Publications and Research
Document Type
Working Paper
Publication Date
2017
Abstract
In the 1960s and 1970s, New York City was in decline. Crime was rising, jobs were leaving, and the population was falling. At the same time, much of the historic city was being lost and replaced by less distinctive architecture. But the declining city offered an opening for recovery and re-imagining. New residents moved into old, declining neighborhoods. Gentrification stabilized sections of the Bronx, Manhattan, and Brooklyn. Between 1965 and 1989 the city designated more than fifty historic districts, and those areas prevented further decay and anchored the recovery. Unlike other older cities, New York continues to grow. The previous generation of preservationists and gentrifiers made that possible.
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