NY Times - Last Stop on the L Train: Detroit

[Dan_the_man]

He referenced Barclays Center as Park Slope, and then claimed to live in Park Slope. No one who knows NYC would claim that Barclays Center is in Park Slope. You could say Prospect Heights, or Fort Greene or downtown Brooklyn, but not Park Slope.



The poster claimed that Park Slope "reeks of grease". The evidence is that there's a Shake Shack. Putting aside the fact that there's no Shake Shack in Park Slope, the presence of a foodie burger restaurant does not make a neighborhood "reek of grease". If this were true then we could say that almost every decent urban neighborhood in the Western world "reeks of grease".

And if Detroit got a Shake Shack there would of course be a giant celebration and any concerns of $10 yuppie burgers and burger smells and the potential for burger smells to allegedly cause neighborhood decline would magically be forgotten.

Going by the boarders in Google Maps, it sure looks like the Shake Shack in is Park Slope, if just barely. And yes, while the Barclays Center is not in Park Slope, it is right across the street. Stop nitpicking about such peculiarities.

The map shows the boarder as defined by google as well as the Shake Shack. There are plenty of other restaurants next to it. I can not argue for their quality or lack of.

[hortonz]

With the University of Windsor set to begin construction on a new $12.8 million school of visual and performing arts in downtown Windsor and Wayne State and the CCS nurturing Detroit's burgeoning arts scene, this could have the potential to create an arts and music corridor that spans two nations and leads to the revitalization of downtown Windsor. Great News!

[bust]

He referenced Barclays Center as Park Slope, and then claimed to live in Park Slope. No one who knows NYC would claim that Barclays Center is in Park Slope. You could say Prospect Heights, or Fort Greene or downtown Brooklyn, but not Park Slope.

The poster claimed that Park Slope "reeks of grease". The evidence is that there's a Shake Shack. Putting aside the fact that there's no Shake Shack in Park Slope, the presence of a foodie burger restaurant does not make a neighborhood "reek of grease". If this were true then we could say that almost every decent urban neighborhood in the Western world "reeks of grease".

And if Detroit got a Shake Shack there would of course be a giant celebration and any concerns of $10 yuppie burgers and burger smells and the potential for burger smells to allegedly cause neighborhood decline would magically be forgotten.

No, he used the term "emblems of the neighborhood's downward spiral since the arena opened". The claim is absurd because 1. The arena isn't in Park Slope, 2. The area around the arena has absolutely boomed and 3. Park Slope has absolutely boomed.

Anyone who claims Park Slope is in decline, Barclays Center is in Park Slope, and Barclays Center caused decline [[or had any effect) in Park Slope knows nothing about this corner of Brooklyn. Park Slope has nothing to do with Barclays Center.

Park Slope is a twee brownstone neighborhood centered on Prospect Park and the relative merits of developments a few miles away are non-issues when it comes to potential home ownership.

It's beginning to seem pointless discussing this with you if you're going to keep misquoting me so.

1) I said the $15k rental is in Park Slope, on its fringe, steps from the Barclay's center. That's true. The Barclay's Center is in Prospect Heights, but you can throw a dart from there and hit Park Slope. I did not say the Barclays Center is in Park Slope.

2) I said that block of the $15k rental reeks of grease from Shake Shack. That's true. Shake Shake exhausts their kitchen out the back. Try sitting on the front stoop of that rental some evening when it's downwind a gentle breeze. I did not say Park Slope is a grease pit.

Meanwhile, Shake Shack is for foodies? Really? It's a short step up from Wendy's. And with locations in shopping malls, ball parks, train stations, an airport, a casino, and from Texas to Turkey to Moscow to Kuwait -- it's a fast food chain.

And the Barclays Center has no affect on Park Slope? That's even more absurd. To see how it does just walk from under the giant blue stadium signage where 5th Ave starts and head South. You lack the knowledge of a local so it will be hard for you to understand what businesses have closed and which are the new ones that replaced them. But if you come after dark at least you won't be able to miss all the bright signs and widescreen TVs. Most are new, especially the TVs.

Or since you're professing your opinions from Oakland County, maybe you can visit virtually, using Google Maps. Have you noticed the neat "time machine" feature they've included in "street view"? It allows you to compare images of a location across time, and can give you a semblance of historical perspective. Keep checking back.

But too bad Street View can't show you what happens to the neighborhood after a game or a show lets out. Nicki Minaj plays there this Sunday. That should be fun. Or hahaha soon: Motley Crue. And I can't wait for the three nights straight of professional wrestling coming up. The piss will really flow then.

Finally, no one would say the Barclays Center could be considered to be in Fort Greene except someone who doesn't know these neighborhoods. There are clear boundaries delineated by wide avenues. You claim to have lived here but you've also proven loose with facts. My guess is you have a daughter here, in a different part of Park Slope, and all your opinions are based on visiting her there. Far away from the Barclays Center of course there is little impact.

Most of Park Slope is great, if ridiculously expensive. Some people here consider it a paradise for certain types of young parents, though I have my doubts it's the best place to grow up.

In any case, my advice to her: Consider whether it's time to sell. I'd certainly hesitate before buying in today's market unless you're looking at it more as an opportunity to buy into the neighborhood, and not as an investment.

A savvy investor exploits imbalances in value. New York and Detroit -- maybe that's one.

[bust]

After this I hope we can put an end to the discussion about the neighborhood of the $15k rental in in Park Slope. This tacky sign went up 1 or 2 days after the last comment:



It hangs on 5th Avenue, between Dean and Flatbush, less than half a block from the $15k rental, halfway between it and the Barclays Center, and around the corner from the Shake Shack. The perspective of the photo looks South-West. Note the recently vacated buildings in the background whose landlords are angling for Barclays Center related new tenants. The $15k rental is about two dozen steps to the right.

https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/201...slopes-5th-ave

To the left of this sign between Dean and Bergen sits a new three storey "Irish" bar with giant tv screens that looks like it belongs in New York's Midtown and hired a woman to stand out front practically naked above the waist [[guarded by two bruisers) to attract the post- Nicki Minaj concert crowd.

This has been way too much talk about Brooklyn. My point after all has been that Brooklyn has become crazy expensive, has been losing its value proposition as prices have skyrocketed even while quality has by some measures started to decline, and Detroit by comparison is looking better and better -- its recently inflated valuations in prime locations notwithstanding.

Re-build and renovate Detroit. People will come.