The Future of Highbridge/Gentrification

According to the most recent Community Health Profile, NYC Health indicates that New York City is seeing higher than median rent growth over the past 20 years. The New York metropolitan area has seen considerable economic growth, but in rapidly gentrifying neighborhoods many residents struggle to afford the region’s cost of living. Gentrification can be measured in many ways. One measure that is to determine if a low-income neighborhood saw higher than median rent growth over the past 20 years. Another is demographics and population changes. New York City has seen its Black population fall from almost 29% in 1990 to 22.8% in 2018. This shift is happening against a backdrop of climate gentrification, rising costs of living, and deep social racial divides.

In recent years, there has been significant development in the Bronx. Bronxites saw a median rent increase of 19% between 2010 and 2019. In New York City, the three highest eviction filing rates include neighborhoods located in the Bronx. Highbridge, which has seen new apartment buildings being constructed at an accelerated rate. Locals say, for most of the neighborhood’s history, it’s been too costly for anyone to remove rocks, a geological feature that helped the construction of mid-rise apartment buildings, parking lots, and single-family homes.

All that is changing, as the city’s development incentives help developers build new homes wherever possible. The largely low-income population, who make up nearly 90 percent of the neighborhood, are afraid of being displaced. For the most part, even with new construction, Highbridge is still a neighborhood of corner bodegas and mid-rise Art Deco apartment buildings. Even when we know that change and revitalization are parts of the urban cycle, many fear that those who live in Highbridge, and the stores could be priced by new residents.

The Village Voice reported that Highbridge started to draw attention when in 2017 the realty website Zumper ranked it as one of New York City’s neighborhoods with the fastest-rising rents. Recent census data shows an increase in population, even as most new construction is either recently completed or still in development. In 2020, StreetEasy released their yearly list of the ’10 NYC Neighborhoods to Watch′ and Highbridge made the cut. Longtime residents say they’ve already seen prices increase slowly, to levels unaffordable for many who live there.

We don’t know exactly how and why Highbridge became a hotspot for redevelopment. However, for decades, Grand Concourse has drawn more affluent residents seeking relief from the high rents in other areas of the city. There’s also the rezoning; many of the neighborhoods have always been zoned R7-1, which allows them to have medium sized apartment buildings. That makes the neighborhood’s collection of nineteenth-century single-family homes look like an underutilized housing stock. Businesses like automotive shops, are also in danger of being demolished to make way for residential units thanks to the Jerome Avenue rezoning effort, which passed in 2018.

In Highbridge, rents have increased and interest in the neighborhood has increased with searches jumping up 55% making it the second biggest increase in searches on the list. From 2018 to 2019, the median sales price also increased by 8% to $180,000 which is in line with a neighborhood experiencing gentrification.

Much of Highbridge’s story will be familiar to anyone who’s watched how gentrification has played out in other city neighborhoods. Residents were able to overcome the abandonment of the 1970s to make a more affordable neighborhood and at some point, it started attracting interest from newcomers. At this moment, there is a housing crisis in the city. Urban revitalization has caused a decrease in housing affordability and mass homelessness. To help this situation, communities need protective policies and protections that help revitalize their neighborhoods. Throughout my experience working and studying in the Bronx, I have seen the change in many areas. I noticed newer buildings, businesses and services that tailor a different clientele. But I have also learned that this is a resilient community, who will protect their neighborhood, just as it has protected its community gardens.

References:
Demause, Neil., Mcpherson, Coco. “Gentrifying Highbridge Faces a Rocky Future.” Village Voice, May 2018, https://www.villagevoice.com/2018/05/03/gentrifying-highbridge-faces-a-rocky-future/

Tapia, Elias.“Gentrification in the Bronx.” ENG 110: Mapping New York City Hostos Community College, Dec. 2019, https://eng110michael.commons.gc.cuny.edu/gentrification-in-the-bronx/

García Conde, Ed. “Highbridge Listed as One of 10 NYC Neighborhoods to Watch in 2020.” Welcome2The Bronx, Dec. 2019, https://welcome2thebronx.com/2019/12/11/highbridge-listed-as-one-of-10-nyc-neighborhoods-to-watch-in-2020/

Highbridge and Concourse Community Health Profiles, 2018. New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, https://www.nyc.gov/assets/doh/downloads/pdf/data/2018chp-bx4.pdf

Highbridge/Concourse BX04, Neighborhood Profiles Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy, https://furmancenter.org/neighborhoods/view/highbridge-concourse