Source: NYC Department of City Planning Report The Newest New Yorkers 2000: Immigrant New York in the New Millennium
Notes: Link downloads a huge PDF, so be patient. Open in Acrobat or Preview, scroll down and scan the charts and graphs for data on Brooklyn. Check out your country of origin and other groups from your neighborhood.
Source: United States Census 2005 Population and Housing Narrative Profile for Kings County, New York
Notes: Scroll down for the narrative summarizing the data. But also check out the links at the top of the page to demographic, social, economic, and housing data for Brooklyn. Tread lightly, there's a lot to take in. For comparison, try one of the other boroughs, like Queens.
Source: NYC Department of City Planning The New York Neighborhood Map
Notes: Link downloads a large PDF. Open in Acrobat or Preview and scroll around the boroughs, noting the organization of neighborhoods in Brooklyn, and along the Brooklyn-Queens border.
Source: United States Census Summary US Census data by Tract
Notes: Enter your street number, street name, and select Brooklyn from the dropdown menu, then hit "Map it!" Scroll down past the map to take in Census data for your Census tract. Compare your data with surrounding Census tracts by clicking on the red numbers on the map.
Source: United States Census Summary US Census data by NYC Community District
Notes: Gives summaries of census data for your Community District (the three or four neighborhoods around yours). Click on the link, scroll down the page, find your Community District, and click on it. The link downloads a large PDF. Scroll down the page and take in the data. Compare your area with a wealthier area in the borough.
Source: Steve Anderson New York Roads: the Gowanus Expressway
Notes: Highway enthusiast Steve Anderson's site on New York roads and his page on the Gowanus Expressway. Scan the long story of the elevated highway that bisects Sunset Park and the long debate about what should be done with it.
Source: NYC Department of City Planning Recent reports about Brooklyn
Notes:Recent projects, studies and proposals. On this page you can see the City trying to shape the outcome of development with local zoning plans. But which big developments are not on this page?
Source: NYC Department of City Planning The ULURP
Notes: History and stages of the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (or ULURP). On this page you can see how projects get approved. Take in the stages and note how everyone gets their say, even if only some voices are heard at the end.
Source: The Gotham Gazette The New Gentrification
Notes: By Rebecca Weber, from December 2000. An overview of gentrification in New York City. Focuses on Park Slope.
Source: Kathy Newman & Elvin Wyly Gentrification and Resistance in New York City
Notes: From the web site of the National Housing Institute, August 2005. Takes on the complex question of who benefits from gentrification. See how the process creates complex and competing interests in the neighborhood.
Source: The Gotham Gazette Artist Displacement
Notes: By Mike Mullar, November 2006. See how artists get moved on too.
Source: Center for the Study of Brooklyn Housing Displacement in Brooklyn: A discussion
Notes: Event held by the Center for the Study of Brooklyn. Transcript of a discussion involving Sharon Zukin (Brooklyn College), Aviva Zeltzer-Zubida (formerly of Brooklyn College), Lance Freeman (Columbia), Jim O'Shea (Churches United for Fair Housing), and Brad Lander (Pratt). Take in how difficult it actually is to study housing displacement.
Source: The Gotham Gazette The New Battle against Gentrification
Notes: By Allison Lirish Dean, August 2007. New ways to contest the local "growth coalition".
Source: New York Times Real Estate Section Community Profiles: Ranking by demographic data points
Notes: Look for "Ranking Data" in green below the map and find "click here". The link yields a calculator which allows you to rank Brooklyn neighborhoods by real estate criteria. Compare neighborhoods by all the categories and note which do best. Why did the NYT pick those categories?
Source: NYU Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy New City's Housing and Neighborhoods 2006
Notes: Links downloads a huge PDF file, so be patient. Open in Acrobat or Preview. Scroll down and find the data on your neighborhood and others than rank higher and lower on the NYT's comparison.
Source: New York City Rent Guidelines Board Rent Stabilization: FAQ
Notes: See how it's not as simple as people think: rent stabilization effects vastly more people.
Source: The Gotham Gazette Rent Regulation
Notes: By Robin Reisig, March 2003. Learn how changes made in 1997 significantly significantly weakened rent regulation by taking out of the system any vacant apartment that rents for more than $2,000 a month.
