Downtown Brooklyn is Kicking Butt

As anyone who reads Brownstoner regularly knows, the very-long held plans for the transformation of Downtown Brooklyn are in the midst of being realized, and perhaps nothing short of historic for future students of urban history. This weekend, the New York Times took a look at how stuff is changing in the area. This is how the article ends:

That said, however, other residents say the designation may reflect a growing awareness of Downtown as special and worth preserving from the next crush of development. For proof of people’s newfound attachment to the place, look no farther than the sidewalks. Years ago they were empty on Saturdays and Sundays, after the courts adjourned. But the shoppers, tourists and bicyclists now punctuating them “give the area a bit more life on weekends,” said Serafin Piñol-Roma, who moved here in 2005. In 2005, he bought a one-bedroom in Concord Village, a multibuilding co-op with more than 1,000 units. Last year he traded up to a two-bedroom, for which he paid $444,000. An instructor of cell biology at City College in Upper Manhattan, he used to keep to Manhattan for entertainment as well. But he has recently embraced Brooklyn. “It took a little time to cut the umbilical cord,” was how he phrased it.

Downtown Brooklyn is a neighborhood in its own right now, is the point. The questions are: Where are the schools and groceries?
To the Heights and the Slope, Add ‘Downtown’ [NY Times]
Photo by tracktwentynine