Coming Home to Harlem.(economic revival in New York City neighborhood)(Statistical Data Included)

It was the type of event Bill Clinton relishes. At his welcome-to- Harlem rally last week, the former president grooved with a group of sax players, reminisced about his boyhood, expounded on the troubles of the downtrodden and indulged in his favorite type of food: fried. He was in Harlem to open his postpresidential office among some of his most loyal supporters. "No, no, no, no, don't mess with Bill!" the crowd chanted, sporting Clinton buttons and waving cardboard fans with his likeness. "You supported me on the best days and on the darkest days," he told them. "I want to be a good neighbor in Harlem on the best days and the dark days."

It's unclear which mood Clinton will usher in. His supporters hope the ex-president will speed the area's economic recovery, on display all around his West 125th Street office with new chain stores, banks and pharmacies. Some are even calling it Harlem's "second renaissance," after the vibrant black cultural and civil-rights movement of the 1920s and '30s. But detractors say the term "renaissance" is a misnomer: this time around it's not about culture or ideology--it's all about money. "I don't know where people are coming from with this 'second renaissance'," says Murphy Heyliger, a Harlem native and owner of the boutique shop Harlemade. "Back in the '20s and '30s, when blacks were moving into Harlem, there was a sense of pride that you couldn't duplicate today. Many had moved from the South or the West Indies and there was a real opportunity to make something of themselves here in Harlem. What's happening now is, if black people are moving into Harlem, they're moving in to catch the deal."

And quite a deal it is. After decades of neglect, the neighborhood is making a comeback. Real-estate prices are soaring. Yuppies of both races, priced out of lower Manhattan, have been competing with locals for apartments and brownstones. Vie Williams, a vice president at the Corcoran Group, says home sales in the neighborhood increased fivefold between 1997 and 2000. Between 1994 and 2000 the cost of a townhouse doubled to $390,000, which is still a steal compared with what's available farther downtown. New residential buildings seem to be breaking ground everywhere, and scaffolding covers the facades of previously condemned brownstones. Earlier this summer the Renaissance, a new mixed-income, 240-apartment co-op on Lenox Avenue, was decorated with a large banner: bill: live here, walk to work. The Striver's Garden development project, including condos, townhouses and penthouses, will break ground in September. These are part of some 3,000 residential units that Harlem plans to open over the next three years. Terry Lane, president and CEO of the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone, says Harlem's rate of home ownership has more than doubled in the past seven years.

Not everyone is happy about the real-estate boom. Growing numbers of whites are beginning to move in, and though their ranks are thin compared with the number of middle-class blacks buying property, they've spurred a small backlash. Some residents worry that gentrification will displace Harlem natives and turn the former jazz capital into another Upper West Side, with Banana Republic shops and take-out soul food. At Clinton's rally, a militant group of New Black Panthers carried signs that read CLINTON = GENTRIFICATION (the white takeover of black Harlem). Nearby, a man stood at a folding table with taped-up fliers that said rent is too damn high. Clinton, who chose Harlem for his new office only after a public outcry over his pricey first-choice location in midtown Manhattan, acknowledged his critics. "I'm glad property values are rising," he said. "But I don't want small businesses to be driven out because I'm moving in."

For all the worries, most Harlemites appreciate the new energy that recent arrivals have brought. Harlemade's Heyliger says the neighborhood has a "good vibe." Whatever their race, the people moving in are wealthier and better educated than their predecessors, he says. "You see people walking with an air of 'they've seen the world and now they want to be a part of Harlem'," he says. "And that goes for both blacks and whites."

Harlem's latest revitalization began in the 1990s, thanks in large part to America's economic boom. In 1994 the Clinton ...