The following is from a recent Time Out NY article, Why the hipster must die
Power will be consolidated in the frontiers of the outer boroughs as the Vicious tighten their grip on Bushwick and the Sweet flee south to Kensington and Windsor Terrace, or give up and move to Queens (better yet, to their rightful home: the West Coast).
We really don't get what the whole article was talking about cause honestly it bored us. We just skimmed to the part on our nabe and stopped. Anyway, we're sort of laughing to ourselves, yet again, that we're being recognized for something hipster-ish. At the end of the day, we dig all people hipster, non-hipster, etc. etc. and think any press for the hood is good.
To all those naysayers out there... Even though we'd like a coffee shop one coffee shop does not a hip nieghborhood make. Nor do a few hipsters! So why not have a little fun w it and dream about the day Dennys is filled with those kids who ride the bikes without brakes (and gears). Wouldn't it be fun to protest the trucks on Caton with a bike mass like the one the 'cool' kids got together for during the Republican National Convention. We knew there was a reason why we liked hipsters! Move here come on!
Thursday, June 7, 2007
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24 comments:
Well..
when hipsters move into working class neighborhoods with affordable housing it makes the neighborhood more desirable for people with more money to move in which ends up raising property values and rents which then squeezes out the working class over time. eventually the uniqueness of the old kensington disappears while in the interim the contrived coolness of hipster lifestyle makes the 'hood fun until the blandness of condo-culture settles in and destroys the character of the neighborhood. i realize this is all part of the cycle of change but i feel that nyc culture and american culture in general is vaporizing and what’s taking it’s place is bland corporate culture and the hipsters seem to be a catalyst in this - wheather they mean to or not.
pala
thanks for telling it like it is, pala!
oops! please excuse my poor spelling - sorry.
pala
how come you anti-gentrifiers never get angry about artists? after all, they settle in cheap neighborhoods before the hipsters do. it's the cycle of life: artists - urban settlers - young people/"hipsters" - older people w/money/kids - the end.
best to just wall off the place now - that'll show 'em!
I'm not sure what the fuss is about. People move into areas that are affordable, and prices rise as an area becomes more desirable. THERE'S NOTHING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT
It's capitalism.
If you don't like this sort of thing, move to a socialist or communist country.
you are right - it is a part of capitalism. but bloomberg and the other powers that be are relaxing zoning laws to encourage high-rise high-price development throughout the city in a reckless way that's disrupting the delicate balance needed between people who can afford condos and working class people who can't, BOTH of which are needed for a functioning nyc.
pala
Yes, there's the cycle. New Yorkers understand (probably those in SF too). But, the new crux is the general disparity between "artist" and "hipster". The Soho model had artists not only seeking cheap rent, but also light and space. All these factors led them to NYC's formerly underutilized industrial areas. In the East Village, musicians seeking rent, a place to play, and dope led to the colonization of CBGBs. In both cases, the population of these largely white fringe dwellers wasn't enough to amount gentrification i.e. displacement. But, that was the 60s and 70s. Stuff's moving a lot faster now. And I think what defines the conceptual and current "hipster" or even "urban settler" is their perceived desire to find and pay for the cultivated NY cache' without actually being an artist, a homesteader, or even wanting and appreciating what NY is or was. Williamsburg became Billyburg way after artists found space and musicians discovered the L train. I've always considered it a pre-fab Disneyland, fulfilling these young persons IDEA of NY. Not much different than the Vegas version.
here is a simplified example...
there was a time when getting a tattoo and a pitbull and wearing old jeans and t-shirts was just something some people just happened to do and it was who they were/are. now it's a sign of conformity. it's like people come to nyc and by the boat loads get a pitbull and an arm full of tattoos and an old t-shirt and a fixed-gear bike and walk down the street in some hunched over bullshit kind of way to express coolness and it just all looks fake and stupid.
anon 11:59 - that's kinda what the TONY article is saying; that being a hipster is less about being cool and more about being a caricature of yourself...but thinking that you're still the coolest ever.
is your complaint with the way they dress or what they do to real estate values/development? because if you don't like their clothes/tats/dogs, well, you have to grow up. who gives a fuck? and if it's real estate issues, better to complain about moms and dads pushing expensive strollers, because there the ones creating real housing demand.
i'm guessing you folks probably aren't going to complain about the latter, because the latter may very well be you or your friends.
pala and noisejoke, I love you both.
