Troutman Street is a strange animal. As recently as a few years ago it was the worst street in Bushwick for drugs and crime. Now it seems to be, along with Jefferson and Starr Streets, part of the residential and cultural backbone of the new Bushwick. Its entire length is being transformed, bit by bit, by developers, investors, entrepreneurs, and artists. Often those categories overlap. Oh, you can definitely still buy a rock on Troutman between Knickerbocker and Irving — I walked right through a transaction one night a few weeks ago.

But the prevalent vibe on Troutman is that of change: condos, renovated apartments, new businesses. Down where the street begins, at Myrtle near Broadway, several attractive old brick buildings are being rehabbed (above). Crossing Bushwick Avenue, the unfortunate hulk of 44 Troutman (left) looms as testament to how clueless developers can be as to what the kind of people buying condos in Bushwick want. I suppose anything will sell at the right price.

Troutman between Evergreen and Central is one big construction zone. Closer to Evergreen, a cute but tragically tiny little house was demolished to make way for what I hear will be three eight-unit rental buildings (right). Across the street closer to Central is, of course, 116 Troutman (left), which is probably the largest residential project in Bushwick right now at 167 units. They’ve begun to put the insulation on in preparation for what I am sure will be black brick. In between these two huge developments is the Daptone Records studios at 115 Troutman.

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The next block up, facing the basketball and handball courts at Fermi Playground, several buildings are being renovated. A friend of a friend of a friend (seriously) supposedly bought a building on this block and is creating live/work studios for artists.

There is a lot of activity between Wilson and Knickerbocker: the totally hideous “West Bank settlement” job, which seems to be in the same state of completion as its last mention in these pages, will be a condo (if they can sell it). The only mildly ugly Troutman Lofts (right), which a friend of mine calls the “Purple People Eater,” seems to already be occupied, despite an agency trying to get $3300 for a one-bedroom a while back. The above friend used to park her car at 228 Troutman (left), and was moved to finally sell it when the owner of the lot booted everyone off in order to build 14 condo units. Smack in the middle of this block will be Jane Virga’s bar; she tells me she should have her building permits soon!

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Across Knickerbocker is 289 Troutman (right), an old brick tenement being made into condos, which seems to have not been screwed up. So far.

I am worried about what the plan is for this building (left), one of the few wood-frame buildings this side of Bushwick with much of its original facade intact and in good shape.

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Above Irving and past Wyckoff is home to several loft buildings and businesses like Brave Space Design, as well as neighborhood dining fixture Northeast Kingdom.

Doesn’t it seem counterintuitive that the street to see the most new activity is the one that was historically (in recent terms) the worst around? Could that be the very reason? The worst areas tend to be the cheapest. But then, that doesn’t usually go block-by-block. Obviously the large available hunk of land at 116 Troutman could only be used for a large project, but what about the rest?

I’m unable to see this as anything but pure coincidence. In other words, the transformation of Troutman Street is so spontaneous it’s hard pinpoint the reasons for it without knowing the story of each and every new project. I give up on this analysis. Any takers?

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