« Low Voter Turn-Out For Primaries As Usual Bay Ridge Becoming McCondo Central? »

September 10, 2008

Is the Q Train the New L?

Can a subway line take credit for a neighborhood's renaissance? A writer at the Observer has publicly professed her love for the Q, and links it to Ditmas Park's becoming "a suburban-urban blend of creative-class types, beautiful buildings and low prices." She chose her own apartment, presumably in Prospect Heights, based on its proximity to the Q's 7th Avenue stop (on the corner of Flatbush), only three stops in. She says the Q is the L of the 21st century, "with new crops of people popping out of its stations along a path rumbling through central and southern Brooklyn, from Downtown, Park Slope, Midwood and Ditmas Park, through Sheepshead Bay and, via an expert right turn, Brighton Beach and Coney Island." She quotes other Q lovers, noting that celebs have been seen eating in restaurants along the train's route, and that the express line has allowed Ditmas Park and others to blossom. "Perhaps the nabes along the Q are stealing just a little bit of thunder from other creative hubs like Williamsburg." If that's true, what other subway lines might help a neighborhood become the next Williamsburg?
Can the Q Be the Next L? [NY Observer]
Q Train. Photo by FlySi.

Trackback Pings

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.brownstoner.com/mte/mt-tb.cgi/6170

Comments

as silly as the article is I live in prospect heights and love the Q train. But the same can be said for the D train and its transformation of Sunset Park which seems much cheaper than ditmas park.

Posted by: Santa at September 10, 2008 10:21 AM

it could be the x train for all people care, as long as the line is close to work.

Posted by: armchairwarrior at September 10, 2008 10:27 AM

I'm rooting for the G as a very dark horse candidate.

Posted by: jawbreaker at September 10, 2008 10:37 AM

Although, I love Bed Stuy one of the things that frustrates me is we are serviced by the A/C!
Would love to have a fast reliable (running normal on weekends) train.

Posted by: 7andfive at September 10, 2008 10:38 AM

As someone who lives within 4 blocks from 4 different subway lines and two blocks from two bus lines, I much prefer my car.

I don't know anyone who let a particular subway line be the deciding factor in their housing purchase.

Posted by: moreteasir at September 10, 2008 10:41 AM

If we're talking about the creative class (read: hipsters), the G is definitely the new L.

But since we're extolling the virtues of the Q train, I felt compelled to post. It's by far my favorite train in the system. From DeKalb to Chinatown in ~10 minutes. Union Square in ~15. It's amazing.

Posted by: Fort Greene Place at September 10, 2008 10:43 AM

The M train. Don't laugh - Ridgewood is next.

Posted by: fexleycb at September 10, 2008 10:44 AM

Subway Pride is one of the more bizarre aspects of NY life...

I get on a train, I go to work. I get on a train, I go home.

You couldn't pay me to caree what letter or number is on the train.

I just want it to run regularly, not be supercrowded, and be a comfortable temperature.

Posted by: northsloperenter at September 10, 2008 10:50 AM

Subway Pride is one of the more bizarre aspects of NY life...

I get on a train, I go to work. I get on a train, I go home.

You couldn't pay me to care what letter or number is on the train.

I just want it to run regularly, not be supercrowded, and be a comfortable temperature.

Posted by: northsloperenter at September 10, 2008 10:50 AM

D-train is great. Sunset Park is next. In terms of service and crowds, doesn't the L train kinda suck?

Posted by: FatLenny at September 10, 2008 10:55 AM

I love the Q train as well. And the B as well; 25 minutes to Bryant Park/42nd St from 7th avenue stop; that's hard to beat.

Posted by: Fjorder at September 10, 2008 10:55 AM

A particular subway can be that little, small, seemingly minute factor that pushes one to choose one neighborhood over the other.., given both places are almost equal in other aspects.

I choose Crown heights over Bed - Stu because of the 2/3 and 4/5 versus the A/C. There were a few more factors.., but the train was a major one for me.

When i lived in Park Slope by the 2/3 at Bergen or 4 5 2 3 Q B N and/or R at Atlantic.., I was in heaven. Though I mainly jumped on the 2/3.

So, for some, that "particular" train can do a lot for a particular neighborhood.

