Ahhhh... good ol' Williamsburg. Years ago there wouldn't be a white person in sight in my old neighborhood, but now they're all over.... buying up warehouses, turning them into overpriced lofts. Nothing like paying $3,000 a month to live across the street from Borinquen Plaza projects (where I grew up in).

The new warehouse owners even kept the grafitti on the roof tops for the "cool" effect.

__________________
CafeParents.com

As usual, the people funding the cranes start the change. Then the bottom feeders (us) come in and profit on a house by house basis.

We didnt start this boom, the rich folk did. The Fishtown or SWCC (ha) natives didnt start the boom, the rich folk who came in buying homes by the dozen did. Hint: they were not artists, musicians (lol) or other broke ass 'intelligent' or 'interesting' people.

You speak like these wealthy folk buying the big dollar new construction are not 'interesting.' Am I reading this wrong?

Ha

If you want to deal with the roaches, rats, and crime of Baltimore - go for it. I would take D.C. over Fell's any day of the week

And I'll take Richmond over both! :clapping:

__________________
CafeParents.com

Molloy- you know as well as I that it goes both ways. "Uninteresting" rich folks quite often pay a lot to live near "interesting" not-so-rich ones. But yes they do knock some economic crumbs down the food chan to keep the "interesting" poor ones afloat and yes -not everyone who's got dough to buy fancy new "artist-style" lofts is "uninteresting". See IMPAQ's comments above.

Plus what is so lol about musicans owning houses in this town. I know several including my next door neighbors. There are 4 or 5 serious jazz cats I can think of who live in Philly precisely because they own houses and play a little here but can take the train up to NYC if a good gig comes along.

All I am talking abut re creative folks here is a small but significant reality that housing prices here make possible even today with the boom in prices. There is a reason why Fringe took off here while the one in NYC is smaller johny come lately.

Actually, Molloy has it ask backward.

It's the folks (artists, freaks, etc.) who first move in and "tame" a neighborhood. Then they get pushed out by the second generation, which gets pushed out by the bankers, lawyers, stockbrokers,e tc. Then, when the neighborhood is really tame (read dull), the cranes come in and build their highrises.

Man, I've been though it in New York, in DC, in New York again and now in Philadelphia. It gets a little tiring. But, let's face it. The big investment only comes in when a neighborhood is seen as being "hot."

Not a whole lot of cranes in the "not-hot" neighborhoods. Thank goodness.

__________________
“Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody.” - Jane Jacobs

There are no high rises in Fishtown, or the extended grad hospital area. There never will be. Artists or musicians have not tamed either of these areas. Yes, that did happen in Old City and I guess now No Libs.

Im looking at what we have here in Philly, right NOW. The investors, realtors, and interst rates made it happen in those 2 areas.

The one thing I'm not liking about many of these new developments is how blase the developers have seemed at incorporating the rest of neighborhoods into them. For example, the Waterfront Condos are gated. I HATE THIS! There is no chance of a Delaware River waterfront promenade that can run up the whole city now. It also has basically made it that you need a car to live there(I imagine most would have cars, but if you look at NYC or DC, even the rich use PT there).

__________________
I've Made a Huge Tiny Mistake

- On the lookout for black people and immigrants

Molloy - you're too much of a kid. It's a continuum, which repeats itself endlessly. First the artists, freaks, radicals, etc (my kind of people). Next, it's the young businesspeople, etc. Then the bankers, etal. (there goes the neighborhood). Then the cranes.

It will happen in Fishtown (if they don't blow it up with a LNG facility). And it will surely happen in the Graduate Area.

The whole transition takes 30-40 years - first folks started moving back into Old City in the sixties. Uf we're lucky, people will eventually find Old City unlivable and it will fall . .. . and then the artists, freaks, etc can move back in. And so it goes.

I envision the day when Wilmes will be seen as a pioneer and her home will be demolished to build a blatstein highrise.

And you'll still be driving around looking for a parking space. Of course, you may be drooling a bit by that point.

__________________
“Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody.” - Jane Jacobs

hrm, lost that post. Lets try again

Did this happen in Fishtown or the area known as 'SWCC'? Did artists and whoever else 'tame' this area before the realtors/investors/$$$ got there?