Affordable Housing in CH Discussion

Some light reading on the topic appeared in today's Ebony:

http://www.ebony.com/news-views/notes-from-gentrified-brooklyn-045#axzz2Zn0hpnW4

While I find I have more in common with readers of Ebony than I do some other magazines, I do not actually have a subscription.

"The neighborhood she regarded as hers,

is now regarded by others as theirs.

However, neithers' status is assured

in the long term."

whynot_31

July 22, 2013

In present day Brooklyn, people struggle to figure out the interplay between the various factors (race, class, income, etc) and then come up with weights and ratios that work for them.

Because we are individuals, none of us are going to come up with exactly the same answers. However, -again- because we are individuals, we then have the urge to tell each other they are wrong.

I liked her piece because it seemed to understand that, as well as the fact I perceive it as being spot on.

You are free to read it that way. I viewed it as expressing a sense of loss, because "her" Brooklyn is no longer what it was.

It now exists only in her memory, because everything and everyone who used to live here is gone.

I experienced a similar feeling when I went back for a college reunion: The campus had been massively renovated and redesigned, the students didn't look or even think the way I did. ...It was no longer the place it was, and it was never going to be so again.

Yet, someone from development had the nerve to ask me if I wanted to donate.

whynot_31 said:the students didn't look or even think the way I did.

You expect us to believe that used to be different?

whynot_31 said:

I viewed it as expressing a sense of loss, because "her" Brooklyn is no longer what it was.

It now exists only in her memory, because everything and everyone who used to live here is gone.

Exactly, whynot! It's not talked about as often but some longtime residents aren't pushed out or priced out or motivated mainly by cashing out. Sometimes they leave because they feel left out of a place that has become unfamiliar right before their very eyes.

Nothinlike-

I think it is talked about more than we realize, but --because the discussions do not occur in "mixed company" or in front of large audiences-- we are just not there to hear it.

In "polite society", we are afraid to state in public how much we prefer to be around people and businesses familar to ourselves. I think this hesitance stems from not wanting to offend and/or endure the tired accusations that inevitably follow.

Humans are rarely as simple as public discourse describes them, and I find it sad that people don't seem to grasp the complexities of preferences, and don't realize that everyone has them to some degree. Some people seem to condemn others for having any preferences at all.

Money is a classic example. It is a thing that most people like, and people like to condemn people for liking.

While few leave "lots of money" on the table when it is offered, when one moves, money alone can't buy everything that people (including the writer of the Ebony article) seem to value.

As you allude, statements such as "well, you got lots of money for cashing out", and "you are just bitter because you couldn't buy/rent there at the new rates" don't tell the whole story.

Whether they want to or not, some people become attached to the full array of factors that make up their surroundings.

In the case of Western Brooklyn, things they thought would never change, quickly have changed. Their sense of permanence and consistency is lost.

An additional thing that isn't talked about very often, is that this sense of anomie/alienation is compounded when those leaving realize that those "creating the change" openly state they don't necessarily have long term plans for the neighborhoods in Brooklyn: "I might stay, I might not. It depends."

In otherwords, the person leaving does not end up feeling that the sense of permanence and ownership they perceived is valued or even sought by those who are following them.

Those leaving seem to believe the newcomers should want to stay in Brooklyn forever, as they did. However, those arriving have far more opportunities and power than those who are leaving. As a result, they see western Brooklyn as a good place to live for a while: While they explore their options and become who they are going to be.

...A few of the newcomers might carve their name in the freshly poured concrete in front of the new condo, but as not many as those leaving would like.

It would be difficult to measure, but (as you point out) some newcomers might even struggle with the change MORE than those who are leaving.

The newbies seem to struggle with the fact that they are a part of the larger environment (be it the world or the neighborhood), whether they like it or not. Like the author, some take conscious steps to NOT express preferences and tell others about them.

However, faceless entities like "the business community" expect that they (as a group) will -in fact- express their preferences, as they have in every other neighborhood in which they have arrived.

Such generalizations offend and trouble this subset of newcomers; They want to think that they are different.

They want to be treated differently, because they believe they treat others differently.

As a result of inheriting the world in its present condition, they want to believe that the groups that they are a part of (perhaps their "generation") are different than those who came before them. That they are not repeating the "mistakes" of the past.

Slowly, over time, most come to terms with how much of life they can change. They reach an understanding of the power they possess, which includes what is possible in the present environment and what is not.

As a result of this process, some even forgive the prior generations for sins and "mistakes" they have perceived them of committing.

They slowly comes to terms with who they are, and to what degree others are like and unlike them. Slowly, they create a less rigid, less idealistic definition of what is "fair".

They realize that life is not as simplistic as what they may have been taught or concluded: It can not be simply defined and understood in terms of racism, classism, oppression and privilege.

At times it is painful to watch. At times it is humorous. Regardless, they have to go through it for themselves. Because if folks who have already been through it try to tell them not to go thru it [or to go about it in a different manner, or that they won't be successful] they (we?) will be told that they (we?) are jaded cynics, and sell outs who have become part of the machine that they believe is evil.

Our efforts may even make them respond by trying harder, which will just increase the pain.

Thus, our moral obligation may be to be quiet. Very quiet.

shhhh.

Today's Curbed and this weekend's NYT Magazine provide some timely related reading: http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2013/07/24/why_rent_regulation_laws_cause_all_sorts_of_terrible_problems.php#more

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/28/magazine/the-perverse-effects-of-rent-regulation.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&;

I came across this ad for a property for sale in Park Slope today.

http://www.terracrg.com/setups/219_13th_Street.pdf

I post it because page 2 clearly shows the disparity in rental income a landlord receives for the different units. All of the apartments started out as rent stabilized, but thru the processes we describe above, many are not.

As part of considering how much to bid for building, the buyer "bets" or "estimates" how easy it will be to convert the remaining units to market rate. The processes used are documented through out this thread....

Usually, a tenant who is being overcharged must take legal action against their landlord. As discussed above, this takes place pretty rarely in "changing areas" because the tenants are willing (and able) to pay the rate.

The new state agency enforces the law on its own, without a complaint being filed by a tenant. This may cause LLs to be a little less blatant about breaking the rules.

http://www.brownstoner.com/blog/2013/10/landlords-object-to-tenant-protection-agency-after-investigation-of-crown-heights-owner/?ic_source=ic-featured-frontpage-top