Posted by: snowboardqueen at September 10, 2008 11:03 AM

My oh my I used the L train in the early 90's. Starting using the Q train in the mid 90's. Now I am leaving NYC. See a trend?

Posted by: billyboomer at September 10, 2008 11:04 AM

What's the deal with making the F train an express to 9th street? Weren't they going to do that? That would really help the south slope / windsor terrace commute.

Posted by: LOL at September 10, 2008 11:12 AM

"I don't know anyone who let a particular subway line be the deciding factor in their housing purchase."

Not the deciding factor, but definitely one of them. There's a lot I like about Kensington, but until they get express service on the F train, that would be one long, unpleasant slog to just about anywhere. And I'm really enjoying the new extended evening hours of the B train. Now if they would just run it on weekends.

Posted by: Flatbushwhacker at September 10, 2008 11:13 AM

I am in Bedford Stuyvesant also and I love the A/C on the weekdays. Eeekends well.... I just wish that they never took down the lines on Lexington and Myrtle Ave. I love the old NYC subway maps

Posted by: Amzi Hill at September 10, 2008 11:14 AM

i don't know that a particular line was a deciding factor in our purchase, but it certainly played a role. it was huge to know that we can have speedy commutes not just to our current workplaces but to pretty much anywhere in midtown from 14th street to central park should we switch jobs. B/Q line is great for this; i agree that the D train would be another one.

Posted by: i disagree at September 10, 2008 11:14 AM

I agree wholeheartedly that this article is a bit silly but also feel compelled to post about the Q b/c I also love this line. F is my runner-up. Getting to Chinatown in 10 minutes and Union Sq in 15 is fantastic.

Posted by: katiebk at September 10, 2008 11:17 AM

uber-hipster?

Posted by: Santa at September 10, 2008 11:19 AM

The Q is great if you live closer to Manhattan. Very fast service in Manhattan with stops at the major transfer points like Union Sq, Herald Sq and Times Square. The new cars they've introduced on that line make it even better.

However since the Q is local in Brooklyn you might not enjoy it so much if you live farther from Manhattan since it makes a LOT of stops throughout Brooklyn. The B express, which covers the same route in Brooklyn, doesn't run on weekends and has less convenient service in Manhattan.

Posted by: lj12345 at September 10, 2008 11:26 AM

Beverly road to Times Sq. in 32 minutes...what's not to love?

Posted by: Argyle Road at September 10, 2008 11:31 AM

I bought in Bushwick a block from the L train and it was definitely a factor in my purchase. The newly renovated line is fast, reliable and has electronic signs that tell you how long it will be before the next train arrives. This is the only line in the system with this feature but I understand that they will be adding it to other lines as they are upgraded.

Posted by: JoeBushwick at September 10, 2008 11:37 AM

The J train is the new L train. The hipsters just stay on it until they get to a neighborhood they can afford.

(I loved the G when I lived closer to it.)

Posted by: 11233 at September 10, 2008 11:43 AM

BillyBoomer - you're not alone!!!! Definitely a trend.

Posted by: Architerrorist at September 10, 2008 11:44 AM

I live in DP and never go above Times Square. Chinatown, Union Square are my main points of exit. I love the Q and living near it has been a big plus for me.

My partner, however, had to commute to Grand Central. Changing at Union Square was a big pain for him and the commute much longer.

If you work on the B or Q line, Victorian Flatbush is a very easy place to live, with the best of many worlds.

Posted by: Architerrorist at September 10, 2008 11:47 AM

I stand by my original statement.

Having a housing purchase heavily influenced by 1 subway line is asinine. The person that does that must be stupid, new to NY transit or a combination of the two.

When (not if) that subway line goes down, I hope your iPhone is fully charged.

Posted by: moreteasir at September 10, 2008 11:48 AM

The Q stops in PLG also, at the Prospect Park stop. Which is a few stops closer to Manhattan than Ditmas. And the wait, while long-ish sometimes, is nothing like the wait for the 2/3 or the R, our old trains at our former home. We're happy with the Q too.

Posted by: traditionalmod at September 10, 2008 11:51 AM

I live in PLG, too, and love the B and Q, but if their presence is going to make my neighborhood the next Williamsburg, I'm all for discontinuing them -- I'll deal with the 2 and 5 trains if I have to.

