Park Slope vs. Upper West Side
I have been reluctant to post this question, but here it goes. My partner of 8 years and I currently live in the West 60s in Manhattan. I have had a thing for Park Slope brownstones since I first visited the area as a teenager in the ’80s, and over the last year or so…
I have been reluctant to post this question, but here it goes. My partner of 8 years and I currently live in the West 60s in Manhattan. I have had a thing for Park Slope brownstones since I first visited the area as a teenager in the ’80s, and over the last year or so we have increasingly considered moving into one.
The pros of our current situation are that we have owned our apartment for about 7 years and generally like it a lot. It’s a fully renovated pre-war on a high floor with unobstructed views of Central Park. We can both walk to our jobs in midtown and have many nearby amenities (restaurants, Fairway, Whole Foods, movie theaters, etc.). The cons are that our apartment is only a one-bedroom (a guest bedroom and dining room would be great), it’s costly (maintenance fees, etc. of $2k/month), we’ll never be able to afford a two-bedroom version of our apartment (five-room, park-view condos are double the price of the brownstones we’ve looked at; co-ops are not as bad, but the board requirements are prohibitive) and our neighborhood is becoming less and less of a neighborhood (new high-rises and big box stores all over the place — we mainly live here because of the convenience factor and our view).
The pros of Park Slope are that it has a real neighborhood feel, it’s downright beautiful and the people seem great. Also, we can probably afford a pretty decent brownstone. The cons are the commute to work (30-40 minutes on the subway, based on our test runs), losing the conveniences of a full-service building (doorman to accept deliveries, etc.) and, well, it’s just the two of us and we don’t have kids to fill up a house, so there’s the guilt factor — a whole house for just two people seems decadent. However, I don’t think we would move to Park Slope to live in an apartment — the idea of owning a brownstone is really the draw.
We’ve thought about more “neighborhoody” areas of Manhattan that we like, such as the Village and West Village, but the houses there will forever be out of our price range, we don’t want to live in a loft or a modern glass building, and the pre-war, non-loft apartment stock downtown isn’t that great (mostly one-bedrooms and so-so combinations). Here’s one more fact for the mix — we have a small weekend house about two hours out of the city, we spend at least half of our weekends there and we intend to keep it. So, should we give Park Slope a try, or should we just stay put? Any thoughts would be appreciated. Truly sorry if all this just sounds annoying.
Thanks, dm1204. I’m surprised at how often, when I mention the possibility of moving to Park Slope, people (mainly Manhattanites, including those with children) try to dissuade me by jumping on the entitled parent bandwagon. Reasonable people who otherwise loathe stereotypes have no issue with that one. Granted, I have never lived in Park Slope, so my perspective isn’t all that well informed, but I’ve been going there on and off for more than two decades, and with much greater frequency in the past year. Sure the sidewalks on 7th are clogged with strollers, but they’d be as clogged on Broadway if the sidewalks were as narrow as they are on 7th. It always seemed to me that Park Slope attracts a variety of people. The demo may skew one way or another over the years, but overall it seems pretty balanced.
Also, thanks both to you and elizabetJane for the driving tips. I’ll have to try some of those alternatives. I actually grew up at the Queens end of the Jackie Robinson and considered that route, but for some reason I thought the drive down Eastern Parkway might take too long. 20-25 minutes sounds great.
Not sure why people jump on the entitled parent thing. I’ve lived in the slope for 15 years, well before I had children and well before most people wanted to live here. Granted it doesn’t make me a native, but gives me some perspective. So, I can say the social aspect of the slope does not entirely revolve around children. Even now that I have them it doesn’t. I think you make your own circles, you’re not forced into them. The park is full of many types of people, kids, hipsters, but also cricketers, dog owners, outdoorsy types, same as central park. Strangely comical that people focus on stereotypes, presuming that they are not an annoyance to others. Despite having seen a recent rash of egregious bike riding in the neighborhood, it’s not how I define the place. That said, there are plenty of people here without children, so depending on your age, there are lots of opportunities for socializing – book readings, museum, concerts in the park, good restaurants, shops, wine bars, live music, etc. To me, it feels like a real neighborhood – I know shop and restaurant owners of the places I frequent, see friends and neighbors on the street, etc.
