Williamsburg: A Charming Mall

The first of a series of qualitative neighborhood analyses AKA "vibe posts"

This is the first of a series of qualitative posts about neighborhoods that made the shortlist for The Neighborhood NYC. Note that the Neighborhood location has not been chosen yet. I am simply sharing my notes as I go, in the spirit of working in public :)

A Weekday Evening in Williamsburg

A few weeks ago @mrjamesq gave me a walking tour of Williamsburg. We walked along the water, stopping for adventure along the way.

It was a warm, beautiful overcast evening. We started at McCarren Park but I forgot to take a photo, and then walked to Bushwick Inlet Park, pictured here.

We continued on to Martha P. Johnson park, which has new luxury waterfront buildings.

We continued on to the North 5th Street Pier.

It was a quiet night on the pier.

We stumbled upon surprisingly affordable waterfront mini golf ($10 for admission).

We continued onto Domino Park, a sugar factory that was converted to a park and still displays some old factory equipment.

At the far end of Domino Park we stumbled upon a public salsa dance…

with live music…

Finally, we walked past the dog park. The dogs were playing and chasing and wagging their tails.

Overall the whole walk felt peaceful. Although we ran into a number of groups (mini golfers, salsa dancers, dog owners) the river seemed to absorb their sounds as soon as they were out of sight. The quiet was conducive to conversation.

A Weekend Morning in Williamsburg

A few days earlier, I had stopped by Williamsburg on my way back from getting coffee with a friend.

It was a sunny day.

The farmer’s market was going in full force.

Lots of people were eating at the plaza tables...

But I decided to take my food to the waterfront

Lots of people were sitting in groups of twos or threes, eating together.

Williamsburg on a summer weekend is out in full force, and it sure is nice to be right by the water.

The Most Convenient Neighborhood

Williamsburg is dense with every amenity imaginable – delicious foods, great gyms, so many thrift stores, parks, coastline. It’s delightfully walkable (even compared to most neighborhoods in NYC) and therefore it’s normal for Williamsburg residents to keep a very small berth. One man told me that anything beyond a six minute walk feels far now. His gym, all his favorite food spots, and a park are within a 6 minute walk. There is another better gym a ten minute walk away, but that feels a little far to be worth it.

(source)

Williamsburg is one stop away from Manhattan on one of the city’s best subway lines.

¹

Thus you get easy access to Manhattan but more space for the price.

An Existing Co-Living Scene

In the past few weeks I’ve been introduced to some amazing community organizers in Williamsburg; there are some existing houses with thriving social scenes. In addition, tons of expats from San Francisco settled in Williamsburg, especially people involved in the crypto scene.

For people within those scenes, Williamsburg already feels like a campus. Multiple people told me that every time they leave their house, they run into friends.

Sell-Out

The #1 complaint I heard about Williamsburg was that it had sold out.

Some quotes from my interviews:

• “Williamsburg is such a stupid millennial's dream”

• “Williamsburg feels plastic”

• “Bedford Ave. [Williamsburg’s main shopping street] is an open air mall of every D2C product” 

Williamsburg has become premium mediocre.

One person, who has run a co-living house in Williamsburg for many years, said that if he were to re-start the house again, he wouldn’t put it in Williamsburg. To him, Williamsburg has lost its charm and now “feels like an extension of Manhattan, not Brooklyn.” 

A Transient Neighborhood

Another concern I often heard was that Williamsburg is a transient neighborhood. Indeed, many of the people bashing on Williamsburg for being “plastic” were ex-Williamsburgers themselves. Last post, I had solicited for people who were excited about their neighborhoods and were willing to give me a tour. Both people who reached out to give me tours of Williamsburg had moved to NYC within the last few months. Something about Williamsburg feels “shiny” and exciting, but the shininess seems to wear off for many.

What is it about Williamsburg that breeds such ambivalence?

Some tangential musings from a friend:

“What makes a nice neighborhood? A startup hacker house sucks to live in but can actually be quite inspiring and accelerating. Even if the amenities suck. Maybe because the amenities suck?”

TL;DR

Talking and touring Williamsburg continually over the last few weeks has been a rollercoaster of emotion. 

Personally, I alternate between feeling charmed by Williamsburg and disgusted by it.

When I’m charmed by Williamsburg I daydream about eating delicious food for breakfast, lunch and dinner, daily workouts at Vital Climbing, walking along the waterfront with friends

²

, taking phone calls from McCarren Park, and short commutes back from Manhattan.

When I’m cynical about Williamsburg I’d characterize it this way:

1. Boys running crypto scams

2. Girls in yoga clothes exclaiming "oh my GOD! it's so cute!!” at dogs.

What do you think of Williamsburg? Do you or have you lived there? Do you think The Neighborhood NYC should be based in Williamsburg? Or absolutely not? Comment below :)

1. The L line, which is one of three highest frequency trains in the city. Trains leave every 3 minutes during the morning rush hour, and every 5 minutes at noon.

2. This is where Andrew proposed 🥰