Blog 3

“My Brooklyn” by Kelly Anderson was a very educational documentary. The film maker walked us through her life journey living in Brooklyn. She moved there at a young age after college searching for an affordable neighborhood in the bustling city of New York. She spoke of her experience moving through various neighborhoods in Brooklyn until she bought her own apartment. While she settled down she noticed the changes in her area. The demographics were changing and the affordability of apartments were also changing. Throughout the documentary she showed some changes that were occurring and would go around asking people their opinion of what was happening to downtown Brooklyn. Some loved the upcoming changes and some opposed it. The most controversial part of the documentary was the Fulton mall strip. The street is well known for its stores and catering to the people of Brooklyn. As the years went by many businesses were declining because shoppers were either shopping elsewhere or purchasing items online. Developers saw an opportunity to go into an area and change the zoning to add traffic to the area of downtown Brooklyn. They proposed a zoning change and a developmental plan that will attract developers into Brooklyn. In the initial plan they stated that the new high rises going up in the area would be used for office space only. I find it funny that as the design development phases were happening they changed their plans and most buildings became residential. By changing the zoning developers have the freedom to add what they want to the neighborhood. Many community members were opposed to the high rises because those in the neighborhood would not be able to afford the apartments. They also opposed it because the rich history of the popular Fulton mall strip was in the process of being destroyed. The neighborhood was becoming gentrified and was not going to benefit the existing community. Many other topics were brought up during the documentary but my opinion on it is that for a neighborhood to succeed and evolve change must happen. Its unfortunate that many businesses were shut down but they should’ve been educated enough to know that things like that occur and sometimes you get the short end of the stick.

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