In Daniel Gross wrote a great post in Slate called: [Are Journalists Underpaid? : Pity the sad, broke New York Times reporter [Slate].](http://www.slate.com/id/2132709/) Let me answer that quickly: “Duhhh!!” They are writing stories about some of the most expensive real estate in the world, not forgetting the difficulty and scrutiny their work entails.
The recent real estate article by Jennifer Steinhauer called [New York, Once a Lure, Is Slowly Losing the Creative Set [NYT]](http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/18/nyregion/18creative.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1135135602-9AizdbNdX0+7Debow/xsZQ&pagewanted=print) addresses this point quite clearly.
In a related pattern, the eventual loss of early artisans who pioneered downtown urban locations as residential usually get priced out by hipsters only to start the cycle again somewhere else. This has been occurring with more frequency as urban areas entice residents from outlying suburban areas into their revitalized downtown markets.
The New York Times article, while a fascinating piece, doesn’t quantify the loss, but I suspect it is significant. I haven’t found great data on this yet, so perhaps its too early in the cycle to measure. This phenomenon happened in New York long ago with loft neighborhoods such as Soho, Tribeca, more recently Chelsea and moved on to parts of Brooklyn and now So Bro (South Bronx.)
Enticing the creative to remain is one of the most important issues to sustain urban revitalization efforts in the long term.
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I’ve often described New York as a city of many small town people packed closely together. While New York is an international hub of some eight million people, many residents prefer to stay within their respective communities for shopping needs and cultural interaction. As such, many were drawn to a specific area for its very character, as defined by the people, shops and institutions located within each neighborhood. It will be interesting (or perhaps not) to see what happens as communities become homogenized and loose some of their economic and cultural diversity. If these neighborhoods fail to maintain their unique character, New Yorkers may have less need to stay within their small towns, while also having no need to visit other small towns.