Metropolitan Ave.Metropolitan Ave. is the center and heart of the study area. This street showcased all of the categories of artwork. Most notably, Metropolitan Ave had the highest proportions of Commercial artwork and Artistic/Nice Graffiti. Commercial artwork was found designating two car body and mechanic shops Photos 1 and 2. As a main drag through Williamsburg, Commercial artwork is not surprising because of its centrality to economic activity. Metropolitan Ave. was the only street where art galleries were found as seen in Photos 3 and 4. These images show the artistic appeal of two art galleries. As gentrification is partially initiated by artists and low rents, galleries are another key feature of gentrification activity. Because of the locality of the galleries on Metropolitan Ave, high amounts of Artistic/Nice Graffiti pieces are not surprising. Based on the presence of art galleries, Metropolitan Ave. can be considered the epicenter of transition from the increasingly gentrified northern streets and the areas south that have tried to resist and maintain a cultural identity.
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Zoning PracticesClear signs of gentrification can be seen through Zoning districts and ordinances. The following table shows the distribution of zoning types- residential, manufacturing, commercial, park- throughout each study street and corresponding census tracts. The maps to the right visually show the zoning districts designated by color. The summarize tool in ArcMap provided the data for the Table which shows the distribution of zoning types- residential, manufacturing, commercial, park- throughout each study street and corresponding census tracts. While these data is valuable enough, each zoning districts is counted once but total square footage also had to be taken into account as each district polygon was a different size.
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less apparent around S Third Ave. wehere there are fewer manufacturing facilties but also less combined manufacturing/residential buildings.
S Third Ave. came second in square footage alloted for residential living behind Metropolitan avenue. Because of this residential dominance, the large amounts of Local/Cultural artwork are better explained. If there are more people living in a neighborhood, especially a diverse neighborhood as explained on the previous page the artwork will then reflect those populations. |
New York City, Department of City Planning: Zoning District Data http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/html/subcats/zoning.shtml
Photos Collected by Meghan Kelly
Photos Collected by Meghan Kelly