I have lived in Williamsburg, Brooklyn for about 10 years. I lived in Williamsburg when the entirety of the Northern half of WIlliamsburg was: drug dealers, empty lots, and prostitution. The area was very dangerous and this is where I grew up. However, this was my neighborhood. It was a community that came together and culminated together that has slowly become uprooted. We looked out for each other and enjoyed each others company. It was truly a family. I knew my neighbors and they knew me. Slowly the area started to change.
My first instance in which i remember gentrification was in 2007. Across the street from my grandmothers house, there was a newly made condo. Initially, it was a stark contrast to any of the other buildings on the block. It was bright, white, and possessed a modern look. None of the other buildings on the block were like this, it held a different ambiance. The other buildings on the block were aged: they were torn down and the painting in the interior were chipped. The newly-made condo building marked the eventual shift that Williamsburg will go on to become.
Currently, Williamsburg can be considered a piece of Manhattan in Brooklyn. It is extremely expensive. The food, the rent, basic amenities, have all risen in price. The original population can no longer afford to live in Williamsburg. As a result, the poor leave to wherever it is they can afford, often times these areas are dangerous and worse than where they lived originally. A prime example of this occurring is in Canarsie, Brooklyn. As Fausto Tavarez a local in the community once said, “Wages rise at a minuscule level, while the rent soars exponentially.” Welcome to my new neighborhood!