Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Think of an area with bad housing stock that was home to a massive oil spill, has poorly paved sidewalks and "views" of abandoned smoke stacks...does that sound like some place you'd want to live?

No? Then you're not a hipster.

I am talking about Williamsburg - one of the trendiest areas in Brooklyn, New York. In true New York fashion, the artists first came in the 1970s when the rents were close to nothing. Then, the hipsters followed. They brought with them a love of the bohemian lifestyle...and overpriced coffee. Now, Williamsburg has both - McCarren Pool (which is about to be redone, good or bad news depending who you ask) and Oslo Coffee are good examples of each.


Guess what else the area has? Graffiti! Loads of it! And I know I said I wasn't going to be making any artistic judgments, but most of it really isn't that pretty. But you know what? Neither is the rest of Williamsburg, so it fits quite well.

This part of Brooklyn goes completely against the common perception of what an ideal place to live is. But there is a large community of people (some of whom live in Manhattan) that flock to Williamsburg for the concerts, the food and the nightlife. So many people want to live there that it is no longer affordable for the artists who moved there in the first place ("so goes the neighborhood...")

Moreover, the graffiti in the area fits with its atmosphere - if all of it was removed, Williamsburg would almost look too clean. Some areas of a city are not meant to be polished...many people like a little bit of grit, a place that is rough around the edges. Graffiti is part of making that happen.