I arrived in the West Village in the early '90's. It had lost most of whatever bohemian feeling it may have had at one time but the rents were still semi-reasonable and it wasn't THE WEST VILLAGE then. It was a nice place to live. A friend of mine thought she might be leaving her apartment on Hudson Street and told me to stay in touch with her. Things weren't like they are now where saying the words "I am looking for an apartment" seems to be like shouting into a canyon. Or would a canyon magnify sound? (I live in New York. I don't know.) I looked at about 10 places - which seemed like a lot at the time - and then I saw her apartment -- she was so cosmopolitan and the apartment was gorgeous. The landlord seemed to find her recommendation of me enough and it worked out. If I had only known then what my later years of apartment searching would be like, I would have savored that experience even more.
I lived on Hudson Street for 8 years. Things started to change mid-way through once the New York Times started espousing how hot the area was with Sunday Real Estate section cover stories blaring the words "THE WEST VILLAGE." I would cringe and hope my landlord hadn't seen it. But of course he had. That was when my rent started going up $250 a month! (insanity, eh?) My landlord thought he was giving me a break. He was a good guy but his rationale was that he had to make up for the years when he couldn't find a tenant. (That is an even harder situation to imagine now.)
As nice an apartment as it was, and as much as I enjoyed the West Village, I could not find any sense of community there. I met some 'old timers' recently and they clearly felt it had remained the same and community burst from the seams there. I found much greater sense of community and connectedness with my neighbors in Park Slope, but I also lived a different type of life in Brooklyn than in Manhattan.
The thing is, people in places like Park Slope believe that, despite the changes - loss of diversity, more upscale chi chi shops and restaurants, kicking out of 'old-timers' - that the area can retain the community and realness while becoming increasingly affluent. The bohemian/artist friendly nature seems to go and then everything falls in line, like ducks in a row. It changes. (Look at almost all of Manhattan.) It may take awhile but it does. Affluence has a cost.
In my Park Slope apartment (yes, in a brownstone), I mostly loved living there. I loved the block, the location, the ambiance, if you will. I really inhabited the place. I had *my* neighborhood squirrels, birds, trees. I knew my neighbors. I sat on *my* stoop and it was magical. That was a difficult place to leave(last year).
I wonder about the collective trauma we're all sort of forced to face over where we live. No place seems ever entirely secure. Not that anything is ever totally secure in life but, in New York, real estate is ruthless. The last two times I've looked for an apartment (both times because the existing building was being sold!), I have looked at many more places than any person should have to(or want to). In year 2000, I looked at 109 apartments! The second time (most recently) I looked at 73. I figure the next time, maybe I'll only have to look at, say, 35. And then after that, something really should just fall into my lap!!