Under the Radar Urban Comebacks

[Steely Dan]

We all know about how downtowns/city cores across the nation have rebounded over the past several decades from the urban dark ages, but this thread is for urban places that were egregiously hard hit by de-urbanization in the bad old days that are now showing signs of life and maybe don't get enough recognition for the progress (even if slow) that they are making.




I'll start it out with Chicago's south lakefront, the 8 red Community Areas on the map below (not including 34. Armour Square & 37. Fuller Park as they are mainly west of the Dan Ryan expressway). Together they total 13.14 sq. miles




once the heart of the city's hyper-segregated "blackbelt", much of it was an overcrowded slum by 1950, that started emptying out as more areas of the south and west sides were opened up to blacks in the post-war era. throw in some HEAVY doses of slum clearance/urban "renewal", and by 2010 it had experienced severe population loss.


1950 population: 525,568

2010 population: 174,501

drop: -351,067 (-66.8%)


but over the 2010's the area finally turned the corner and was broadly seeing the beginning of population rebound.

2020 population: 191,354

growth: +16,853 (9.7%)


there is obviously still a LONG way to go before Chicago's south lakefront starts resembling the fully built-out north lakefront, but that nearly 10% growth last decade is nothing to sneeze at for a place that has taken it so freaking hard on the chin, and it's an absolutely wonderful start!

the area still has a respectable average population density of ~14,500 ppsm, and though it will never come close to touching half a million people again, even if it could rebound back up to ~300K over the next several decades, that would go a long way toward stitching it all back together as a more fully functional sub-area of urban chicago.



how about your city, what severely hard hit non-downtown area doesn't get enough recognition for its comeback story?

[LA21st]

The northern section of south LA. Between Culver City and Historic South Central, encompassing USC and the West Adams area. West Adams has been taken over by the CIM Group developer. Has a bright future.

Its not there yet, but its inevitable. It already had some decent urban bones, but was neglected after the riots. Its not really discussed here or even in the LA forum. The LA times had a recent article about it though. This area could be a density hot spot from its location and transit.

The train is bringing new development. Could be very different by 2030. Or even the Olympics

[benp]

The Broadway-Fillmore neighborhood of Buffalo, 4 Census Tracts, 2 square miles, formerly the core of Buffalo's Polonia, still home of the Broadway Market. This area was the neighborhood most affected by depopulation and urban blight in the city.

1950 population: 50,320
2010 population: 8,644
drop: -41,676 (-83%)

2020 population: 11,651
growth: +3,007 (+35%)

Most of the increase was repopulation of vacant or underused housing, predominately by South Asians moving from NYC. This area also has a disproportionally high number of vacant lots. So far there are only a few hundred new housing units planned or in work in this area, and few properties remaining for new residents.

62 out of the 79 2010 Census Tracts in Buffalo showed population increases in 2020, with Broadway-Fillmore tracts seeing the greatest percentage change.

[Steely Dan]

^ NICE!

It's so awesome to see a place pummeled by de-urbanization like that begin to turn around.

There is hope!!

[iheartthed]

While all of the NYC boroughs have consistently grown since the 1970s, I don't know if outsiders realize that the outer boroughs have done most of the lifting to grow New York City's population in the past few decades. The population gains in Brooklyn and Queens alone since 1990 would be enough people to create America's 10th largest city.

Population gains since 1990 by borough
Queens: 453,886
Brooklyn: 435,410
Bronx: 268,865
Manhattan: 206,715
Staten Island: 116,770

[Steely Dan]

^ it's almost as if NYC is on some other kind of urban level

But seriously, NYC's stunning overall population growth aside, in the spirit of this thread, which sub-area of NYC got smacked down the hardest in the dark ages and has since turned it around?

I'm guessing maybe the south Bronx? Those images from the 80s of literally crumbling tenements with like a car on fire in the background, or some other such post-apocalyptic view, are certainly hard to believe 4 decades later.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

^ it's almost as if NYC is on some other kind of urban level

But seriously, NYC's stunning overall population growth aside, in the spirit of this thread, which sub-area of NYC got smacked down the hardest in the dark ages and has since turned it around?

I'm guessing maybe the south Bronx? Those images from the 80s of literally crumbling tenements with like a car on fire in the background, or some other such post-apocalyptic view, are certainly hard to believe 4 decades later.

Hard to say which area had the hardest fall and biggest rebound since so many places had a hard fall and big bounce back. You could make an argument for many places such as Harlem, the Bowery, Hell's Kitchen, Williamsburg, etc. But those places don't seem under the radar to me.

