--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: As a child growing up in…" description: "\"As a child growing up in pre-gentrification Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, I went everywhere by bicycle. My bike was in many ways the key to my neighborhood, w..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5e/jonathan-lethem-1403_bicycle_as-a-child-growing-up-in-pre-gentrificat_270246.png" --- # As a child growing up in pre-gentrification Boerum Hill… ![“As a child growing up in pre-gentrification Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, I went everywhere by bicycle. My bike was in many ways the key to my neighborhood, which, at the time, was Boerum Hill, Brooklyn. This was in the 60s and 70s, before all the white people and restaurants. I really can't underscore…” quote by Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5e/jonathan-lethem-1403_bicycle_as-a-child-growing-up-in-pre-gentrificat_270246.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5e/jonathan-lethem-1403_bicycle_as-a-child-growing-up-in-pre-gentrificat_270246.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c5e/jonathan-lethem-1403_bicycle_as-a-child-growing-up-in-pre-gentrificat_270246.png) > “As a child growing up in pre-gentrification Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, I went everywhere by bicycle. My bike was in many ways the key to my neighborhood, which, at the time, was Boerum Hill, Brooklyn. This was in the 60s and 70s, before all the white people and restaurants. I really can't underscore boldly enough the fact that I grew up in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, before it was gentrified. You could get mugged!” [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The narrator recalls biking as a key to community connection before gentrification altered the neighborhood. **In simple terms:** Biking linked the narrator to the old Brooklyn. Key Takeaway Recognize how urban change affects community ties. Themes urban history memory gentrification mobility Mood thoughtful critical Type essay historical When to use this quote - urban planning - community building - historical preservation - transportation policy Key Concepts nostalgia social fabric inequality Questions to Reflect On - How can cities preserve community identity amid development? - What role does mobility play in neighborhood cohesion? A Different Perspective Gentrification can erase cultural memory and increase safety concerns. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bicycle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bicycle/) [Brooklyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brooklyn/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Children growing up](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children-growing-up/) [Community](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/community/) [Cycling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cycling/) [Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) [Gentrification](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gentrification/) [Growing children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/growing-children/) [Growing up](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/growing-up/) [Hills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hills/) [Neighborhood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/neighborhood/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [White people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/white-people/) ## Related quotes > [“Now that Olive was grown, I didn't know what to do with myself. 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The Doctor: And everybody… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-moffat/rose-look-at-you-beaming-away-like-you-re-father-christmas-the-doctor/) [Steven Moffat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-moffat/) > [Life is like riding a bicycle: you don't fall off unless you stop pedaling.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claude-pepper/life-is-like-riding-a-bicycle-you-don-t-fall-off-unless-you-stop/) [Claude Pepper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claude-pepper/) [Browse all 531 Bicycle quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bicycle/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "As a child growing up in pre-gentrification Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, I went everywhere by bicycle. My bike was in many ways the key to my neighborhood, which, at the time, was Boerum Hill, Brooklyn. This was in the 60s and 70s, before all the white people and restaurants. 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