Source: The New York Times Summer Rituals under the Boardwalk: Keeping Peace on Salty Planks and Shifting Sand
Notes: About a retired police officer: Coney Island, the way is was.
Source: The New York Times Coney Island Plan is Scaled Back, but Critics are Skeptical
Notes: Will development recapture the magic and excitement of Luna Park, or will it be as neat & tidy and sedate as Jersey City?
Source: The Gotham Gazette Coney Island's Summer of Reckoning
Notes: June 2007. Guest authors take stock of the possibilities.
Source: City Limits Red Hook: Gloom with a View
Notes: By Mary Joe Neuberger, from August 1987. 20 years ago, and Red Hook had already caught the speculator's eye.
Source: The New York Times Two years later, a street still waits for its promised gentrification
Notes: By Trymaine Lee, August 2007. 20 years later, and Red Hook is still struggling to fulfil its promise.
Source: The New York Times Q&A with Red Hook developer Greg O'Connell: the importance of balanced growth
Notes: Center for an Urban Future, March 2005 (the think tank behind 'City Limits' magazine). Why it takes a long time, a lot of money, and even more luck to turn a neighborhood around.
Source: National Real Estate Investor Bruce Ratner's Grand Plan for Brooklyn
Notes: By Nancy Cohen, from April 2004. It's a whole new downtown for Brooklyn: a 21-acre complex, featuring a 19,000 seat basketball arena, 2.1m square feet of office space, 300,000 square feet of stores, and 4,500 apartments.
Source: brooklynspeaks.com Atlantic Yards Slideshow
Notes: How big is BIG? Slideshow at brooklynspeaks.com an umbrella organization representing local civic organizations like the Brooklyn Heights Association and preservation groups like the Municipal Arts Society.
Source: Forest City Ratner Community: Investing in Brooklyn
Notes: Linkloads a PDF. Take in the scope of the community benefits agreement.
Source: The Gotham Gazette Community: Investing in Brooklyn
Notes: Tom Angotti, November 2005. A liberal view argues that the Atlantic Yards planning process put the cart before the horse.
Source: The City Journal Kill off Atlantic Yards: The Forest City/Ratner project is everything that's wrong with the Empire State
Notes: Nicole Gelinas, December 2006. A conservative view argues that Atlantic Yards wastes public money on subsidizing private development.
Source: The New York Times Official seeks possible risk in big project in Brooklyn
Notes: Nicolas Confessore & Andy Newman, July 2007. Wonders if Forest City/Ratner can deliver the project on-time as scheduled.
Source: City Limits Cultivate the Grassroots: A new development model
Notes: Curtis Stephen, August 2007. Why the poor people's advocates ACORN support the Atlantic Yards development.
Source: The Next American City A new dynamic: Atlantic Yards challenges Brooklyn progressive politics
Notes: Michael Freedman-Schnapp, Summer 2006. Reflects on the canny tactics of the developers.
Source: Courier Life Publications Brooklyn Neighborhood Newspapers
Notes: Check out your local Courier Life newspaper.
Source: The Brooklyn Eagle The Brooklyn Eagle
Notes: Famous old name. Founded in 1841.
Source: Channel 12: Brooklyn The Brooklyn Eagle
Notes: Like New York 1 but for "da borough". Available on Time-Warner cable and to everyone via the Internet. Click on the links to see news video.
Source: Brooklyn.com Brooklyn Neighborhood Map
Notes: Go to the Neighborhood menu and pick your neighborhood. Ties in with Google Maps. Note the option top right of the map to switch to Satellite view.
Source: NotforTourists.com Annotated New York City Maps
Notes: Scroll down the page and look for the link on the right to "The Outer Boroughs". Open the maps in Acrobat and Preview and you will find that they scale up nicely.
Source: The Gotham Gazette Best of Brooklyn
Notes: Annotated list of inks to many of the borough's larger organizations.
Source: Dr. Jerry Krase Italian American Urban Landscapes: Images of Social and Cultural Capital
Notes: Brooklyn sociologist Jerry Krase provides an overview of urban theory and discusses how "read" the changing cityscape.
Sources: Selected Photoblogs
Big Sky Brooklyn
A Brooklyn Life
Brit in Brooklyn
City Noise: Brooklyn, NY