The Gentrification of Highbridge

The Village Voice explores the gentrification of The Bronx neighborhood of Highbridge where folks from local residents to realtors are noticing changes.

Whether it’s craft beer popping up at local bodegas and more and more organic options, the signs are clear to all: Gentrification is here and will only get worse.

Coco McPherson and Neil DeMause explore what’s going on and provide valuable insights to what’s changed during the past few years compared to previous decades.

The Voice reports:

“For the most part, even amid the new construction, Highbridge is still a neighborhood of corner bodegas and mid-rise Art Deco apartment buildings — as of now, it’s unsullied even by a bank branch. (Locals have to walk down the hill past Yankee Stadium to do their banking.) But while the promise of new residents is as yet mostly hypothetical — the number of white Highbridge residents rose between 2010 and 2016 only from 288 to 664 — it also comes with a threat: Both those who live in Highbridge and the stores they’ve come to rely on could be priced out by a flood of new residents with the money to rapidly change the streetscape.

“We know what happened to Loisaida, to Williamsburg and its Latino community,” says Lassi. “Here it’s been taking its sweet time, but now it’s happening very quickly.”

Read the full story: Gentrifying Highbridge Faces a Rocky Future

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Ed García Conde

Ed García Conde is a life-long Bronxite who spends his time documenting the people, places, and things that make the borough a special place in the hopes of dispelling the negative stereotypes associated with The Bronx. His writings are often cited by mainstream media and is often consulted for his expertise on the borough's rich history.