moving to brooklyn, need advice!
Hi all – I apologize if this is a dumb post but I’m looking for some help. My job is transferring me to NYC, and I think I may want to live in Brooklyn. I’ve spent time a brief amount of time in Brooklyn, and it seemed really cool and I hear great things about…
Hi all – I apologize if this is a dumb post but I’m looking for some help. My job is transferring me to NYC, and I think I may want to live in Brooklyn.
I’ve spent time a brief amount of time in Brooklyn, and it seemed really cool and I hear great things about it. I know that your $ goes further there also. I’m young (32) and single, but have a decent friend base in NYC (primarily in Manhattan). I’m wondering which neighborhoods of Brooklyn would be best for me. I’d probably start off renting and then look to purchase once I got settled. I would be working in both midtown Manhattan and the Soho area, and I’m not going to have a car, so my biggest concern would be an area that had good subway access and where a commute wouldn’t take forever. I like to eat out a lot so proximity to good restaurants/take out would be nice as well. I love to go out but my preference would be to live in a nicer residential area that has access to better ‘going-out’ parts of town then to live in those parts of town themselves. I have heard Fort Greene, Cobble Hill, Park Slope, and Brooklyn Heights are good areas but I’m not sure what are the pros and cons of each – you can only gather so much from general descriptions, so I thought I’d throw it out there for current Brooklyn residents. I’m a bit of a yuppie (I’ll admit) though not snobby 🙂 basically I’m not really into the uber-hipster scene. I just want a place that is nice and has access to other great areas of NYC. Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated – thanks for your time! Also if there are specific management companies to recommend/avoid I’d love to know that as well. Brownstoner seems to be an awesome blog and hopefully I can be a part of your online community once the move takes place.
Bob– I will echo some of what has been said here and throw my vote in for Brooklyn Heights/Downtown area as well. I think much of the decision depends on how much time you want to spend in transit in total (including walk to subway). Having returned to Brooklyn after a stint in Manhattan, being close to multiple subway lines was important to me. For that, I think the South Heights/Downtown area is as good as you can find. My commute from Borough Hall to Grand Central is the same as my old commute from Chelsea. Ft. Greene/Boerum Hill would be another option, taking advantage of the Atlantic Station hub, or Prospect Heights with the 2/3/B/Q. Multiple lines has become even more important with all of the weekend shenanigans that the MTA pulls. As nice as Park Slope is, IMHO the transportation is not as great as the other neighborhoods. The Heights is a bit lacking in the restaurant/social department, but as mentioned, it is a quick hop to better food destinations in Ft. Greene, Cobble/Boerum Hill and beyond.
As far as SF neighborhoods, I grew up in Pacific Heights which I have always loved, but it’s more of an older crowd. Inner Richmond is great, as are parts of the Mission and Haight. I currently live on Russian Hill which is a great place as well.
Where are you coming from in SF? If one of your key life issues is being able to get outdoors (even if only for a little bit), then I would highly recommend focusing on the parts of Park slope and Prospect Heights that are close to Grand Army Plaza, as you will have better subway choices and still be extremely close to Prospect Park.
OTOH, if you are looking more for nightlife and food options in your neighborhod, I’d focus on either Park Slope close to 5th Avenue, Cobble Hill/Boerum Hill close to Smith, or Ft. Greene.
I actually really like Brooklyn Heights, but for someone in your position it’s kind an in between neighborhood — the hipper restaurants are all either back in Manhattan or else further out (10-20 minutes walk) in Cobble Hill or even further in Park Slope or Ft. Greene.
But let’s be honest — this is your first time living in NYC. If you are planning on going out with friends, dates, etc. 4 or more times a week, I’d start with Manhattan. Your money goes further in Brooklyn, but not that much further. Can you pay the extra $200-400 a month to live in one of these new buildings in Chelsea or Midtown? Then when you are sick of it in one or two years come to Brooklyn. It’s cool to be in Brooklyn, but it may not be ideal at first for a young professional in NYC.
Thanks everyone! I am so grateful for the advice. A friend referred me to Streeteasy.com – which might I say is an amazing resource – and it is helping me see some actual places. At this point my budget is around $2500 per month, though I’d be willing to spend a little more if I really liked a place.
I saw some listings that look nice at 110 Livingston, 365 Bridge St (BellTell Lofts is the name I think) 277 and 306 Gold. These are just a few as obviously there are many more to choose from. Any ideas on these places? San Fran seems to have more rental-only and purchase-only buildings but many of these seem to offer both.
Again thank you!
actually if you list some neighborhoods that you currently like in SF, i bet we could match something up. i know there are a lot of folks that are pretty familiar with that area. i love the richmond and live in carroll gardens and love it.
I’ve lived Downtown BK, Ft. Greene, and Park Slope. I prefer Downtown and Ft. Greene for proximity to the city…especially when it comes to cab fare. $8 from Soho to Downtown/Ft Greene…$25 from Soho to South Slope. The subways are the most accessible in the Downtown/Brooklyn Heights/Ft. Greene area. From Midtown on the F from the Slope was 45 minutes…from Downtown/Ft. Greene there were more choices of train, so I could be at work in a shorter period of time.
Cobble Hill, the Heights, and Ft. Greene are where I go for food and drink. Park Slope is good for food and happy hour specials.
I’d kind of agree with BHS. You should probably just look to rent around Brooklyn Heights or downtown Brooklyn area to start. They’re close to getting into Manhattan where your friends are. It’s a nice neighborhood and even if you find a neighborhood that you like better later on, I doubt you’d hate living there until you could move somewhere else. That’s probably a safe decision to make.
BHS is right about BH’s proximity. Also, it’s a quick walk to Court & Smith St in Boerum hill and Cobble Hill for better food & dining.
A lot depends upon your budget if we may be so bold to ask!!!
BTW, as you probably already know, unlike SF, you won’t neeed a sweater here in the Summer. Do your friends in Sf think you’re crazy???
Bob,
Welcome to Brooklyn. The great thing about the nabes you mentioned already is that, as stated, you can walk around in a day or so. All have great restaurants and bars, so that shouldn’t be an issue really, and are considered the more “upscale” Brooklyn areas. The only thing I’d add though, b/c BHS mentioned it, is that Park Slope has much more than just a single (subway) line. In addition to the F, which is what I assume s/he means, there’s the M/R at Union street that brings you to Atlantic Pacific (the Grand Central of Brooklyn, if you will) in one short stop, where you can catch the B/D/4/5/2/3/Q/N (all express trains that take you to downtown Manhattan in 10 min).
You should definitely start off renting for a year, as I’m sure your first impressions and tastes will prob change as you get to know the area more. What’s your budget though, that will affect your options. Brooklyn Heights and Park Slope are going to be a bit more than the other neighborhoods (although in my opinion they’re all great places, esp for a single guy).
Best of luck.