The Changing Neighborhood For Bedford Stuyvesant Rentals

By Allyson Burke


It may seem a contradiction in terms to want to find a rental in Bedford Stuyvesant or to be doing anything but buying up properties and getting rid of rentals, but Bedford Stuyvesant rentals raise some of the most interesting questions about the direction of the neighborhood. There was a time when to rent there meant nearly assuring yourself of becoming the victim of crime. Even now with many new properties fixed up or old ones torn down the crime rate is too high for most. Two gentrification efforts have taken place in the twenty-first century, one in 2000 and one in 2010. The neighborhood is changing in good and bad ways.

Bed-Stuy has long been, since 1930 when it joined the Brooklyn political community, a place for African-Americans, mostly lower income and many spilling over to Brooklyn from Harlem. Several public schools near by including a high school named after the entertainer and political activist Paul Robeson, are near by. Located in the northwest part of Brooklyn, Bed-Stuy is also known for lovely brownstone buildings which are fun to renovate. Social problems have long kept gentrification out.

Now, as more and more attorneys, restaurants, bars, clubs, galleries, cafes and creative offices move in to the Bed-Stuy area in favor of the cheaper rents, the texture of this unique part of New York is changing quickly. Old time residents are feeling the strain on their rents and ownership as new tenants with much more cash move in to occupy. Another feature of the neighborhood besides architecturally-inviting buildings is its proximity to good metropolitan train and bus service. This makes transportation for commuters easy.

Shirley Chisholm, Lena Horne, Richie Havens and Vanessa Williams are among the famous African-Americans to grow up in and come from Bed-Stuy. Additionally, the number of well-known rappers is quite high. Jackie Gleason who was born nearby in 1916 and grew up there as one of the few white residents.

Lower prices for property, transport, proximity to Pratt, and overall affordability make this place a gem for opportunistic thinkers. Gentrification implements new policing at the same time and so crime rates are driven down. Crime has always made Bed-Stuy cheaper to live in than other neighborhoods. It remains a frontier for those willing to invest in order to secure property and assets in New York, even if it is in Brooklyn. The whole of Brooklyn is becoming more desirable.

The issue with gentrifying any neighborhood is that it tends to drive rents up, units off the market, reduce the number of rental properties available, thus making impossible, lower income people to remain there or go there. It almost always forces out long term residents which is does not sustain community, but causes displacement.

the history of immigration in Bed-Stuy is one of African and Caribbean influx. Many new families there are also black, but upwardly mobile and middle income. Landmarks such as Pratt make for a positive and educated community, one which will also invest in lowering crime and developing.

generally, some change in poor neighborhoods can produce effective changes in crime and poverty. New opportunities can become open to the children of older residents. But generally, gentrification waves in Bedford Stuyvesant rentals make for precarious relations between the new people and those who built an effective community for years.




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