Live from Red Hook: Some Detroit Soul

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We've already laid out some theories on the current state of Red Hook, but when you're dealing with a topic as loaded as degentrification, the hits just keep on coming. Here, some other thoughts on this charming-yet-gloomy (today, at least) square mile of Brooklyn:

The Detroit Theory: Burnlab filed a response to the New York story, and the sentiment is that—like Detroit—Red Hook is "stalled" but not "dead," In Burnlab's words: "I don't see either Red Hook or Detroit ever being truly gentrified places, due to blatantly obvious but seemingly insurmountable barriers. Red Hook is a bit simpler: a subway stop less than twenty minutes away would all but change everything (all but housing projects, crumbling infrastructure, etc.) Detroit is more complicated and an awful lot bigger, but there are perhaps quixotic yet theoretically plausible solutions there as well."

The Soul Theory: Meanwhile, what would a weighty social topic be without an opinion from David Byrne? Writing in his online journal after a trip to the Ball Fields in August, the Talking Head said: "I recently heard about an upcoming forum called 'New York: Is it in danger of losing it’s Soul?'. Red Hook, much of it anyway, still has plenty — but as the waterfront gets developed there is always the danger that the lure of big bucks will carve big chunks of that soul away. There are plenty of vacant lots and crumbling warehouses here — there were some suspicious large fires last year. As beautiful as dead tech is, I’m not suggesting that the areas with crumbling concrete and rebar spikes sticking up be kept intact, but that development be allowed to take place on a human scale and at a human pace." Red Hook: capturer of human souls.
· Live from Red Hook: A Curbed Network Blogathon [Curbed]

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