It still can be during the weekend, but the place is quieter, more tame. If this trend continues, how dull will this place become?
But perhaps I'm looking through rose-colored glasses at the neighborhood's past. Maybe it sucked to live here. And maybe the future will be great here. But I won't know the future because I can't afford to stay here. Who are all these people that can afford to live here? Who will serve them that good coffee? Who will play them the music? Who knows? Maybe I can find the next funky place and buy some property. I could move out ot the suburbs, but even the suburbs are expensive. Also, I’d rather have my eyes popped like a two balloons than live there. I think I'll just complain some more.
I live in the Castro, one of the more expensive neighborhoods in the city. It might have been a gay ghetto, but now it's so fabulous that upscale hetrosexual couples, who have enough green to hire all those Latino nannies I see during the weekday, have started to move in. All neighborhoods change; it's the nature of the city. And gentrification has its nice side: good coffee, lower crime rate, less garbage.
But it also becomes less funky. Businesses have a hard time staying open with expensive rents. There are a lot of empty store fronts. The Castro has many bars, but they've shrunk. At one time, there were 32 bars in the area, now it's shrunk down to 14. I'm not complaining; I don't need 32 bars, but with the bars passing, so does a zeitgeist of that time. It must have been a wild place. It still can be during the weekend, but the place is quieter, more tame. If this trend continues, how dull will this place become?
But perhaps I'm looking through rose-colored glasses at the neighborhood's past. Maybe it sucked to live here. And maybe the future will be great here. But I won't know the future because I can't afford to stay here. Who are all these people that can afford to live here? Who will serve them that good coffee? Who will play them the music? Who knows? Maybe I can find the next funky place and buy some property. I could move out ot the suburbs, but even the suburbs are expensive. Also, I’d rather have my eyes popped like a two balloons than live there. I think I'll just complain some more.
3 comments:
There's always a pup tent!
you live in a pit of greed
you are the spawn of greed
Pup tents in my neighborhood rent about $600 a month.
Hey Anon, you left out:
You are as sweet as mead
Your hair is like seaweed
That's where the cat peed
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