bushwick-cafe-1208.jpgThe gentrification meter just ticked up in Bushwick. According to that neighborhood’s blog of record, there’s a new spot to get your coffee-and-croissant fix all day long: Cafe Orwell opened up at 247 Varet Street last week. (Drip coffee “solid,” espresso “well above par” and number of electrical outlets “ample.”) Cafe Orwell is open from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. seven days a week. GMAP


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  1. Actually!!!

    This industrial section in Bushwick with a bunch of old buildings turned into lofts has changed in past few years. There are a lot of Hipsters living around here and all nearby business are striving. That said its still a long ways before being fully gentrified, but at the pace that Williamsburg is going Bushwick borderline east Williamsburg (anywhere near the L train) is the most affordable living for these type of college kids, professional artist and entrepreneurs.

  2. Of course, now factory space is so expensive (because it is pegged to the value of living space) few businesses can afford to locate there. Even though people are living there precariously, I am not in favor of changing the zoning in this area to legalize work-live or just live because then a bunch of developers will just swoop in and build hideous “luxury” condos.

  3. I think gentrification means a sharp and sudden rise in housing costs combined with a sudden influx of people who are, as a group, somehow noticeably different from the former occupants of the area.

    The people in Morgantown where this cafe is located are simply filling up former factory space. A little further to the south, rents in the last year have rapidly increased (while for-sale prices have rapidly declined) and relatively poor artists types are in fact displacing even poorer immigrants.