« Real Estate Round-Up: August 9, 2007 | Main | A closer look at the 421-a revision; can you figure it out? »
August 11, 2007
Brooklyn Broadside: Development of the 'New Brooklyn' Continues
Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Dennis Holt writes about the 'New Brooklyn' of high rise buildings and that newcomers don't care about how dull the street their new building is on (he uses Lawrence Street as an example.) This is definitely true, but what Holt is missing is that the old-timers would not be mourning the loss of the old streets, but the loss of communities. Someone moving to a dull street who was lured in by a subzero fridge is not likely to participate in street level community activities, (as there probably are none) except for stopping by the closest Starbucks. This does not a 'neighborhood' make.
Some people have been moaning about the “Manhattanization” of Brooklyn, but that is an overblown concern, with one exception. The streets of Downtown Brooklyn to a newcomer don’t mean as much as they might to an old-timer.To the newcomer, it’s not the street so much as what’s on it — what kind of apartment building with what kind of views.
This week, Linda Collins reported from a web site report that the Clarett group would build a 51-story apartment building on Lawrence Street in the MetroTech complex. This prompted some blogger to snort, “Who wants to live on Lawrence Street” Lawrence Street may not be factor at all — it’s what the new building looks like, how the living accommodations are created, what it’s close to, and what kind of views are there.
Posted by amy at August 11, 2007 10:14 AM