'Port Sleene'? Yeah, That Has Quite a Ring to It
Brooklyn Paper columnist Dana Rubinstein spies a new maybe-trend: The Slope-ification of Fort Greene. Evidence? More boutiques, more strollers, more white people, more coffee shops, more high-end grocers like Union Market coming. It’s a glass half-empty sorta thing (“Fort Greene has acquired a distinctly less edgy vibe. Stores cater to the arrived, rather than the…
Brooklyn Paper columnist Dana Rubinstein spies a new maybe-trend: The Slope-ification of Fort Greene. Evidence? More boutiques, more strollers, more white people, more coffee shops, more high-end grocers like Union Market coming. It’s a glass half-empty sorta thing (“Fort Greene has acquired a distinctly less edgy vibe. Stores cater to the arrived, rather than the up-and-coming, the mainstream, rather than the avant-garde.”) but hey, at least the water is designer (“there are far worse things than looking like Park Slope”). And of course, what trendspotting nabe article would be complete without a couple possible new names for the area: “Park Greene. Or Fort Slope. Or Port Sleene.” Wait a sec, has Fart Grope been spoken for?
My Copycat Neighbors [Brooklyn Paper]
Fort Greene photo by Daniel A. Norman; Slope photo by wallyg.
terrific post, 10:26.
i agree completely.
I’ve lived in both Park Slope and Fort Greene and see the merits of both. But I really get sick of these Slope-bashing stereotypes. I myself am a hard-working mom of small kids, working at a nonprofit, and my also-hard-working-husband and I don’t really care about being “hip” or smug – we’re just trying to get through my days and yes, provide the best to our kids.
We initially were looking to buy in FG, but it just happened that the apt we found 6 years ago (we did NOT want a coop, but houses were too expensive and we wanted pre-war condo) was in PS. I initially did not want to move to PS due to the very stereotypes thrown around here – I feared we would be pegged as cliche lefty smug breeders (we even owned a used Volvo at the time) But you know what? Once I moved here, I totally stopped caring about these stereotypes, and realized that this is truly a great neighborhood – NOT because of any kind of hipness, but because the park is amazing, there are great services, the food coop provides incredible cheap food, and yes, there is a real sense of community here esp for families. I cannot tell you how many times total strangers have helped me out, whether in the the local playgrounds, on the street, or on the Park Slope Parents listserve. Say what you want about the rich folks moving in, but they are not at all everyone in this neighborhood – I think there are plenty of folks like us – NOT rich, but hard-working and down to earth. We bought our places before the huge run-up in prices, and stretched then, and those of us who are trading up now are stretching further, but we’re not the ones buying 3 million dollar homes, that’s for sure. Somehow those folks get all the attention and come to “represent” what PS slope is all about and it just ain’t so.
As for all the talk of designer clad moms and babies, again, I think this is kind of a myth. Most of the people I know around here have a more modest style – Old Navy/clogs/and the occasional Beacons closet or Diana Kane flair. And the PSP listserve circulates tons of hand-me-downs for kids.
Much as we loved FG, the lack of services was a real drag – something as simple as grocery shopping always felt like an ordeal. Maybe it’s better now, but I always felt that it was much better suited for folks who want to eat out a lot, whereas my family, budget-conscious as we are, eats mostly at home. So having the coop is key to us, as is having a good drugstore, dry cleaner, toy stores, etc. nearby is infinitely more convenient than FG.
As for racial diversity, I did like that FG was more diverse, but I think that’s changing, and I think PS is not quite as homogenous as people think – though I think all neighborhoods which get gentrified unfortunately do become more homogenous – but I would not pick on PS anymore than the other gentrifying hoods, FG included.
Lastly, the schools in PS are undeniably better than FG. I think that’s changing, but I often felt that families (or people planning families) who moved to FG were *wealthier* than PS since they did not even seem to care about the public schools (and I suppose planned on private school), whereas a key draw of PS is the schools, of which there are several great ones now – 321, 107, 39, etc.
You motherfuckers should be thanking the motherfucking dinosaurs for going extinct.
8:27 Thanks Tonto!
That’s fucking right biyatches! You own bkyln.
Fuck Columbus!
well since we’re going all out on this topic,
i say Ft Green is still 6 white yrs away from Park Slope. thats a lot of cash in real estate
7:52:
I hate to break it to you, but you do not own Brooklyn.
When Brownstone Brooklyn was built, the only people who lived in these neighborhoods were white. It wasn’t until later that black families moved in.
So remember who came before YOU!
Hurray for the FE bailout today!
$200 billion dollars of magically created taxpayer money will be used to purchase assets the banks can’t sell to anybody else.
Hurray for inflation! Hurray for record oil prices!
those stats are from 2005.
listen, i have lived in clinton hill since 1995 and lived in park slope before that, this neighborhood IS NOT and will not ever be park slope, thank GOD. while there are a lot of white women with strollers who think they own the place, they are wrong! there are many black families that live her and will live here for a long long time and will not ever give this neighborhood over to them. believe what you want, but it won’t happen and i will not let it happen as a black mother, who used to have a stroller-when i sit on my brownstone stoop, white people can look at me all they want, but it is my house and i am not and will not give it all up to have a neighborhood full of people who have no regard for the what was here and what will be here. in fact, my new white neighbors are totally “down” and don’t want that environment either!!