You'll be better off just taking out a Home Equity Loan. Then you know you have the money. The last thing you need is to get your line of credit reduced in the middle of renovations.

Posted by: DD at November 10, 2009 9:42 PM in response to Home Equity Line of Credit

bklplebe,

So you just make this stuff up as you go along? No one in Bklyn likes families? I guess you should tell that to all the families choosing to stay in Bklyn rather than move to the burbs. Something is making us feel welcomed. Most family-friendly neighborhoods in Bklyn that I know of enjoy pretty low taxes. And most have plenty of singles, restaurants & bars. This includes PLG.

As far ensuring that my children don't take a wrong turn, that need would be there whether they lived in PLG, Park Slope or the UES. It's called responsible parenting.

And F.Y.I.

Edgy does not = city and city does not = edgy.

Posted by: DD at November 5, 2009 7:09 PM in response to House of the Day: 119 Fort Greene Place

bkpelbe,

You're the one that doesn't know what you're talking about. What noklissa described is exactly my life in Prospect-Lefferts Garden. Including the tomato plants my 6yo decided to grow this summer.

If Bob Marvin is reading I'm sure he can post some pictures of how festive trick or treating was around here last Saturday. It's a great deal of fun because we do know our neighbors. So it's fun to see how the kids that I met when they were babies have grown. Amazing to see how creative & giving my neighbors can be. And refreshing to have another day of just good clean fun with my children, friends & neighbors enjoying what we have. Together.

Posted by: DD at November 5, 2009 5:05 PM in response to House of the Day: 119 Fort Greene Place

BCtoBK,

I'm not sure what criteria Bob Marvin is using to qualify a "middle class" family. I have a well paying union job and my husband is an attorney with a fairly large international law firm, so I would like to think we make the cut. We live in PLG and send our children to school in the neighborhood. So do at least 3 other middle-class families that live on our street. These are just the ones in our daughter's kindergarten class. Our 6yo went to Maple Street School and will start her 2nd year at her zoned school, PS 161. Our 2yo will be attending Maple Street. PS 161 is one of the main reasons we didn't purchase a house in "Lefferts Manor" since none of the homes there are zoned for 161.

Like PLG in general, PS 161 may not be for everyone, which is fine. We're comfortable that as involved parents our children will receive a good education there. I also strongly feel that there is much to be gained from going to school with the people we live with as part of that education. I did some volunteering via Jr Achievement, so I was able to spend quite a bit of time in the school before I was a parent. Last year I helped out in the class a few time and with school trips. I'm looking forward this year to getting more involved with my daughter's school. It's not even close to being perfect, but you would be surprised at what a few like-minded & motivated parents can achieve. If just 10 neighborhood parents a year that send their kids to Maple Street School would put half of the energy & resources that Maple Street demands, our schools would be something to envy indeed.

I had high expectations when I moved to PLG 6yrs ago and so far they have been greatly exceeded. I was looking for the a neighborhood were my inter-racial family could feel comfortable. Some place we could live and not merely sleep. Somewhere my family can be involved and a part of the greater community. I loved the work I've done to help bring new things to PLG. I love being a part of the things & getting to know the people that drew me here in the first place. Living in PLG, I feel when I send my children off into the world, they will be surprised at how special the community they come from truly is.

Posted by: DD at September 3, 2009 9:37 PM in response to PLG Schools and Amenities

Sorry for the late reply! I totally crashed last night. Anyhoo, below is the shortlist I came up with in all my research broken down by neighborhood, in no particular order.

Park Slope
Ps282
Ps321
Ps372 - think this is special needs only
Ps39

South Slope
Ps10
Ps124
Ps172

Windsor Terrace
Ps107
Ps154

Prospect Park South
Ps130

Kensington
Ps230

Ditmas Park
Ps139
Ps217
Ps245-considered an "up and coming"
Ps249- consiered an "up and coming"

Greenpoint
Ps31
Ps34
Ps110

Brooklyn Heights
Ps8
Ps29

Carrol Gardens
Ps58

Ft Greene
Ps11
Ps20 = some controversy but overall ok

Prospect Heights
Ps9

Bed Stuy
Ps21
Ps261
Ps10

I'm sure I left some out... this is just what I came up with. You'll also notice I skipped some neighborhoods b/c this list was drawn from areas we were looking for our new apt, and some areas were off the list for us for various reasons. There are lots of others!
Don't forget that going to see the school / talking to a school coordinator can be way more valuable than a million opinions posted on the web. Good luck! :)

Posted by: ennuiater at September 4, 2009 8:21 AM in response to PLG Schools and Amenities

@ennulater Corrections:

PS 372 is inclusive - mixed general and special education

PS 261 is in Boerum Hill, far from Bed Stuy

Everyone, read www.Insideschools.org reviews for schools in which you're interested.

