Townhouse for $600k?
My husband and I are looking to buy a 3+ BR place so we can start a family (we currently live in a little 700 sq ft Boerum Hill condo). We’re open minded about neighborhoods in Brooklyn (preferred) or Queens but want a commute to mid-town that will be less than an hour. We could…
My husband and I are looking to buy a 3+ BR place so we can start a family (we currently live in a little 700 sq ft Boerum Hill condo). We’re open minded about neighborhoods in Brooklyn (preferred) or Queens but want a commute to mid-town that will be less than an hour. We could swing $600k and it would be a dream to have a townhouse but from what we’ve seen that puts us in Bed Stuy or Bay Ridge. Would anyone have advice on what it’s like to live in either community today? Safety is a question, and value for the money. We’d also love recommendations for other neighborhoods we haven’t discovered.
You and your husband should be able to get a nice brownstone in Bedford Stuyvesant or Crown Heights. Right now you should be able to find a really nice brownstone in “prime” Bedford Stuyvesant in your price range.
The schools in BS have come up so much in the past 2 years it is amazing. The Brownstone School and Excellence Academy have received great marks. Also Bedford Academy for HS I think is a wonderful school. The students there are so well behaved and the the 10 students to every teacher approach seems to be working over there. The Brownstone school I would send my child there it was created by parents in the community and the parent teacher envelopment there is top.
The Excellence school, well I am starting to see commercials on nationwide TV telling how successful that school is… The principal is really dedicated to the school even the building which is beautiful.
Wait, Jersey City has FREE pre-K for 3 year olds?????? Wow, that’s almost a reason to move back.
good luck with the fertility drugs!
My husband lived in Jersey City for a while so I spent weekends there before we were married. I liked it alot. Not sure about the schools. Definetely not house wives of NJ. Haven’t seen the show but I’ve seen the ads. Commute is pretty good too.
in queens, forest hills or kew gardens may work for you. there are areas in both nabes that are close to express subway lines [e & f] and the lirr. forest hills has some of the best schools in the city.
the hubby and i looked recently in jersey city [exchange place area] but since we have no kids in school we could not justify the outrageously high real estate taxes.
I live in Sunset Park and have a daughter now a toddler. Moved there before having her, before I really thought much about having kids at all. The parents I know in the neighborhood with school age children do stress about the schools, a stress which is somewhat alleviated by the fact that SSP is in District 15, which has a relatively large number of good elementary schools. (I wouldn’t pick a nabe based on secondary schools, however — a whole nother ball game and generally not at all a question of what zone or district you are in.) Parents I know in District 75 (if I recall correctly — Fort Green/Clinton Hill/Prospect Hgts) are in a much tougher situation — I would really hesitate to move into District 75 unless you can afford private, although of course that could change by the time your (prospective) children are school age.
Don’t discount downtown Jersey City. We moved there in November after 15+ years in brownstone Brooklyn. The area has a similar feel to Carrol Gardens in late 90’s; a mix of single professionals, young families, and old timers.
The public school system offers full day (8:30 to 3) P-K for 3 and 4 year olds. In addition an after school program takes place in each school until 6pm, which is great for working parents. This is guaranteed. No wait-lists, no applications, etc.
I work downtown so the commute for me is 15 minutes. My husband’s Midtown commute is about 35 minutes.
Having said that I still prefer BK but prime BK. We sold a small place in Cobble Hill for a big place in more fringe area, and the school situation drove us out of Brooklyn. So my advise is to use a good school system as your guiding light whereever you go. Good Luck.
Dude, Jersey City and the waterfront towns are definetly not Real Housewives of Jersey. The Hudson Co. towns are closer to Brooklyn/Queens than you think.
Those women live in Franklin Lakes which would be comparable to Westchester Co, Nicer parts of Westchester Co. Those houses are SUPER expensive. It’s like compairing apples to orangutans.
Yes, if you are in it for the long haul, Bay Ridge’s middle and high school perform well.
I also have to agree with the Jersey thing. There are great nabes in Jersey. My sister lives in Verona, right next to Montclair, (she can actually walk into Montclair) and while its really nice, it just doesn’t have the same feel for me. But you can still get a great meal there.
And there’s something to be said about being able to hop on a subway and be at Coney Island or in Prospect Park in 20 – 30 mins.