Sunday, February 11, 2007

Eye on Sunnyside

Check out the CBS Real Estate Report on Sunnyside and listen to the second half where people under 30 buying condos is discussed. They don't plan to stay. They have a community "on the move," so to speak.

Sunnyside, Queens

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Let’s take a look at the buzz words from that broadcast: diversity (Asian, Hispanic, Mexican), increasingly ethnic with plummeting white population, yuppie looking for an investment in properties with few restrictions, easy to rent the space, appreciation for turning the building over and moving on.

Observations:

• You cannot say the word ‘Queens’ without saying the word ‘immigrant’ within two or three seconds.

• When you ask young families whom are looking to move into a community and to put down roots, they tell you they look for schools, taxes, good solid housing stock and place quality of life issues very high on their list. Access to Mexican restaurants is nice but not essential.

• You are encouraging yuppies to exploit our community by treating it only as an ‘investment,’ filling it with immigrants, then once they have milked the property, they are encouraged to sell out on their ‘investment’ and move on.

• There is no language on encouraging any sort of civic commitment from these property owners, nor is there any hint at attracting owner occupied landlords to actually live here and make a commitment to build a better future here. Nothing on suggesting they get involved in local civic groups to push for improved municipal services.

• The silence from local officials and the community board on this ‘marketing’ of their community is mute testimony that they not only agree with this, but perhaps have had a hand in putting garbage like this together. Their lack of outrage does not auger well for the community they are, at least on paper, committed to ‘serve.’

• Final observation: it does dovetail nicely with that Hunter study, and not with the wishes of Sunnyside Gardens. The silence of the Gardens on junk like this is simply digging their own grave.

Anonymous said...

I believe that the census statistics still list "White?" (whatever the hell that category means anymore) as the largest group in Queens followed by "Asians" and "Hispanics", who are just about equal in numbers. Am I correct on this? If so, why all the incorrect buzz in the media?

Anonymous said...

Interesting points on the first post. Someone should start to think about creating city policies to encourage responsible ownership and to encourage responsible civic involvement.

Anonymous said...

sunnyside is an awesome neighborhood for those starting out. pricing is much less than long island city, which markets to the yuppy crowd. sunnyside has established services unlike lic and is much safer at night. check out the starbucks on 46th st. most of the people moving into the neighborhood are professional and upwardly mobile. all ethnicities are moving in, including whites. the irish presence is obvious with the abundance of small bars along queens blvd. there are lots of restaurants with all types of fare. real estate pricing? you can't beat the pricing for a 15 minute commute to manhattan. you can get a studio for $300k in lic, but in sunnyside, you can get a 2 br where you could get rental income to help pay your mortgage. which is the smarter choice if you're just starting out making $50k/yr?