The Queens neighborhood of Ridgewood is benefiting from the surging popularity of Bushwick, just across the borough line. People are moving in, and property values are rising. NY1's Ruschell Boone filed the following report.

 

The old brick buildings are still here, but luxury apartments and new businesses, such as a coffee and pastry shop, are popping up all over Ridgewood. 

 

Joss Lake moved here after her apartment building in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn was sold to a developer.

 

"Every building around that building has now turned into high-rent condos," she said.

 

The prices here are going up, too. Lake shares a $3000 a month duplex with four other people, and that's not uncommon, according to the community board chairman. 

 

"The difference in the last four or five years is, example, this building over here," the community board chairman said. "It was speculative. The developer developed it, built it and couldn't rent it, couldn't sell it. It went into foreclosure. And now it's full."

 

Many of the new residents are artists and young professionals. 

 

"I get a lot of clientele that are coming from out of state that want to move to New York, whether it's because of their job or just because they've always wanted to live here their whole life," said Tom Cerra, a real estate agent with Homes NYC Realty.

 

They are having a big impact on the local economy. Stores that were struggling a few years ago are now bustling with customers. The newcomers are also attracting new businesses. 

 

"There is an influx of new restaurants, and that is something that has always been lacking," said Theodore Renz, executive director of the Ridgewood Local Development Corporation. "It was a goal and objective that we had to get more nightlife on Myrtle Avenue, and we think we're starting to see some of those signs." 

 

But while the neighborhood is changing, community leaders say many of the buildings that give the neighborhood its character are likely to remain. 

 

"We have almost 3,000 buildings that are state and federally historic designated, and about half of them are now New York City landmarked," Renz said.

 

That's good news for Joss Lake, who loves the distinctive flavor of the neighborhood, but she is aware that eventually, she could be priced out of this neighborhood as well.