I get that parts of NYC have been affordable at different times, but there are parts that get gentrified and taken advantage of by a very specific class of people (primarily white middle class) who use the depressed value of the area to have more space and time to do arts and culture stuff.
I lived in Sunset Park for many many years and saw artists moving into the studios down by the docks. They came from SOHO, DUMBO, and Williamsburg. In 25 years, they will move somewhere else.
NYC since its founding has been a commercial trading center, not a creative arts hub. I don't understand where the idea that it's a place to be creative came from. There is nothing about NYC that makes me creative (in the producing sense, not consuming) because the city is so exhausting to live in, and so cramped and noisy, that I have no energy to think freely and creatively. In fact the boredom, space and ease of the suburbs leads me to more creativity.
I lived in Sunset Park for many many years and saw artists moving into the studios down by the docks. They came from SOHO, DUMBO, and Williamsburg. In 25 years, they will move somewhere else.