Brooklyn native, 70s-80s-early 90's and then left for college... have not been back excepting the occasional visit... some of the "I'm from BROOKLYN" crap stems from a perspective of having survived the "bad old days" (which weren't all that bad, but its all perspective I suppose). Some of it can also seem legit in a xenophobic way, in the sense that the influx of outsiders has dramatically altered the landscape of neighborhoods, pushed rents up to ungodly levels, replaced cherished neighborhood institutions with trendy chain stores, filled the streets with stroller pushing moms... from one perspective.

The other perspective on the influx of newcomers/change in the city is that when I visit my parents I can now ride the largely graffiti and trash-free subway or walk home at night without fear of being knifed for 20$ or having to watch some homeless guy take a shit on the sidewalk, hang out in fancy coffee shops or craft brew bars instead of smokey bars full of drunken reprobates or roachy diners, and watch the kids of my parents neighbors attend a high school where they won't get offered crack in the boy's room or be witness to beat downs on a daily basis. I suppose it depends on what you prefer... but the basis of all the neighborhood/borough pride stuff is that we are somehow cooler because we were there when it was different, before you, and we survived and experienced a more legitimate time. Of course this is mostly bullshit, my friends and I weren't down at CBGB partying with the Ramones or doing lines at Studio 54, and I wasn't allowed anywhere near Times Square to see the hookers and porno shops... mostly we were sitting in someone's living room playing Nintendo, eating corn flakes or going to little league just like people who weren't from Brooklyn were also doing... but people thrive on any reason to feel superior or cool, hence the bragging.