Design
The Lifecycle of a 'Cool' Neighborhood
How a neighborhood evolves from the next big thing to over the hill.
Like the old New Yorker cartoon, New Yorkers think we define American culture. So all this talk about Brooklyn dying as the epicenter of hipsterdom worries us. Many who once celebrated the borough are now questioning its status, such as artist James Kalm and the author Robert Anasi.
Kalm writes in The Brooklyn Rail that "the Williamsburg that’s gotten the world’s attention as a hotbed of cutting-edge creativity over the past couple of decades has 'matured' [losing both its edge and way as] ....one might say Williamsburg died quietly in its sleep the victim of age, ennui, and unrestricted developers, without ever reaching its hoped-for potential."