Creatives Flock to Bklyn, But Are They Endangered?
Brooklynites: Artsy and disdainful of working for the man. Brooklyn experienced the fastest growth in self-employment of any borough between 2000 and 2006, according to stats released yesterday at panel hosted by Center for an Urban Future and the Brooklyn Economic Development Corporation, with those employed in the creative sector (graphic designers, artists, architects, writers,…
Brooklynites: Artsy and disdainful of working for the man. Brooklyn experienced the fastest growth in self-employment of any borough between 2000 and 2006, according to stats released yesterday at panel hosted by Center for an Urban Future and the Brooklyn Economic Development Corporation, with those employed in the creative sector (graphic designers, artists, architects, writers, etc.) accounting for the biggest chunk of that increase (their ranks rose by 33 percent). Park Slope, Williamsburg, and Downtown/Brooklyn Heights top the borough, respectively, each with between 2,500 and 3,500 residents who count themselves among the growing class of creative professionals, according to the BEDC, which used figures based on Census data from 2002 and 2005. The corporation calls these neighborhoods the borough’s creative crescent, and some of the talk at the panel yesterday was about how rising residential values in such areas threatens to crack the crescent. There’s no data to support this view, though an article on The Real Estate yesterday tried to come up with some anecdotal evidence. For example, playwright Scott Atkins, who founded the Brooklyn Writers’ Space and Room 58, says, A one-bedroom apartment with an office in center Slope is now $2,700, Mr. Atkins said. It’s unbelievable that rents could be so high and that the market is supporting it… we have seen more people come into Brooklyn, but we’ve also seen a lot of people going to Philadelphia, Jersey, and Vancouver. People go to L.A. all the time… Some move to upstate New York. If there’s a case to be made for Brooklyn’s creative class drying up eventually, the best evidence might be across the East River: Manhattan’s self-employed creative population grew an anemic 6.5 percent between 2000 and 2006.
Brooklyn’s ‘Creative Crescent’ In Danger of A Drought [The Real Estate]
Photo by Luke Redmond.
Philly is not so bad.
it’s definitely not NYC, no one in their right mind would say so but it has its charms and it is much cheaper than here.
The problem with Brooklyn, and NY in general, is that while housing costs have soared, incomes have not. I doubt your average designer/architect/whatever is making with comparable experience is making that much more more than in 2001, but housing costs, not to mention other necessities like food and health care have soared, in some cases are several times greater.
If you are an artist/writer/musician who is doing well critically, and is getting income from your art but still needs to work a day job to fill in the gaps, New York is becoming an increasingly sucky place to be. You might be able to find a job but it won’t be enough to pay your bills…and if you have kids, forget about it.
Philly is not so bad.
it’s definitely not NYC, no one in their right mind would say so but if you are somewhat established as a writer or artist it’s a reasonably cultured place which is much cheaper than NYC.
The problem with Brooklyn, and NY in general, is that while housing costs have soared, incomes have not. I doubt your average designer/architect/whatever is making with comparable experience is making more than in 2001, but housing costs, not to mention other necessities like food and health care have soared, in some cases are several times greater.
If you are an artist/writer/musician who is doing well critically, and is getting income from your art but still needs to work a day job to fill in the gaps, New York is becoming an increasingly sucky place to be. You might be able to find a job but it won’t be enough to pay your bills…and if you have kids, forget about it.
“LA may be a cesspool but life can sure be sweet there and you do not have to be in Forbes’ richest list to buy a really cute house.”
Response: “You’re joking right? Have you actually priced LA real estate? Any place worth living in is very expensive.”
EXACTLY. If we spent the million we did to buy a smaller house in an up and coming neighborhood in Brooklyn, in Los Angeles, we’d either get half the space in a crap house that needed a lot of work, or we’d be buying way out in a subdivision in Orange County. It is NOT affordable to buy in Los Angeles even with all the foreclosures. The bubble was huge out there. All the whiners complaining about how fast and high prices rose here over the last few years, just look at prime neighborhoods in L.A. where home values quadrupled. I am not exaggerating. The house I sold in 2002 sold last year for 4 times what I sold it for and in that particular neighborhood the values have held up even now because it had become so hot.
Relative to the rest of the world, Brooklyn is actually still very affordable for being a huge international city with a good job market.
someone asked who was moving to phili and santa just answered the question.
jesus christ people are high strung
Baltimore??? you joking right, you are comparing BALTIMORE to NYC circa any time in history??? (the Bronx is more than 2x the size of Baltimore)
Look we get it – you don’t like NYC anymore, too clean, to rich, too little crime, too few homeless, etc, etc – I got news for you – your in the MINORITY, more people are staying in NYC and coming to NYC (and being born in NYC) then anytime in recent history. Not only that but demographics and enviromental factors favor urban environments like NY – if it means that we end up losing some of the younger less successful ‘creative’ types – so be it (although I doubt that will happen anyway)
But you just make yourself sound like a total moron when you compare NYC to Baltimore or even Philadelphia – NYC has 8+M people (Baltimore has maybe 650k, and Philadelphia has 1.5M) in a metro area of 20+M people – Philadelphia is virtually a boro of the NYC metro area and Baltimore is a wreck and likely will never recover. Either way – neither is an International city of the scale and reach of NYC and they NEVER will be.
I wish people could allow a little reality and perspective enter their thoughts.
what kind of person moved to NYC in the 70’s and 80’s?
The kind of person moving to Phili and Baltimore now.
if you are into being an asshat = brownstoner
i went to art school, but “sold out” and now work at a hedge fund. i rent in prime park slope and am helping price out the “creatives”. if you can`t afford the rent where you want to live, you have to do something… either move to the ghetto or do what i did. either way kind of sucks. btw, i still make art when i can, so i guess i am a hobbyist but my work is at least more badass than the asshat`s in the pic.
if you are into fashion = new york
if you are into classical music = new york
if you are into finance = new york
if you are into advertising = new york
if you are into publishing = new york
if you are into journalism = new york
if you are into dance = new york
if you are into indie rock = new york
if you are into architecture = new york
if you are into acting = los angeles