The South Bronx has long ago recovered in population, and is definitely gentrifying, but it still feels a bit rough around the edges. Not in a dangerous way, but in that there is still a very working class and below vibe that doesn't yet feel like its being displaced by people with deeper pockets in the way that it is in Brooklyn. There is a lot of new housing along the Harlem River that is reminiscent of when the Long Island City waterfront was beginning to gentrify 15ish years ago, so we may see more stark changes in the next few years.

The NYT did a really good before and after piece on Williamsburg's transformation. I think a lot of people would have a very hard time conceiving of how much it has changed in a very short time. Some of the most expensive blocks in the entire city today were riddled with empty lots just a couple of decades ago... scenes that would not have looked out of place in Detroit. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/...-timeline.html

I don't have numbers on hand to show the changes, but Brooklyn gentrification has clearly gone deep in the borough into neighborhoods like Ocean Hill (a previously dead name that's being revived by real estate agents -- also a tell tale of gentrification), Brownsville, and Flatbush.

[streetscaper]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

^ it's almost as if NYC is on some other kind of urban level

But seriously, NYC's stunning overall population growth aside, in the spirit of this thread, which sub-area of NYC got smacked down the hardest in the dark ages and has since turned it around?

I'm guessing maybe the south Bronx? Those images from the 80s of literally crumbling tenements with like a car on fire in the background, or some other such post-apocalyptic view, are certainly hard to believe 4 decades later.

I still can't wrap my head around what's happening in the South Bronx. A whole new skyline and waterfront in the span of a few years.

[ColDayMan]

For Cincinnati, the West End comes to mind immediately. Spillover from Over-the-Rhine, perhaps, but it's a remarkable turnaround from the hell it once was.

1970 17,068 −59.3%
1980 12,886 −24.5%
1990 11,370 −11.8%
2000 8,115 −28.6%
2010 6,627 −18.3%
2020 6,824 +3.0%

It lost, well, a lot. It's the middle-left area:

www.flickr.com

The West End (and Queensgate) prior to urban renewal: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped..._End_1940s.png

[jmecklenborg]

Originally Posted by ColDayMan

For Cincinnati, the West End comes to mind immediately. Spillover from Over-the-Rhine, perhaps, but it's a remarkable turnaround from the hell it once was.

1970 17,068 −59.3%
1980 12,886 −24.5%
1990 11,370 −11.8%
2000 8,115 −28.6%
2010 6,627 −18.3%
2020 6,824 +3.0%

I disagree. The West End has merely "stabilized". There have been few if any demolitions in the last 10 years, outside of the FC Cincinnati soccer stadium. Meanwhile, the area has not begun gentrifying. Two schools have sat vacant for 10 years awaiting apartment conversions, but neither project has happened. Also, not a single new-construction house has been built.

But a few miles east, the East End has definitely transformed. It has morphed from a run-down Appalachian strip (pickup trucks, confederate flags, barking dogs, arguments) to Yuppie City. Tons of new construction and yuppie stuff like microbreweries.

[ColDayMan]

Originally Posted by jmecklenborg

I disagree. The West End has merely "stabilized". There have been few if any demolitions in the last 10 years, outside of the FC Cincinnati soccer stadium. Meanwhile, the area has not begun gentrifying. Two schools have sat vacant for 10 years awaiting apartment conversions, but neither project has happened. Also, not a single new-construction house has been built.

But a few miles east, the East End has definitely transformed. It has morphed from a run-down Appalachian strip (pickup trucks, confederate flags, barking dogs, arguments) to Yuppie City. Tons of new construction and yuppie stuff like microbreweries.

I mean, the West End in 2002 was a no-go-zone for like 95% of the neighborhood. I'll take the "stabilization" anydayoftheweek of that neighborhood, which clearly was helped by OTR's recent gentrification in order to stabilize to begin with. Otherwise, let's not go back to either neighborhoods' glory days of Smitty's and a bust-down KFC.

The East End has generally been in slow improvement since the early 2000s when they built that awful row of townhomes with garages on Eastern.

The true comeback king, really, is Pendleton but it's so small I didn't feel like including it. The 2024 comeback king now is Madisonville, of all places.

[Steely Dan]

Looking up current Chicago homicide data for the city murder thread, I noticed that the near Southside lakefront area of Chicago has had remarkably few killings so far this year.

The southern end of the area referenced in the first post of this thread, comprising of Woodlawn and South Shore, is still quite violent, but if we take the upper six CA's (Douglas, Oakland, Grand Boulevard, Kenwood, Washington Park and Hyde Park) and add nearby Bridgeport, Armour Square, and Fuller Park, that's a contiguous area of 12 sq. miles of the innermost Southside with a total population of 163,117 people. So far, through the first 4 months of this year, there have been 3 homicides total in that area.

