South Park did an episode a few weeks ago about gentrification that reminded me a lot of what's happening in the Riverside/Brooklyn area.
http://www.avclub.com/tvclub/tackling-gentrification-south-park-comments-itself-226145
In Summary: Jimmy Fallon slams South Park as a town because one of the teachers from South Park is running for President (who's basically spoofing Donald Trump) And he calls them a bunch of backwoods uneducated hillbillies.
South Park wants to fix it's image problem, so their solution is to get a Whole Foods to move into town, because apparently that's how you show your town's made it. (Think about all the buzz when Fresh Market opened up here) So they create an arts, dining and entertainment district and call it SodoSoPa, South of Downtown South Park, in hopes of winning the coveted Whole Foods franchise.
I could not stop laughing at this episode, especially consider I work right across from 220 Riverside and the Brooklyn apartments. I've watched this transformation take place over night. This clip is spot on! haha
https://youtu.be/miXMWJyOdgw (https://youtu.be/miXMWJyOdgw) South Park - The City Part of Town - "The Lofts at SoDoSoPa"
This episode was fantastic! lol
It was pretty entertaining. I haven't watched South Park as much lately, but this episode surprised me. They're definitely maturing with their original fanbase, doing an episode on gentrification and all.
"The Lofts, at the residences, at Historic Kenny's house" haha.
I've lived in the middle of a few entertainment districts before, so I couldn't help but laugh when it showed people dining and drinking right outside their door step. (I lived right in the heart of downtown Jax Beach a while back) That was...too close to the action.
My roommate is working on the Healthy Town Development and this episode really struck a chord with him. I loved "The Residences at Historic Kenny's House". Also, any episode about City Wok is a good episode.
Oh yeah? A few of the guys here at Haskell are working on the Healthytown project in some capacity, not sure what exactly.
For all of the spoofing South Park did of those types of developments, i'd live there in a heartbeat if I had the cash and could convince the lady to leave Mandarin. I enjoy the live/work/play balance, of these types of communities loved it when I lived at 11E, just wish downtown had more amenities back then
Honestly those places they showed in the "SodoSoPa" clip looked pimped, i'd hang out there! Right now I think 5 points has a nice balance of the old the new. I can do my old haunts like wall st, birdies and Rain Dogs, but do Hawkers, Black Sheep & Derby when I want a different experience.