I used this wonderful day to walk around the Meatpacking District to collect additional thoughts and ideas. As I go deeper and deeper into my research, I discover this free-spirit, raw area that was simply a surreal, out of the ordinary platform of uniqueness. The Meatpacking was also considered dangerous and shady, but it had a rare character. These days, it seems like it still has its unique nature and personality, but it is simply not the same. Watching the videos from Florent and reading testimonials, I feel like it was the outcast kid in class that grew up to be a celebrity, but now that kid has gone commercial.
I am trying to find an original yet simple and straight forward way to show this significant transformation on a map. I was thinking about researching the night life at the area and try to collect data regarding the type of crowd that flocks to this MD now, compared to a few decades ago. Since the neighborhood is not and never was residential , it manages to maintain a heavy nightlife presence. It’s just a little different now. In this The Villager article from 2004, Neal Porter, a former resident of the Meatpacking District (70’s – 80’s) joined the reporter for a walk around the area:
“Neal and I recently strolled through the old neighborhood, his first visit in many years. Everywhere we walked on a Tuesday night was crowded with trendy mostly white people under the age of 30. “The changes are huge,” he remarked. “And not necessarily for the better. I remember this as an outlaw neighborhood, a working neighborhood on the edge. Now it’s become another boutique land.”
Gentrification happens everywhere around the world, and for some places it is for the better. Since I just moved to New York a year and a half ago and I never had a chance to walk around the Meatpacking District in the 1980’s or the 1990’s, I am still trying to figure out if this was the better for this area too.
“Sitting in the open windows of what was once Jay’s were the ubiquitous youngsters, drinking cosmos and martinis. “If only they knew that they are sitting where millions of men once came for sex,” I said to Neal. “I don’t think you should tell them,” Neal warned.”
I’m glad you had a chance to walk around and soak in the atmosphere, Shiran. Since your own experience with the area is limited to such a short timeframe, your challenge is to fill in the deeper history via historical research and, as some of our critics recommended a couple weeks ago, via interviews or oral histories. You may rely on these interview subjects to help you make the determination of whether the district’s transformation is “for the better” — but what I imagine you’ll find is that the gentrification is a mixed blessing — both for the better and for the worse.