This compares to the "fancier" Northside lakeshore CA's of Lincoln Park, Lakeview, North Center, Lincoln Square, Uptown, and Edgewater. That's a total area of 14 sq. miles with 362,628 people. So far, through the first 4 months of this year, there have been 4 homicides total in that area.

So another data point of the continued improving condition of Chicago's inner Southside lakeshore.

[streetscaper]

but iheartthed is right. What is crazy is that, even considering how far back the South Bronx came from, this may not be what I'd consider the most dramatic sector/neighborhood change in NYC.

[pdxtex]

Portlands comeback story is probably Vancouver, Washington. It had a pretty dumpy downtown until about 15 years ago. Now they are developing the riverfront and building lots of high density housing. Nationwide, I think Cleveland gets zero press but Detroit Shoreway and University Circle seem like they're building like crazy. Also the entirety of Tulsa and Little Rock seem like they're approaching their Portland moment.

[MayDay]

Originally Posted by pdxtex

Portlands comeback story is probably Vancouver, Washington. It had a pretty dumpy downtown until about 15 years ago. Now they are developing the riverfront and building lots of high density housing. Nationwide, I think Cleveland gets zero press but Detroit Shoreway and University Circle seem like they're building like crazy. Also the entirety of Tulsa and Little Rock seem like they're approaching their Portland moment.

You're not wrong - it's literally to the point I can't keep track of what's being built. In addition to Detroit Shoreway and University Circle, I would add Duck Island (area between Ohio City and Tremont), and there are two projects on Carter Road on the Scranton Peninsula that will be adding 600 units in what used to be a no-man's land.

[mrnyc]

^ don’t remind me, i almost broke an axel driving on that dam thing back in the 80s.

Originally Posted by MayDay

You're not wrong - it's literally to the point I can't keep track of what's being built. In addition to Detroit Shoreway and University Circle, I would add Duck Island (area between Ohio City and Tremont), and there are two projects on Carter Road on the Scranton Peninsula that will be adding 600 units in what used to be a no-man's land.

another unsung eye opener is the fairfax neighborhood abutting below the cle clinic that is getting up a lot of recent redevelopment steam.

[pdxtex]

delete

[MolsonExport]

That South Bronx Comeback is incredible. I recall seeing it first hand in the mid eighties, when it was a no-man's land of burned out ruins, piles of rubble, and abandoned cars.

[PhilliesPhan]

For Philadelphia, two areas immediately come to mind: a large area bounded by Lehigh Avenue to the north, Callowhill Street to the south, 5th Street to the west, and the Delaware River to the east, and University City.

The first area contains several neighborhoods that are essentially fully-gentrified (Northern Liberties, Fishtown, and Olde Richmond), reaching fully-gentrified status (South Kensington and East Kensington), and are undergoing an active redevelopment wave (Norris Square, West Kensington, and the former no man's land south of Spring Garden Street). My mom was in her early 20s in the mid-late 90s, and she used to go to parties in Northern Liberties. She has told me that the neighborhood used to be full of abandoned properties, vacant lots, and crackheads back then. Even as recently as the early 2010s, the northern portion of Northern Liberties was still a bit rough and Fishtown, South Kensington, and East Kensington were each in their early stages of gentrification. Now, each of these neighborhoods nearly flow seamlessly into each other. Development has been so intense that it is now pushing up against Lehigh Avenue, which is considered to be the boundary between the revitalized neighborhoods and what most people consider to be the "real" Kensington.

The changes in University City have also been palpable. Growing up in the early-mid 2000s, I remember how barren the area around 30th Street Station used to be. All of that started to change when the Cira Center was built in 2004. Ever since, University City has gained its own skyline that is only set to grow larger in the coming years. It is livelier, busier, and more important than it was when I was a kid. In fact, University City has been outpacing Center City in terms of demand for office space for a while now.

[jbermingham123]

Seattle's South Lake Union deserves a mention

Historically, this area was an industrial and dockyard district, equivalent to the meatpacking district, or the hudson side of chelsea. So despite being geographically close to downtown, it was a completely separate area with separate people and activities. At one point Henry Ford built the first Ford factory west of the mississippi here.


Anyway, Seattle's downtown never experienced a serious decline like St. Louis or Detroit, but South Lake Union did. The containerization of shipping in the 60s eliminated 99% of the labor involved in maritime logistics, and by 1970, pretty much all the dockyards and warehouses were decaying and abandoned.

As you can see in the photo below, the city's response was to convert conndemned buildings into surface parking.

Here is the area in 1970 and 2015:




And the redevelopment is still ongoing. Here are a bunch of empty lots in 2016, and what they are now (via google earth). there is only one empty block left