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 for the responses.
Ysabelle, I think (or hope) the whole hipster/stroller mafia thing is greatly exaggerated (I’ve met lots of Park Slopers who fall between those extremes), but you do touch on a concern of ours, namely, does most of the social activity in Park Slope revolve around doing stuff with kids? We like kids, but don’t have any, so we’re a little worried about our ability to make friends in the area if the socializing revolves around play-dates.
Drew, the Bronx has some great areas and, I may be wrong, but to me the neighborhoods and houses in the Bronx don’t seem to compare to brownstone Brooklyn from an aesthetic perspective, which, for better or worse, matters to us. Also, the commute from the Bronx to midtown may be OK, but it’s a long trip to downtown, which is where we prefer to go for dinner on weeknights and to hang out on weekends when we’re in town.
I think that sort of addresses your point, bkrules. We have some friends on the UWS, but they’re really all over the place, including the UES, SoHo, Financial District, Chelsea, etc. The subway ride from Park Slope to Union Square is only about 15 minutes — about the same as the ride from the UWS. As for the house stuff . . . I can definitely relate. Our weekend place can certainly be a pain sometimes. The local electric company was installing new meters and hired a subcontractor that didn’t work weekends. They suggested that we leave the house unlocked for a week, which was a nonstarter. One of us ended up taking a day off from work. Maybe renting for a while is the way to go.
I would not come to Park Slope – you will add so much time to your journey to your weekend home and that alone seems reason enough to stay put. another thing is that prospect park really does not compare to central park… commute to work is not so bad since it gives you time to read, and expense of taking taxis home late at night is offset by the fact that you’ll never take taxis to get around brooklyn.
“Try to find a place with the rental unit on the garden level.”
But don’t you give up exclusive yard access when you do that?
“A whole house just for two people seems decadent.”
Get over that right now!!! LOL You want a house to have a lot of room and that’s what you are buying. You will also save money on real estate taxes.
I gave up the commute, which was hard but you get used to it. I also gave up a lot of nice restaurants to walk to. But they’re not that car away from me. You won’t have that problem in PS.
I leave almost evry weekend for PA. I don’t drive, i take the train. So the car issue is a moot one for me.
Yes, you’ll have to shovel and read your meters and occasionally fix a toilet or a lock or get someone to do it if you have a rental unit.
Try to find a place with the rental unit on the garden level. You don’t want to have to be prisoner of your own floors locked behind doors because the common stairway leading to the top floor is used by a tenant. You really don’t want that.
I’ve lived in houses in Chicago most of my adult life and after spending 13 years in a condo on the UES, I had enough. Besides, I’m handy and enjoy the projects.
Definitely a tough call.
I’d think long and hard before giving up your view of central park.
Don’t underestimate the nuisance of the longer commute. That’s time eaten away from you every single day, and if you are riding the 2/3/4/5 trains during rush hour, you are going to stand more often than not.
And not being able to hail a cab is a real nuisance that took some getting use to for me.
Subletting your place and renting a brownstone isn’t bad advice. I rent one half of a 2 family, and we do have to take out the trash and shovel snow and deal with the ConEd meter readers. Not to mention cutting grass and raking leaves in the backyard.
Different world.
I make the weekend trip to PA and living in Brooklyn adds an extra half hour to the trip easily. That’s from when I used to live in Union Square. I suspect it would be even more from the Upper West Side.
Really hard call.
I’d focus on the loss of the services in the building and the increased commute time. You have to really love Park Slope for these things to be OK.
Have you ever lived in a house? Because when you’re shoveling the walk or sorting trash on a freezing night, you will wonder why you ever gave up your apartment. Also, when you find out you have to schlep downstairs to read the electric meter because you’re at work when the ConEd guy comes by…there’s a lot of little things like this which add up to major inconveniences. I think they’re worth it because I love the neighborhood, but if I just wanted a guest room….nope, wouldn’t be worth it.
Also, where are your friends located? If you have a lot of friends on the UWS, I’m telling you, you won’t visit them anymore. It’s a nightmare, especially on the weekend.
In the end, you have to make this judgment with your heart–they both have tradeoffs. In a perfect world, you could live in park slope for a year and then decide. Maybe you can do that? Sublet your place and rent a brownstone? I know that’s crazy…but why now try?
Hey Lower UWSider –
This decision seems pretty easy to me, if I were you, I would move to the Bronx. You get to be a part of a terrific community, there are great amenities (A Fairway!, transportation, and you can still tell people you live in Manhattan 😉
My business partner is in a similar situation, he longed for the Brooklyn brownstone lifestyle, but his partner works at Columbia and our firm is on 29th. They also commute every weekend to Columbia County – by moving to 110th st they saved at least 30 to 45 minutes on the commute.
They are now looking for a place in the Bronx and it seems feasible cost-wise for them, so it certainly would be obtainable for you. Your money can go a long way there and there is plenty great potential renovations. Why not consider a 3rd floor rental to offset costs then you won’t have so much guilt. There are plenty of young professionals looking for nice housing in the area (that isn’t bland high rises).
Good luck, let us know how it goes!
Drew
Do you really want to live with hipsters and the stroller mafia?