By 2022, Franklin Avenue might be as nice as today's Smith Street.

http://www.bkmag.com/2016/03/22/the-rise-and-fall-of-smith-street/

I believe it.  I moved to Cobble Hill in 1996 and Smith Street back then was pretty desolate.  There was the Fall Cafe and Patois opened soon after, but there were no other bars or restaurants opened late at night when I first moved in.  It changed really quickly and by 1998 I was no longer able to afford the rent in the area and moved to the south Slope/Greenwood area.

As the article states, Smith Street is now becoming desolate once again.

The properties along it are now so expensive that the restaurants can not afford them, and they seem to be waiting to be waiting for entities like Fidelity and T Rowe Price.

Besides Starbucks what are the grumbles about?  Franklin is a strip of mom and pops.

There are some mom and pops left, but most of the bars and restaurants have principals in common with other bars and restaurants.

It does not bother me.

 

the way smith street is going a bit backward and franklin forward, it may be earlier than 2022

It might be.

I find that I now look at areas like the UWS to predict what commercial establishments will be on Smith Street in a few years.

...the demographic is highly educated, wealthy, and often has young children despite being headed by parents in their 40s.   

The Franklin Ave/Nostrand Ave demographic that has kids tend to be parents in their 30s and late 20s. Of course, I'm leaving out the many young adults w/o kids and the Chabadniks. 

Yes, I see a lot of them.

...but I also perceive the demographic as rapidly changing over the next few years, as a result of the types of housing and schools that will soon be provided.

This link of the Big 16 developments provides me with a lot of my thought process re housing:  http://www.brooklynian.com/discussion/44634/links-to-the-big-16-developments-in-western-crown-heights

Smith street is not appealing and lacks the character it once had. Hopefully Franklin goes another way

Here's a list of the stores that didn't survive the next wave on Smith:

https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20160426/boerum-hill/map-smith-street-had-more-than-dozen-closings-past-year