Brooklyn Gentrification Maps, The Highs And Lows

Gentrification is one of the most emotionally loaded words in Brooklyn. Some welcome it with open arms, embracing all the artisanal cheese and organic coffee shops left in its wake. Others detest it like a virus, decrying the loss of the “real” Brooklyn, horrified by the hipster harem left in its wake. Those less concerned with the culture wars point to the skyrocketing rents that uproot poorer and working class families out of their neighborhoods.

For those people, here’s the latest map confirming their suspicions. Provided by Propertyshark via Gothamist, the map outlines changing property values in Brooklyn from 2004 to 2012. Only residential properties were included in the analysis, measuring the values of single and two family homes, condos and co-ops.

The darker the red, the higher the jump in real estate prices. And them red parts are exactly where you’d expect them to be.

In Sheepshead Bay, there has been a 10 percent decline in property prices, a figure that puts it in the stagnant zone. Those worried about a hipster invasion in Sheepshead Bay can take comfort that they are not Williamsburg, which, unsurprisingly, has seen a whopping 174 percent increase in property prices.

Other areas surging with hipsters and high prices include Fort Greene (+51 percent), Gowanus (+52 percent) and Lefferts Garden (+63 percent). Southern Brooklyn’s very own Coney Island also saw a bump of 25 percent.

Not all of Brooklyn is so hot though. Cypress Hills saw a 30 percent drop in property prices while the supposedly up-and-coming Red Hook only saw a relatively stagnant 10 percent boost.

Of course, none of this is to say that Southern Brooklyn has cheap real estate. In fact, some of the largest residential deals have recently been in Gravesend and Manhattan Beach. But it does show that over the past eight years, home prices have stayed relatively stable, even through recession, while Northern Brooklyn developed, gentrified and saw dumpy commercial areas give way to so-called luxurious living.

Sheepshead Bay and its environs, though, remain the bastions of middle class families, with steady real estate prices and unflinching resolve in the face of the hipster hordes. We were here before they came, and we’ll be here when they go home to Arkantuckisconsin.

And, in case they get any ideas, here’s a reminder to our Northern Brooklyn neighbors: stay above the line.