Posted by: babs at September 10, 2008 11:54 AM

When (not if) that subway line goes down, I hope your iPhone is fully charged.

Fair point, and one of the advantages of being at a station served by both express and local tracks. But because the Brighton line is the only one in the city that runs for an extended distance in an open trench, it can be stopped by heavy snowfall accumulation or downed tree branches. Other lines are either underground or on stilts, so they don't have this problem, just the usual switch malfunctions, track fires, and 'sick' passengers.

Posted by: Flatbushwhacker at September 10, 2008 11:56 AM

more tea - perhaps you need someone to help you understand that which is, apparently, beyond you. living in brooklyn and working in manhattan generally means a commute of some kind. are we asinine to have jobs in manhattan? if that wasn't your point, then what's asinine about evaluating the comparative transit options among the neighborhoods or homes one is considering? why is it asinine to consider which of the places you might live has better and faster access to the city? if all subway lines will "go down," whatever that means, then they're equal from that perspective, right? or is it that we're asinine because we don't choose to ignore convenience and economics and safety statistics and, instead, choose to rely on cars and parking and freeway driving (all of which, as we all know, are always functioning and in abundant availability, right)?

Posted by: i disagree at September 10, 2008 12:01 PM

The Q has a long history of opening up new swaths of Brooklyn to hipsters and the affluent. When it was first laid down as the Brighton line, it opened up farmland to posh developers like Dean Alvord of Prospect Park South...and it briefly spurred a flowering of the infant movie industry in the same area of Flatbush, before a place called Hollywood beckoned with its year-round climate for exterior shooting. Steps from the Beverly Road station are gorgeous Tudor apt. bldgs on Ocean Ave. where Doug Fairbanks Sr and Fatty Arbuckle supposedly lived the high life for awhile.

Posted by: Brenda from Flatbush at September 10, 2008 12:09 PM

The A train is the best, because it's the only one about which there's a Duke Ellington song.

Posted by: East New York at September 10, 2008 12:12 PM

Disagree is your head is up your arse? I said having your housing purchase "heavily influenced" by "1" subway line is asinine. The convienence, safety and other ish you mentioned is the factors that SHOULD "heavily influence" your purchase. Whaddya think I work out in Lodi? You failed reading comp?

Posted by: moreteasir at September 10, 2008 12:13 PM

"The A train is the best, because it's the only one about which there's a Duke Ellington song."

Yeah, but the Beastie Boys rapped about the D train, back when it ran on the Brighton line:

Groggy eyed and fried I'm headed for the station
D-Train ride Coney Island vacation

Posted by: Flatbushwhacker at September 10, 2008 12:16 PM

The N- it doesn't have that pesky extra stop at DeKalb before Atlantic.

Posted by: Breukelen at September 10, 2008 12:19 PM

oh, okay. so you were just constructing your own straw man to knock down for sport, since no one here and no one in the article actually said they were "heavily influenced" in their housing purchase by "1" subway line. hooray! moretea thinks no one is asinine.

oh, and by the way, you owe dave and bxgrl royalties for stealing their very unique and powerful internet slam.

Posted by: i disagree at September 10, 2008 12:45 PM

Perhaps if you actually read before you commented you wouldn't have to recant and/or post more dribble.

You probably didn't read those loan docs either. How are you enjoying your stimulus package?

Posted by: moreteasir at September 10, 2008 1:01 PM

Flatbushwhacker;

A correction on one factual point. The Brighton line is not the only one in the city that runs in an open cut for an extended length of time. The Sea Beach line (the N train) runs in an open cut below the 59th Street stop in Sunset Park. My guess is that the length of the Sea Beach open cut is a good deal longer that of the Brighton line. It runs between Sunset Park and Coney Island, whereas the Brighton Line transitions from an open cut to an elevated line in the Midwood area.

Posted by: benson at September 10, 2008 1:03 PM

"Yeah, but the Beastie Boys rapped about the D train, back when it ran on the Brighton line: Groggy eyed and fried I'm headed for the station
D-Train ride Coney Island vacation"

If you're going to talk hip-hop train songs, Brand Nubian's "Punks Jump Up to Get Beat Down" ranks ahead of the Beasties. Showing he's a native NYer, Sadat X refers to the subway as "the train" in this song.