Posted by: FiredUpReadyToGo at September 4, 2009 10:56 AM in response to PLG Schools and Amenities

@ennulater corrections, more:

PS 10 is in South Slope, not Bed Stuy (very popular school... growing and on the radar)

PS 107 is also in South Slope (also very popular and very much the 2nd to 321)

Posted by: wishinone at September 4, 2009 1:33 PM in response to PLG Schools and Amenities

Oops! Thanks guys for correcting my above. I did write Ps10 as south slope but then got my Bed Stuy list all discombobulated.
For Ps107 I guess It's south Slope also, very close to WT as far as I'm concerned.

That's what happens before I've had my coffee for the day :{

Posted by: ennuiater at September 4, 2009 2:58 PM in response to PLG Schools and Amenities

Ennuiater and correctors all, at this rate I'm going to have enough information to sound like I know what I am talking about on schools. That will be a lifetime first. Aythangyoo.

Bob, just starting to hang out at K-Dog (mostly afternoons so far...) great chocchip scones.

We are still playing the "no you make another offer" game with the seller and broker at the moment, but we are taking advatgae of the time to do this great research.

Here's hoping!

Posted by: BCtoBK at September 4, 2009 9:50 PM in response to PLG Schools and Amenities

Best West Indian food in the city. Nice racial mix (historically more amongst the houses than the apartment buildings). Good amenities: Supermarkets are fine...when all else fails, Stop and Shop on Tilden about 1/3 mile up will compliment. Great cleaners and tailors around. Hit or miss with the shoe makers as well as the manicures/pedicures. For blacks and hispanics--good barbers and hairdressers.

SCHOOLS
This seems to be the hot topic. If you find a school in another neighborhood that you like, then it only makes sense to try to get your child into school there.

There used to be a small Christian school, St.John's Elementary (that was really inexpensive) on Winthrop. It was also super Caribbean. I went there from K-8 and got the best education: real grammar, math without gimmicks... That school's not there anymore, but if you're Christian/Catholic there are several good and affordable private schools in the surrounding neighborhoods(St. Marks and Epiphany being two that come to mind. Seriously, if religion isn't an issue do think about these options: small classes, rigorous teaching...etc)

The public schools I'm going to refer to are still Flatbush, but not all PLG.

PS 6 is on Bedford near Albermale. Built in the last 15 years, for the most part good school. If your barometer is college or high school then yes, I know students that went there that ended up in the city's top high schools and colleges.

PS92 on Parkside bet. Bedford and Rogers. Not known as the best school, but again the students can leave well. Students end up at Philapa Schuyler (a bklyn magnet school starting at 4th grade that feeds to Stuy/BXSci/and Tech basically) and other good jr. high schools. Once again I know students who attended and are brilliant, functioning adults contributing to society in a host of meaningful ways.

The Caton School- Great services for handicapped children.

PS235(where learning is alive). Somewhere not exactly near...but great education. many teachers laud the school

I've had the fortune of meeting many of those deemed the brightest minds of my generation (I'm 23) and trust me I've found more that started out in public schools in neighborhoods I doubt most of the posters would consider than I have seen that started in public schools in other neighborhoods. The kids from more affluent neighborhoods tended to emerge from private schools anyway.

Honestly, the most important thing in elementary education is probably parent involvement. For junior high/high school you'd want your child to get into a good school or a magnet program anyway. For public schools in Brooklyn that will be out of PLG: Schuyler, Roy H. Mann, Mark Twain,Crown School for law and Journalism, Hudde and special magnet programs in junior highs.

