Alva James-Johnson: Making my way back home

It's always good to return to the place where one's life began.

For me that spot is Brooklyn, one of the five boroughs of New York City, located at the western end of Long Island.

When my parents migrated there 50 years ago, it was a place where new immigrants could earn a decent living and pursue the "American Dream." They settled in a Caribbean enclave in the heart of East Flatbush and raised four daughters, of which I am the third.

But Brooklyn -- though the most populous of the five boroughs -- was no match for the glitz and glamour of Manhattan.

I recently traveled back to the old neighborhood with my husband and two daughters to spend some time with my sister and her son for the holidays. What struck me as soon as we entered the borough is how much Brooklyn has changed.

Neighborhoods like Bedford-Stuyvesant, Williamsburg and Greenpoint have become whiter and wealthier in recent years, attracting young hipsters drawn to the urban vibe.

New families are now moving into East Flatbush, where homes in modest, working-class neighborhoods are now going for $500,000 to $1 million. People who purchase the houses are upgrading them and changing the look of the area.

On the commercial front, there also are many changes. Downtown Brooklyn is now a thriving economic hotspot with such attractions as the Barclays Center, home to the Brooklyn Nets NBA franchise and the New York Islanders NHL hockey team. In the surrounding area, construction projects are popping up everywhere.

In conversations with friends and relatives, I learned that Brooklyn is now competing with Manhattan as a locale for entertainment and economic development.

I asked my sister and others what they thought about all the changes, and their feelings were mixed. They don't mind the gentrification as long as it doesn't change the unique characteristics of their neighborhoods and price them out of the market. As one person put it: "If we sell these homes, we will never afford to move back in. So our family is not selling."

When I left Brooklyn 30 years ago, I could have never imagined such a scenario. It just shows how places -- like people -- can reinvent themselves over time.

Yet, even with all the changes, Brooklyn is still in many ways the place of my childhood -- with a diversity of people from countries across the globe, vegetable markets that stay open all hours of the night, pedestrians walking the streets no matter the temperature, mom-and-pop bakeries selling ethnic delicacies, and parents hustling and bustling to give their children a better life.

That's what has drawn so many people to the borough over the years. And for me, it will always be home.

This story was originally published December 31, 2015 at 7:43 PM with the headline "Alva James-Johnson: Making my way back home ."