Brooklyn Mama
http://brooklynmama.typepad.com/my_weblog/
Well as far as the tattoos/dogs/etc. thing goes, I think people are sick of it because there seems to be this culture of people “feigning” street cred with their lifestyles. It’s very very contrived and when one is surrounded by it it gets to be tiresome and even obnoxious. I don’t think it’s the strollers exactly that’s causing this demand for high priced condos – it’s the city relaxing the zoning laws allowing these monoliths to go up attracting more people with lots of money to Brooklyn. (And some of these people do splurge on expensive strollers)
pala
logic doesn't track - zoning lets developers build big buildings, but those buildings aren't attracting people to Brooklyn - it's attracting people who are priced out of other parts of Brooklyn. And one of the reasons they're priced out, btw, are because zoning restrictions in other nabes keeps developers from building big buildings there, which keeps housing stock low and prices up. I'm not necessarily a fan of the If you really want to blame someone, blame the people paying ever-increasing amounts of money for homes in Park Slope, Cobble Hill, Fort Green, etc.
People are coming to Kensington because its safe, livable and relatively cheap. Be glad those conditions exist, for now.
I love you too, B/Mama!
Uh, but what I say?
More nonsense to spew: maybe Hipsters arent' hip cuz there's too many of them.
In the "old/er" days people came to the city to reinvent themselves or actually to be themselves. And lots of times they were New Yorkers (myself included). Whether you were Milton Berle or Allen Ginsburg or the Ramones you escaped the boros, then later LI/Jersey, etc to be artsy or gay or both, or at least get some real excitement. I'm 43 now. When I was in High School out on LI, few of my contemporaries were coming in for gigs, movies, food, drugs. Even in 1982 I didn't want to be pegged as a Punk Rocker - it was as limiting as anything else. But, I loved me some black jeans.
Now almost 40 years after my family left Crown Heights and over 20 years since I've returned to Bklyn, the volume of newbies is pushing down the F train. And now WE are facing and dealing with gentrification. Not only the poor, but actual denizens of the middle class from collar to collar. Let's face it, it's now about big money - developers, retailers, and those with the cash to rent or buy high.
I was on the Q Cortelyou in the morning and they are defintely in Ditmas Park (thus soon in Kensington)... saw a girl in all black, huge sunglasses, men's baggy army shorts over white lace stockings and boots or other shoes. I don't mind them, but I do find their way of dressing incredibly funny.
I really don't see why all the venom towards them other than that they have come to symbolize "change" in a neighborhood where some people don't want it. And the fact they dress ridiculously. :) One thing I notice are how many more young (20-30s) asian professionals have popped up in Ditmas Park (and thus soon in kensington) in the last few months. If you want a sign of things changing towards gentrification, that would be one of them.
I can't believe how intolerant some of these posts are--I thought this was a welcoming, diverse neighborhood--guess not. Who cares how a person dresses or what kind of glasses or haircut they have? My god, life IS change, if you don't want your neighborhood to ever change or those different than you to move in to your "private sanctuary", then you really need to move to a gated community and throw away the key. I welcome anyone who wants to move to our neighborhood--even if their style is different than mine, so what!! Some posts seem to be saying, "Keep diversity--don't let people with money or hipsters in," but letting them in along with others who might be different than you IS diversity. And if they bring a coffee shop, stroller, or strange outfit with them, then great!!
welcoming? Depends on your block. My neighbors asked me who was moving in next door "are they jews, I heard they were jews" "Are they fag jews?"
Sorry, A LITTLE gentrification will make me personally happy. As much as I don't like yuppie hipsters, give me a struggling artist with an open mind wearing a silly outfit any day instead of a anti-semitic homophobe.
But really I want the neighborhood to find a way to balance both. And that is all about economics.
Hey, I welcome anyone. Just because some of us just like to poke fun at hipsters sometimes (among others), it doesn't mean we're not a tolerant, friendly, or diverse loving people. Let's not bash the people who just find them interesting in a "people watching" way. I'm not against them moving here... ok, i guess that will start another group to begin bashing :D *shrug*. Live and let live.
anon 9:56 - Your neighbors sound like my neighbors!! I totally agree, i would trade my racist neighbors for hipsters, artists or even furries in a heartbeat. :)
Since when is asking if someone is jewish racist? Did your neighbor say they should be pushed into ovens because then that would be racist? Or did your neighbor ever tell you how much the gays will burn in hell?- That's intolerant.
To just ask if the guy is a gay jewish man isn't racist, and although I understand the word fag has a negative connotation I'm one who believes it's just a word, btw that gays use it all the time- ala fag-hag, which I totally am.
A coworker of mine took offense once because she was showing me a pic of someone and I told her he looked Irish. I've got nothing against Irish people, I was just saying that judging by this picture if I had to guess I would say he is Irish- what's wrong with that? (I was right- he was Irish)
Hipsters try too hard to be cool to the point where it's now trendy to hate on hipsters- Not even hipsters like hipsters!
Anna Bee, what are furries? Just wondering...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Furry_fandom#Furry_lifestylers
Basically people that like to dress up as animals LOL. :)
so slash and burn agriculture in the back yards and the lean tos that support the wintermelons are not hip but i kind of like it. excuse the nonsequiter please
I personally can't wait for Kensington to gentrify. Many of the local yokels are homophobic losers and I'm glad to see them priced out.
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