How great is DUMBO?
Ninety percent of the neighborhood’s residents think it’s a good place to live — though a sizeable majority thinks the neighborhood remains lousy for basic necessities.
Those were just two of the findings in a neighborhood survey conducted by the DUMBO Improvement District to measure resident satisfaction with the neighborhood down under the Manhattan Bridge.
“People love living in DUMBO, but they want some improvements, too,” said Bill Vitiello of the Improvement District.
In addition to the 90 percent who said DUMBO is a good place to live, all 100 respondents said they felt safe walking through the neighborhood during the day. Two thirds said DUMBO is clean and appealing.
Those may sound like Stalin re-election results, but there was some honest bad news in the survey: a whopping 70 percent said it couldn’t find the goods and services they need easily.
It will get a little worse before it gets better, thanks to a wave of new residents, admitted Tucker Reed, the Improvement District’s executive director. Young hipsters are attracted to the area’s arty feel and converted warehouses, but even hipsters need supermarkets and Laundromats — both of which were on the top of residents’ “wanted” list.
“I would shop here more for my daily needs if everything weren’t so overpriced, and if there were more options,” said one survey respondent.
In one piece of good news, Reed said that Bridge Apothecary, a mom-and-pop drug store, would open in the J-Condo in May. The store will also be a post office substation, selling stamps and money orders and offering certified and express mail services.
In the meantime, the Improvement District is lobbying hard for a renovated F-train station at York Street and better roads all over the bump-filled neighborhood.
More than a dozen new streetlights will be installed by the summer, Reed added.
“Residents are going to see some major improvements soon,” he said. “And then we’re going to keep on rolling.”