Posted by: East New York at September 10, 2008 1:11 PM

There are other train refs in popular music :

" Aight baby show me the exact spot
Meet me at Hoyt and Schermerhorn at 3 on the dot
So I hops up on the A-Train, I'm bein followed
My seventh sense senses danger
I turn around, it's Anger
and he brought a mob along, it's the same old song
Despair and Animosity got broke with the swiftness
I don't know what they think this is"

Jeru- You can't stop the prophet

Posted by: Prodigal_Son at September 10, 2008 1:12 PM

actually, unlike you, i read the article, and your post, and others' posts, before i wrote anything. and i didn't "recant" anything - i was just noting for the record that i now have fully understood the pointlessness of your remarks. and i'm so sorry you're not feeling quite on top of things today! chin up, it'll get better, sweetie, even if you're not getting your bonus this year.

Posted by: i disagree at September 10, 2008 1:19 PM

Prodigal Son - good one. I should be ashamed for forgetting the Damaja because like me, he's from East New York.

Posted by: East New York at September 10, 2008 1:25 PM

I work in Brooklyn, drive 6 minutes to the office. Trains are just that noisy thing people don't want to live by on East 16th street.

Posted by: Xander Crews at September 10, 2008 1:34 PM

More tea -- No one says you have to take a train into account when you buy. Most other people do, especially those who commute to Manhattan.

Congratulations for thinking the way you do. Is that what you're looking for? I'm a little confused as to what you think you would get by "winning" this point.

Posted by: lechacal at September 10, 2008 1:53 PM

Darn it! I guess doubling your salary will hafta suffice.

Posted by: moreteasir at September 10, 2008 1:55 PM

The 'Q' IS very fast, and a good subway line can't hurt a neighborhood, but I don't think its THAT big a factor today (although the historical effect of the Brighton Line on the neighbors it serves is obvious. The 'L' is an exception. While it lead to Williamsburg becoming heavily populated in the early 20th Century, in later years, until fairly recently, it linked a Manhattan Slum (the LES) to a Brooklyn slum. The gentrification of the LES spurred the same phenomenon in Williamsburg, one stop removed, but I doubt that any other subway line will have a similar current effect.

That being said, I'm very pleased with 'Q' service from the Prospect Park stop, in PLG.

Posted by: Bob Marvin at September 10, 2008 1:57 PM

I think all of you are missing something. It's not how cool th train makes your neighborhood, but how hot the women seen riding the train tend to be. For that, the Q is a distant second to the 6.

Posted by: infinitejester at September 10, 2008 2:01 PM

Fuck moreteasir. That idiot can just get back in his car.

Posted by: the hwat at September 10, 2008 2:07 PM

I think dave and bxgrl should donate the royalties to i disagree for most appropriate use of their signature line. Don't let the teacup hit you on the way out moreteasir.

Posted by: lurker in the mist at September 10, 2008 2:35 PM

Ok, if we get back to the point of the article, if we're talking about creatives and artists, it will definitely be Sunset Park because of all the warehouses that are being used by studios. IN that case, the next L is the R, N, or D.

Posted by: GWH at September 10, 2008 3:06 PM

Bob Marvin, of course, the L connects williamsburg to every manhattan subway line and especially quickly to Union Sq, not the LES although the JMZ does obviously. i frequently use both the L and the JMZ and 10 minutes on either to union sq or LES or Nolita/SOHO is pretty great. also, so many people walk or bike of the bridge everyday too.

from personal experience and from talking to a broker friend, any property near the beford L is always going to be sold easier/faster than anything else in the neighborhood. it is a HUGE factor in purchasing. access to all the shopping in union square on the weekends is just as important as a quick commute to your job on the weekdays too.

Posted by: wine lover at September 10, 2008 10:59 PM

I love the Q - I live at Dekalb ave. 2 stops to union square? Yes please!

Posted by: greenebee at September 12, 2008 5:22 PM

« Low Voter Turn-Out For Primaries As Usual Bay Ridge Becoming McCondo Central? »

September 10, 2008

Is the Q Train the New L?

Trackback Pings

Comments

Post a comment

Latest Restaurant Additions