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Segregation is the key here, not poverty. Poverty is nevertheless a factor, but it is usually a result of segregation. When public funding such as education, i

Segregation is the key here, not poverty. Poverty is nevertheless a factor, but it is usually a result of segregation. When public funding such as education, infrastructure, healthcare, and police are take away from these segregated, poor, high-crime communities to "safer, richer" communities, then gangs rise. Popular culture portrays most gang members are African-Americans and Hispanic-Americans, and whites are generally bikers (and they usually live in south/mid-west). That kind of stereotype only makes crime situation worse. In NYC, at least from my experience, a diverse neighborhoods - influx of different cultures and races, different earning incomes, and different religious can help smooth out the tension. Diversity is not a magic bullet, and in some neighborhoods we don't see a big drop. Yet, a diverse neighborhoods have better chance in demanding for better resource distribution, so in the long-term the neighborhood will drive the bad out as the bad has little to feed on. So the key is to remove segregation, have more diverse voice, and encourage neighbors talk to one another other.

dionidium 9y ago
Segregation seems like the most salient factor to me. NYC is seeing an almost unbelievable amount of re-integration of previously all-black areas. I'm not aware of anywhere else in the U.S. that's seen such a broad change in its black neighborhoods. In places like Bedford-Stuyvesant and Central Harlem, the white share of population has increased from 1-4 percent or so in 2000 (i.e. basically non-existent) to anywhere from 10-25% (depending on the exact area and how you break it up). And growing. Segregation has been a disaster for black neighborhoods. More than anything else, this change feels to me like a big one.
- yeukhon 9y ago
  Right. I graduated from City College, which is located at 137th, basically Harlem for those that don’t live in NYC. There have been robberies and rapes near the school (145th and St. Nicholas Park), but generally, I felt very safe when I was a student there (I have walked north of Harlem and south to Columbia by myself before too). Crimes will never cease to happen, so one can only wish not not becoming that unfortunate target. However, the violence in the old days is pretty much non-existence. Some shootings every so often, but most arrests are probably robberies, sexual crimes and illegal drugs possessions. Housing in Queens and Brooklyn are becoming less affordable. Then business owners like Chinese resturants and retail franchises are moving in to snatch the new population. The 1,2,3 trains are convenient to travel from and to Manhattan, so ideal for university students and young singles.
- mancerayder 9y ago
  It's great that there's de-segregation and I agree with your sentiments. On the flipside there's a backlash, in the form of a knee-jerk anti-gentrification sentiment that rapidly escalates on racial terms. Both politically (community board priorities and attitudes) and on the street - there's a lot of hostility towards newcomers. That one's incredibly complex. What you laud as desegregation, many in Bed Stuy, etc. would call displacement.
mc32 9y ago
> Yet, a diverse neighborhoods have better chance in demanding for better resource distribution I think what you see when you have new populations come in (be they foreign or domestic) is "gentrification". The newcomers can instigate redevelopment and reinvigorate a neighborhood. Sometimes this result is not well received by some locals, but usually other locals with some interest in the community welcome the newcomers.

dionidium 9y ago

Segregation seems like the most salient factor to me. NYC is seeing an almost unbelievable amount of re-integration of previously all-black areas. I'm not aware of anywhere else in the U.S. that's seen such a broad change in its black neighborhoods. In places like Bedford-Stuyvesant and Central Harlem, the white share of population has increased from 1-4 percent or so in 2000 (i.e. basically non-existent) to anywhere from 10-25% (depending on the exact area and how you break it up). And growing. Segregation has been a disaster for black neighborhoods. More than anything else, this change feels to me like a big one.

yeukhon 9y ago
Right. I graduated from City College, which is located at 137th, basically Harlem for those that don’t live in NYC. There have been robberies and rapes near the school (145th and St. Nicholas Park), but generally, I felt very safe when I was a student there (I have walked north of Harlem and south to Columbia by myself before too). Crimes will never cease to happen, so one can only wish not not becoming that unfortunate target. However, the violence in the old days is pretty much non-existence. Some shootings every so often, but most arrests are probably robberies, sexual crimes and illegal drugs possessions. Housing in Queens and Brooklyn are becoming less affordable. Then business owners like Chinese resturants and retail franchises are moving in to snatch the new population. The 1,2,3 trains are convenient to travel from and to Manhattan, so ideal for university students and young singles.
mancerayder 9y ago
It's great that there's de-segregation and I agree with your sentiments. On the flipside there's a backlash, in the form of a knee-jerk anti-gentrification sentiment that rapidly escalates on racial terms. Both politically (community board priorities and attitudes) and on the street - there's a lot of hostility towards newcomers. That one's incredibly complex. What you laud as desegregation, many in Bed Stuy, etc. would call displacement.

mc32 9y ago

> Yet, a diverse neighborhoods have better chance in demanding for better resource distribution I think what you see when you have new populations come in (be they foreign or domestic) is "gentrification". The newcomers can instigate redevelopment and reinvigorate a neighborhood. Sometimes this result is not well received by some locals, but usually other locals with some interest in the community welcome the newcomers.