AM New York published an article last May discussing a report from NYU’s Furman Center that shows Williamsburg leads NYC in gentrification. The report showed that Williamsburg had a 78.7 percent surge in average rents between 1990 and 2014, while citywide, average rents had only increased by 22.1 percent in the same timeframe. Ivan Pereira also points out that “this isn’t new news,” but just looking at the numbers is astounding. Similarly in sports writing, you can gauge change by consistently watching game after game, but statistics can back up your claims of how and why a certain team or player has improved or regressed.
I’m really not all too familiar with Williamsburg, aside from the fact that the neighborhood is used as a running joke for “hipster town,” or just as the most heavily gentrified neighborhood in general. For the most part, I think of Williamsburg as an odd food haven, simply because I see Facebook videos and Instagram photos all the time of delicious-looking food at restaurants in Williamsburg. Of course, the fact they’re in Williamsburg already means I won’t be going, but it makes me wonder if I’d get more of an “Eeeeats” vibe from Williamsburg (similar to Greenwich Village), or if I’d get more of a “foreign land” kind of vibe (like where am I even?).
If Williamsburg is anything like Bushwick, I’d probably get more of a “foreign land” vibe. For some reason, I pair neighborhoods like Williamsburg and Bushwick together. I suppose it’s because they’re both on the L line and I would hate if I had to go to either one, plus they’re two common neighborhoods people refer to as gentrified ones.
I have actually been to Bushwick once. Never. Again. I had the absolutely worst hipster macchiato (or cappuccino or something, I can’t recall) for $3 or $4, and it wasn’t even lukewarm. Well, I can already tell things in Williamsburg are overpriced, so on top of hipsters and commute time, these are the reasons you’ll never find me there.
