Journey through Harlem on foot

xerces · Posted: Fri Jan 11, 2008 9:06 pm Post subject: Journey through Harlem on foot

I have been meaning to do this ever since I came to NYC, and last weekend I did. It was a very surprising journey to say the least. In my earliest childhood memories, Harlem was spoken of as this den of crime, as a symbol of urban decay and so on.

As I walked up Madison avenue into Harlem however, the picture was surprisingly different. I journeyed uptown from 120th street to the water line at 160th st. Large swathes of Harlem has apparently received a makeover, it's no longer ghetto-like at all. Significant areas of this portion of the island is now clean and plush with high-end jobs and restaurants. This area has the exterior looks of a well to do community now. What is interesting is that this vitality seems to be built upon the basis of a ghetto.

So I still see these old 60s housing project buildings that I've read about as a child. But many of them have now been converted into co-ops and private condos. And it's pretty incredible, but the "Projects" looks great when the surrounding lawns are studiously maintained and converted into almost a park-like environment. The bottom levels of these buildings are clearly renovated into either high-end shops/restaurants or into very nice looking lobbies with security guards and such. Harlem is still the same ghetto beneath it all, but somehow, it's now a place filled with culture and urban refinement. I wonder if post-peak cities will have such rejuvenation as surrounding suburbs shrink due to spiraling transport costs.