The themes in the article are so familiar, she likely got her ideas from Brooklynian or I Love Franklin Avenue.
While I'm glad the author finds these sites useful, to those of us that frequent these sites, the article merely reads like a summary of recent threads.
By large measure, that it the purpose of the traditional media: Repackage what neighborhood busybodies know, into a format that is believed to be digestible to a larger audience.
That is the job of the author, and she did it well.
However, this is part of why I prefer my neighborhood news raw, and try to absorb news about neighborhoods that I am less familiar with, with similar suspicion.
However, I did appreciate the quote:
A corner grocery at Lincoln Place and Franklin where Ms. Williams shops, Bob and Betty’s, is now selling organic food, mostly to young newcomers, and giving away cardboard boxes to older residents moving out.
The formula isn't complex:
Neighborhood with declining crime
+ improving bars, restaurants, shopping
+ existing transportation
+ lots of rentals
____________________________________________________
= newbies with money to spend will come in droves.
Unfortunately, many newbies will then make the mistake (and implicit assumption) of publicly wondering "why didn't the people who lived before me want these things, and take care of their neighborhood?", and the old timers will seethe at the implicit insult.
Sadly, many newbies fail to realize that even in the most troubled neighborhood's, most residents want better something better but have not had the power to exclude the negative elements.
For the first time in a long time, this neighborhood now has that power. To the horror of those who have long wanted it, they will learn that this "new" power is very imprecise, and that no one actually controls it.
...and, as it always does, the beat will go on.
For better or worse, the change on Nostrand is going to make the change on Franklin look minor.
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