Brooklyn Becomes a College Town
With a crush of students already flocking to Downtown colleges like Brooklyn Law, a new dorm on tap from Brooklyn College in Flatbush, and a surge in International applications to attend Pratt, our borough is more popular than ever with the university set, says the Daily News. Around 55,000 students now attend institutions of higher…
With a crush of students already flocking to Downtown colleges like Brooklyn Law, a new dorm on tap from Brooklyn College in Flatbush, and a surge in International applications to attend Pratt, our borough is more popular than ever with the university set, says the Daily News. Around 55,000 students now attend institutions of higher learning in Kings, and that number is primed to rise. Applications to attend colleges in Brooklyn have risen almost across the board over the past five years, and a Pratt official says there was a 60 percent increase in international student applications to attend the school this year. Students interviewed for the article say Brooklyn is an appealing option. “I came here because I like New York, but don’t like Manhattan,” says a Pratt sophomore from Columbus, Ohio. “Manhattan is really crazy. There are so many insane people there. It’s a lot cheaper here, too, and I really wanted a school with a campus.” Pratt VP for enrollment Judith Aaron says the borough’s escalating real estate values and overall better rep have lured more students, or at least stopped them from worrying about personal safety. “I never get a question any more about safety – one in the last two or three years,” says Aaron. “Just as real estate has skyrocketed in Brooklyn, so has the borough’s reputation for prospective college students.” Next up: An increase in Brooklyn’s head shop-per-capita ratio?
Brooklyn Becoming a Thriving Center of Higher Education [NY Daily News]
Violet Tide Coming to Downtown? [Brownstoner]
Closing Bell: Brooklyn College’s New Dorm [Brownstoner]
Photo by Louis79.
There was an article just this week about how the college towns across the U.S. are holding up in value. This is a great thing for Brooklyn.
As for Mr. Manhattan who retorted that a student who commented here didn’t like NYC if they thought Manhattan was crazy – huh? Every single person who sets foot in Brooklyn is capable of recognizing and describing the ways Brooklyn has a different vibe than Manhattan. Your statement is just knee-jerk defensiveness, as usual around here.
If a person is attending school and not working on manic Wall Street or rushing to work, etc, then yeah, pretty logical the students will prefer a slower paced Brooklyn. Ever been to a college town before? Ever heard of the phrase “sleepy college town”?
Columbus, Ohio has a SERIOUS drug, gang and crime problem, 11:00.
You are severely underinformed.
Why do you live in a place you seem to despise?
Sounds like you are the mental patient, actually.
10.41 – I think the reference to real estate values was cited because there is a correlation between real estate prices, affluent newcomers in the past 10-15 years, and the relative improvement in safety and amenities in brownstone and downtown brooklyn neighborhoods over years past.
“Manhattan is really crazy” Maybe compared to Columbus Ohio but not to Central Brooklyn where Pratt is located.
In Central Brooklyn 1 in 5 residents reported their health as fair to poor.
In C. B. residents experience serious mental distress at a rate 35% greater than Brooklyn overall AND Manhattan.
Death due to drug use… 60% higher
Triple the rate of new cases of gonorrhea
25% higher cancer rates
Of 42 NYC neighborhoods Central Brooklyn was rated 38 “in dead before you turn 75”.
“Manhattan is really crazy. There are so many insane people there.” In other words, you DON’T like New York.
“escalating real estate values… have lured more students”
Actually, isn’t that the exact opposite of how it works?
Thats great news for the borough. Great news for me as well….im a downtown landlord.
9:49:
You’re right about your last point.
I was in Clinton Hill on a bitterly cold day and saw a guy walking around in his pajamas and bare feet.
First I thought he was an escapee from a looney bin. Then I looked across the street and saw that he was being filmed for a Pratt-student project.
Now there’s “artistic fabric”!
9.35 – I think the benefits to the community come not only from cultural and other events on offer from the universities, but from, as you noted, retail development and economic activity.
However, unlike Ithaca or other small college towns in the middle of nowhere, Brooklyn has its own vibrant cultural scene with galleries, music venues, museums etc., so it is not as if the local populace is wanting for a source for movies, concerts, lectures etc.
Students, however, do contribute to the already rich cultural and artistic fabric of the community, and to the local economy – which is good for all.