The pace of change in CH continues

What's your next hottest nabe in NYC?

I have to say Crown Heights, mainly because of the Franklin Ave. corridor. There has been a surge in businesses and restaurants on Franklin, like Chavelas, Taste Buds and the Candy Rush. Crown Heights is still affordable, but the prices are on the rise. There are beautiful limestone townhouses, the Brooklyn Children's Museum and Brower Park. This neighborhood, along with Bed- Stuy and Sunset Park, is going to be hugely impacted by the opening of the Barclays Center. The domino effect has already begun.

http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/real-estate/a-broker-citi-habitats-senior-associate-broker-jamella-swift-article-1.1169534

Whether Crown Heights is still affordable is, of course, relative.

Impacted by cars, maybe

I'll admit to being biased as a proponent of the Barclays Center for bringing the NBA so close to home, BUT I really didn't notice a spike in traffic this past weekend. There were still parking spaces on the street on Underhill around 7 the other night, which is an hour before the sold-out Jay Z concert began.

A long-time advocate for the Atlantic Yards as an experiment in high density development and retro-fitting a live-work-play experience into our n'hoods, in the spirt of Jane Jabcobs, I find heart warming the following quote from an editorial in this week's Crain's:

As an urban planning endeavor, the arena has national importance. Putting Barclays Center in the heart of Brooklyn reversed the Meadowlands mistake that condemned the erstwhile New Jersey Nets to perennially low attendance. Its success will advance a promising trend toward incorporating entertainment venues into the fabric of cities rather than banishing them to suburban peripheries

Read more: http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20120928/OPINION/120929883#ixzz285JklDeh

The Atlantic/Flatbush intersection was a bit zooish last night around 8:00PM when I was heading home, but automobile traffic wasn't bad. Pedestrian traffic was unusually heave, though, and the apparently private traffic controllers were sloppy, though -- they weren't coordinating, and one was sending traffic across Flatbush while the other was sending pedestrians into their path.

That situation is not sustainable without a tragedy occurring.

The anti arena people are no doubt waiting in eager anticipation for the first pedestrian to be mowed down.

Meanwhile, those who work for Barclays center continue to put out very slick "pro-neighborhood" advertising:

http://www.barclayscenter.com/bctv/video/where-brooklyn-at-vanderbilt-avenue

Even my wife, who has been an arena-skeptic since the onset of the plan, admits that walking by she finds it very nice.

Seems like Brooklyn pride is springing up from all kinds of places. I heard there were about 7 protesters for opening night.

Some will no doubt hate me, but it really is an excellent location for an arena.

....my main gripe is it is a private enterprise, paid for by so much public money. When a show comes that I want to see, I'll be in line with everyone else. I hope we (the public) get enough tax revenue back to justify our investment. I hope next time, we invest even less and get back even more.

I'm greedy.

There is no cost too high for Bloomberg's luxury city