... yeah, I've heard New Yorkers who grew up in the 70s-80s are pissed that they can't afford to live in their own city anymore.
We shouldn't become too romantic about urban blight and crime giving a city its 'edgy' quality, but "the good old, bad old days" have a certain charm and appeal.
The gentrification started almost immediately after the crime reduction in the mid-nineties. Williamsburg and the LES, which had been unlivable for years, became destinations. Mostly fueled by 20 somethings who enjoyed the rubbing up against the edgy qualities of the city, without ever having to actually go through the despair of growing up in it. Not that I did, either. I'm from Archie Bunker land. I just always found it funny when the hipster tells you he's "from" Brooklyn, though he moved to Brooklyn after spending his formative years in a suburban cul-de-sac. Saying that you are from Brooklyn used to mean that you went through NYC public schools, torture at the DMV, the BQE, and so much else. Now it seems to mean that you got $60K advance from your parents to study art history at the NYU. Never stepped foot in an NYC public school, never endured the tumult of a Brooklyn upbringing.
I mean no disrespect to NYC newcomers with that post, I just could never understand why folks were claiming to be from Brooklyn when they weren't. What's wrong with just being from where your really from?
Anyway, I have no warm fuzzy memories of high crime from those days. I just wish it hadn't gone full tilt in the other direction. Its a global destination now for luxury living. It's safe alright, but increasingly inaccessible to the commoner.
