Majority of the people who live in Community Board 1 area (Greenpoint and Williamsburg) are homesteaders, the poor, and the middle working class. White non-Hispanics comprise of 60.8% of the population living there (Brooklyn Community District 1 profile in 2010). Housing units in District 1 are 85.8% occupied by renters. The main issue faced by the people who now live there is that the 2009 tsunami still has an impact on the community. There are still floodwaters and some construction worksites are either delayed or abandoned. These factors lead to increase rents and decrease lease renewals for longtime tenants. This force them to move out of the community. I do anticipate that there will be conflicts between the interests and demands of different groups of residents. One conflict will be between the landowners and the tenants. The landowners will want higher rent to earn more profits and the tenants will want a lower rent that they can actually pay with their incomes. Another conflict might be with the housing priority. In the District Needs Statement, it is stated that the housing funds will be first given to the poorest of the community. This can cause some conflicts since people can feel unsatisfied if they feel that their situations are not good but they aren’t at the front of the line to get housing first. There will also be conflicts between developers and the tenants since the developers’ definition of affordable might be different from the tenants’. The developers building the houses will want to earn profits but if the rents are low to accommodate the tenants, the developers might not earn as great of a profit and decide not to build the housings.
The pressures “from above” are those with power and money such as private businesses. They have their own ideas on what to build in communities in order to bring themselves the most profits. The interests “from below” are those who are actually living in the community. They witness firsthand what the community is lacking and what the community needs in order for the residents to continue living and thriving there. The interests of different groups can be reconciled if all the groups come to an understanding. For the landowners and developers focused on immediate profits, let them know that a step must be taken first in order for people in lower and middle class to climb the economic ladder. The rents will be proportional to their incomes and as their incomes rise, the rents can also gradually rise. However, the landowners and developers must first allow people to even have a chance to flourish and they won’t be able to do so without an affordable place to live. Nothing will be accomplished unless the first step is taken in order for any of the groups to get what they want. I don’t think it limits the community boards’ potential to shape their community even if they only have an advisory voice on planning and zoning issues. The community boards are made up of people who actually live in the areas, they are the witnesses to what is happening to the community. Their voices will always be important and must be heard.
Jenny, you make excellent points about the conflict between pressures from above and below! Land ownership and building ownership are a constant source of tension. You’re right that a community board is closest to the “grassroots” and knows what is troubling the residents–I wonder what happens when a community board, inevitably, is divided between different interests and points of view.
Professor Zukin