shikitohno t1_jaw2djf wrote on March 4, 2023 at 2:56 PM

Reply to comment by LongIsland1995 in NYC is more ethnically diverse, less racially segregated, report finds by Ice_Business

Yeah, this was me when I moved to the Bronx. I was in the same apartment for 11 years, and the only other white people I saw in my neighborhood were police, the odd school teacher commuting and the Mormon kids that got sent to evangelize around Highbridge and Mount Eden instead of at least getting a trip overseas out of their mission.

I would also say this study conflates living in the same neighborhood with actual diversity and integration in the community. Sure, my neighborhood had Dominicans, Mexicans, Africans, Haitians, African Americans, etc. all living in the same buildings, but they largely maintained their own segregation. One thing I think gets overlooked by better off white people who never actually live in these neighborhoods and only speak English is the amount of flagrant racism between minority groups. Hispanic groups vs Black people, Africans versus African Americans, then disputes within those groups as well.

A lot of the Bronx "gentrifying" just seems to me to be the real estate industry trying to manufacture it and raising prices hoping to get some idiots who'll fall for it. When I worked in Mott Haven, there were already buildings going up trying to charge $2500/month for a studio to live 6 blocks away from the train in the hood. There have been some hip businesses that opened up on Alexander and Bruckner, but you have literally a single hipster block where you see white people, then they hop in their cars and disappear.

LongIsland1995 t1_jawt1ka wrote on March 4, 2023 at 6:00 PM

Yeah for the white gentry crowd, the Bronx doesn't really offer anything that Brooklyn doesn't. It's no longer cheap.

That could change eventually, but right now I don't think it will gentrify the way Bed Stuy and Bushwick have.

And I agree with you that a lot of white people are oblivious to what race relations are actually like . It's like when boomers act like their neighborhood growing up was like Sesame Street, but fail to mention that this was because of white flight happening at an unthinkable pace.

shikitohno t1_jawv38z wrote on March 4, 2023 at 6:14 PM

It isn't cheap, and perhaps more importantly, it doesn't have the social life and other draws that Brooklyn does. Unless hipsters suddenly get into bachata and reggaetón, the Bronx largely lacks the sort of nightlife and businesses that might otherwise attract them in spite of the price.

LongIsland1995 t1_jaxdqup wrote on March 4, 2023 at 8:21 PM

Correct. There actually seems to be a lack of regular bar/pubs in most of the Bronx. That could change, but as of now it's nothing like even Bed Stuy in terms of nightlife.

Another thing is that most of the South Bronx was destroyed during the 1970s arson wave, and the buildings were replaced in the 80s and 90s with cheap looking Fedders houses. So it doesn't have that homey feel that Bed Stuy, Bushwick, Harlem, Washington Heights, etc. have. That's also why, in my opinion, Brownsville is of little interest to gentrifiers.