As for brownstone living, would agree that salting sidewalks and carting trash cans is a hassle, but I think the charm and vibe of the place makes up for it. And as for getting to Long Island, I head out Eastern Parkway to the Jackie Robinson, hooks up with the LIE at about exit 22, voila, takes about 20-25 minutes.
So, if you’re drawn, I would recommend it, we’ve been very happy here through many stages of our lives. Renting probably a good call, just to be sure. The commute may get to you, or you may see it as a means to a great end, like we do.
With your weekend house on LI, you could perhaps take the Belt Parkway which I find to be faster than the LIE. It’s easy to get to the Belt via 4th Ave from Park Slope, if the Gowanus is heavy.
Park Slope is just the best. I live farther south in Brooklyn but I have several friends in slope, both North and South, and I’m there at least once or twice a month. Prospect Park is incredible, it’s not choked with tourists like Central Park is, and the restaurants of 5th Avenue are some of the best reviewed in the entire city. Sure, if you leave rush hour on a Friday you will add an hour to your commute, but if you leave earlier or later, or on Saturday morning, you’ll be fine. And depending on the micro-section, there are indeed plenty 24-hour places in Park Slope. I’m thinking around the 9th Street/7th Avenue station for sure. It compares so favorably to the UWS! Agree with you, the well-scrubbed streets of Park Slope have a more appealing ambiance than some of the other brownstone neighborhoods, beautiful as some of their buildings may be . . . I strongly recommend you rent in Park Slope for a year. It’s hard not to love it once you experience it.
Just to clarify, the return trips to the city were made in the early afternoon, and the weekend house is on Long Island, so the trip to Park Slope is a few miles shorter and doesn’t involve crossing a river. Getting from the LIE to Park Slope, however, can sometimes take longer than getting through the Midtown Tunnel and up to the UWS.
“As for the commute to our weekend house, we’ve actually driven from that house to Park Slope to check out open houses on Sunday afternoons, and it’s not significantly longer than the commute to the UWS.”
Sorry to be nit-picky, but travelling in and out of the city on a sunday morning is about the most optimal, least busy time possible. It is completely unrealistic to compare sunday to peak weekend mass exodus/return. Unless you are leaving thursday and returning sunday mornings from your country house, add an extra hour from park slope.
OP,
I have a whole house for one person. I live with the guilt 😉 OK, just top two floors. Love the Slope. Stroller mafia no more annoying than anywhere else. Park is beautiful, and quieter than Central Park so it’s therefore better I say!!!!
Buying a house I think is a much more cost beneficial way to own than condo-like. Never had a doorman so don’t miss that. Ask yourself how much you pay for that person to pick up your packages? Over 10 years?
Depends on lifestyle. Good places to go and tons of space for the loot. The commute really doesn’t bother me but would some. I read a lot so stick my head in book/paper and I’m in midtown. Depends on what you want but I’m very happy.
“prospect park really does not compare to central park” ??? That’s not what Olmstead and Vaux thought. Prospect Park was their chance to correct the mistakes they made in their first park commission.
Thanks again for all the sound advice.
As for other neighborhoods in Brooklyn, we have considered Prospect Heights, Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens and Boerum Hill. The housing in Prospect Heights is similar to that of Park Slope, and we actually focused on Prospect Heights first because of the better value proposition. However, as sad as I am to admit it, I like the slightly more scrubbed streets of Park Slope. I think I’m just getting old — wouldn’t have cared in the least 10 years ago. As for the latter three neighborhoods, although they are beautiful, the houses are of a different style and an earlier era, and we tend to prefer the late-19th and early 20th century houses.
As for the commute to our weekend house, we’ve actually driven from that house to Park Slope to check out open houses on Sunday afternoons, and it’s not significantly longer than the commute to the UWS.
Finally, on the entitled parent front, we’ve spent about a dozen Saturdays or Sundays in Park Slope over the last year. It seems like the stroller epidemic is a lot less pronounced on 5th than on 7th, and we’ve gravitated to 5th for meals. It’s a hike from the park blocks, but it’s not much worse than our current situation. We tend to go either 10 or 15 blocks up to the high 70s and 80s or down to the 50s when we go to restaurants in our area. Most of the places near us cater to the pre-performance Lincoln Center crowd, so we’re used to taking a short hike for restaurants with good food and character (and reasonable prices).
I truly appreciate the feedback.