TOD:
The Manhattan neighborhood in which I live (which has been referenced in musicals by Stephen Sondheim, Cole Porter, and Jason Robert Brown - see if you can figure it out) has gone through several cycles of change in my 35 years, both good and bad:
* Early 1980s - people fled to the suburbs or outer buroughs in droves, as drug use, muggings, and vandalism escalated.
* Late 80s/early 90s - The hemorrhaging slows a bit, as a transient population of recent college grads and newlyweds stay for 3-5 years before moving on. This does not much help some of the established communities, particularly the German Jewish community which was a neighborhood mainstay during the 50s and 60s. A half-dozen synagogues close and/or merge with each other to stay functional.
* Mid/late 90s - Crime reduction and relatively affordable housing starts drawing in the artistic crowd: musicians, actors, and fine artists, particularly ones with families, move in in droves. Local parks and playgrounds get makeovers. Housing prices start to rise.
* Early '00s - A trickle of young Modern Orthodox Jewish singles turns into a stream, then a flood. One once-dying synagogue in particular benefits from the newcomers, seeing its membership increase nearly 10-fold in a five-year period. Other professionals move in as well, particularly clustered around one desirable school district. Housing prices move into the unaffordable range. As commercial landlords raise rents, whole blocks of mom-and-pop stores close down, to be replaced by chain stores, "upscale" boutiques, and fusion restaurants.
* Mid '00s - present: Idiotically greedy developers start building "luxury" condominiums in the working-class and slum parts of the neighborhood. Some projects run out of money during development, leaving ugly holes in the ground, while others get completed, leaving ugly, half-empty buildings in their wake. Rental prices hit the "absurd" point, causing a repeat of the early '80s flight to the 'burbs and outer boroughs, albeit for different reasons.