Posted by: BrooklynsGreat at September 5, 2009 12:27 AM in response to PLG Schools and Amenities

I have no complaints about "BrooklynGreat's" excellent comment except for one really minor one. He/she writes "hit or miss with the shoe makers." Not so; the shoemaker on Flatbush Avenue between Midwood and Maple is very good. I've been using this place for 34 years, through a succession of owners of different ethnicities, Italian, Jamaican, currently Bukharin Jews. All have done excellent work. When you consider that shoe repair shops have vanished in many neighborhoods, this place is a gem.

Posted by: Bob Marvin at September 5, 2009 9:01 AM in response to PLG Schools and Amenities

I am a 31 year old African American of carribean Hearitage that has lived most of my life in PLG (except for my grad school years in a small quaint Conneticut town.) I was educated in PLG for elemtary and middle school along with my two sisters, and then we all went to NYC Public High Schools - I went to Brooklyn Technical High School, and my sisters went to Midwood and Stuyvesant. We then went on to John College of the City University of New York, Pace and Harvard Universities. From there for graduate schools we went to Quinnipiac Univeristy Schoolof Law, Columbia University and the London School of Econmics in London, England, UK. I give this background to show that we were educated right here in PLG from Kindergarten to the eighth grade, and we went on to what society would say are some the City's finest public high schools, and the world's finest collegiate and post graduate institutions.

I currently work for the NYCDOE as an attorney and though I am not a teacher, I have visted several of the schools in the neighborhood and I can tell you that they are like the schools in other neighborhoods across the city - education is being delivered. As BrooklynsGreat said education is not just about what is done in school, it involves a great amount of parental involvement. The NYCDOE welcomes that involvment and you can look at their website to find ways to be involved. I emplore parents to get involved in the schools in your neighboorhood, so that there can be educational equity for all. Charter schools while fine are not the answer - where does that leave the students who can not get into them.

I am really disheartened by the fact that so many people want to move here, but all they want to do is rest their head at night, and not mix with the people you found here.

Posted by: ILOVEPLG at September 5, 2009 10:32 AM in response to PLG Schools and Amenities

I am a 31 year old African American of carribean Hearitage that has lived most of my life in PLG (except for my grad school years in a small quaint Conneticut town.) I was educated in PLG for elemtary and middle school along with my two sisters, and then we all went to NYC Public High Schools - I went to Brooklyn Technical High School, and my sisters went to Midwood and Stuyvesant. We then went on to John College of the City University of New York, Pace and Harvard Universities. From there for graduate schools we went to Quinnipiac Univeristy Schoolof Law, Columbia University and the London School of Econmics in London, England, UK. I give this background to show that we were educated right here in PLG from Kindergarten to the eighth grade, and we went on to what society would say are some the City's finest public high schools, and the world's finest collegiate and post graduate institutions.

I currently work for the NYCDOE as an attorney and though I am not a teacher, I have visted several of the schools in the neighborhood and I can tell you that they are like the schools in other neighborhoods across the city - education is being delivered. As BrooklynsGreat said education is not just about what is done in school, it involves a great amount of parental involvement. The NYCDOE welcomes that involvment and you can look at their website to find ways to be involved. I emplore parents to get involved in the schools in your neighboorhood, so that there can be educational equity for all. Charter schools while fine are not the answer - where does that leave the students who can not get into them.

I am really disheartened by the fact that so many people want to move here, but all they want to do is rest their head at night, and not mix with the people you found here.

Posted by: ILOVEPLG at September 5, 2009 10:32 AM in response to PLG Schools and Amenities

ILOVEPLG, that's an awsome analysis and I appreciate your case study on how PLG schools have resulted in amazing academic accomplishment. i wholeheartedly agree that local parents should get involved and I get the impression that many parents want to.

I do think this is an inaccurate characterisation: "I am really disheartened by the fact that so many people want to move here, but all they want to do is rest their head at night, and not mix with the people you found here." A huge part of the reason that we want to move to PLG is that we have loved meeting and mixing with the people in the nabe and we want to do more! I think that's echoed in a lot of the posts you will find in this stream. Sounds like people of every stripe are proud to be living and mixing in PLG. We hope we can join you all.

Posted by: BCtoBK at September 7, 2009 9:40 AM in response to PLG Schools and Amenities