Elizabeth Brand Sept, 6.07

It was October 1979 when we moved to our house in Flushing, Queens. When we first moved, our neighbors greeted us and said "you have moved in a nice part of Flushing. It is like living in the country and at the same time living in the city."It was a quiet neighborhood and to a good extent it still is. But many aspects of my neighborhood have changed in the last ten years.
Up until late nineties, parking on the streets, both on my side and the opposite side of my street was never a problem. There was always ample parking on the streets, which were usually unoccupied. The neighborhood was predominantly a European white population. Since the last several years the face of my neighborhood is very different. It is now much more crowded, and many residential properties are owned by Koreans and Chinese people. While there are still many Europeans living in my neighborhood, many of them have sold their houses to Koreans at significantly higher prices than what they paid for them. In addition, new two to four family houses have been built off Northern Blvd, and apartment buildings and a Korean mall on Northern Blvd. All this has created overcrowding and parking has become a big problem, but the neighborhood is still peaceful and quite with beautiful trees and lawns. The house on the corner of my street at 34th ave is owned by a young Korean family who have a few apple trees, pear trees and Japaneses maple trees that they have grown and these have delicious fruits which they sometimes share with us. The new comers often appear to have beautiful gardens and spend a lot of time caring for them
The Business scene has also changed completely in my neighborhood. As my picture shows most of the businesses on Northern Blvd, (the primary street for businesses and transportation) is now dominated by Korean and Chinese businesses. These businesses include restaurants, insurance companies, an antique stored owned by a Korean, a big Korean/Chinese supermarket, beauty salons, hardware stores, jewelry stores, wedding gown store, Laundromat, food stores, golf store, boutique store, etc. Most of these businesses have Korean and Chinese names on them. Practically all the small American, Italian, Greek restaurants and small coffee and breakfast places have been replaced by Korean bakeries and coffee shops. There is a nice one near us called Koreadong, where young Koreans gather to socialize. I feel that though there have been many changes my neighborhood has still maintained its beautiful,and peaceful environment.