Activity 4 Scavenger Hunt #6

Activity 4 Scavenger Hunt #6
Rosedelle A Chery

A “frontier neighborhood” according to James Kunstler, in his book “The Geography of Nowhere” is a place or home that advertises one success. Typically it's a neighborhood that falls along the lines the classic American Dream of homes with white picket fences away from the hustle and bustle of the city. A frontier neighborhood is an area that allows you to get escape from the reality of your work life so you can enjoy the spoils of your labor. For the last couple of years, there has been a massive renovation where I live in Rockaway Beach. The city and construction companies and buildings have turned many of the empty lots into private housings. Rockaway Beach was mainly an area with lots of housing projects and apartment buildings. Now, I feel like they are trying to making it into a mini suburbia. Because we aren’t to close to the city and are near a beach, I think it would be the perfect place for developers to try to turn it into Long Island part 2. I’m not opposed to them building nice houses or a new supermarket, I’m opposed to the ridiculous prices that they are charging for these “beach front properties”. They are trying to turn Rockaway into this luxury area, which is great for business but bad for the residents because no can afford anything anymore. I think that all these new developments will make Rockaway a target area for increase taxes and increase MTA tolls on the two of three exits out of Rockaway. I also believe that there are trying to build unrealistic dreams of this beach side suburbia especially since there are like 3 nursing areas for crazy or senile people right next to the boardwalk. Instead of building more parks or community centers or fixing the buildings that already there, they are building condos and unaffordable homes are not benefiting the people of Rockaway. Like with Coney Island, developers aren’t trying to make update Rockaway, they are trying to change it and run “undesirables” out.