Contemplating move to Crown Heights

My husband and I are contemplating moving to Crown Heights with our baby, but we are curious about what others think of the ‘hood.  We love the housing stock and proximity to the museum/botanical gardens, but we haven’t seen too many baby carriages in the neighborhood (in spite of what we read in the NYT and WSJ), and are also a little worried about crime, schools (though that’s several years away), etc.  Any thoughts on the area?  We would probably be several blocks out from Franklin…

srsmith77

in About Brooklyn 13 years and 2 months ago

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bklyngirl | 13 years and 1 month ago

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I grew up in Crown Heights.  Just for the record.  Are you white?  If so you will be pleasantly surprised by so many young, white hipster families who brave living in the “hood”  CH is seeing a very nice resurgance exemplified by a diverse mix of folks.  The schools (IMO) need a lot of work but then I think that families such as yours can only add to the experience.  As for the bruthas and what they get in to.  Believe it or not.  Many of them are actually pretty cool kids who come from decent homes but make knuckleheaded decisons.  Those that aren’t brought up properly (as my mom would say) want to avoid you as much as you want to avoid them so and not to disturb their “profession” and the last thing they want is to get on the radar of the po-po by harrassing young families.  You may hear a gunshot or see a fight but it’s a rapidly gentrifying nabe and as such it is to be expected.  So the advice on that end is “don’t start none, won’t be none”.  But get involved in the community.  Go to your local precinct meetings. Don’t do anything stupid like think if you leave your car door unlocked with your laptop that won’t scream an invitation to make friends and walk like you belong there. Also make friends with folks NO MATTER THEIR DISPOSITIONS (ahem!).  If they know you they won’t mess with you.  But just do you.  You will be fine.  Welcome to CH.

AmziHill | 13 years and 1 month ago

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No if you give a scared attuide then you might be assaulted. But this gose for half of NYC neighborhoods. The dont F*#k with me attuide is what the neighborhood just dose not want!  We are getting sick of the stuck up people moving in…

AmziHill | 13 years and 1 month ago

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Crown Heights North is fine…. It is not a “Stabby” neighborhood…One thing it has going for itself  is a community full of wonderful people that want the best for the neighborhood…  Please do not come to Crown Heights if your going to bring a Manhattan unfriendly attitude.   Also a lot of new people come to areas like Crown Heights and Bedford Stuyvesant looking like the are waiting for someone to harm them.  Those are the people that usually get harmed, the scared look makes you a HUGE target.  If you want a community well Crown Heights North is your place… If you want an elitist style neighborhood with neighbors that don’t speak when you pass them on the sidewalk, well Crown Heights is not for you…

pacificist | 13 years and 2 months ago

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My husband and I have rented in Crown Heights in the vicinity of Pacific/Dean between New York and Kingston (two different apartments) for five years and I would definitely not characterize the neighborhood as “stabby,” whatever that means. We have two kids under the age of 3, and I would love to buy a home in the neighborhood if we could afford it. Yes, I hear gunshots every few months and I hate that, but I have never felt personally threatened. I don’t feel that I am any more likely to get mugged here than in another neighborhood that is supposedly “better” or “safer”. Our neighbors are friendly and enjoy our kids, and our kids enjoy the neighborhood. Brower Park and the Children’s Museum are wonderful. The schools are pretty average, but not actually that much different (according to schoolbook.com) from schools in Prospect Heights. I second sweet-action’s advice to really spend some time in the area and talk to the people you see on the blocks you’re interested in; each one is a little bit different.

Sweet-Action | 13 years and 2 months ago

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We moved to Dean Street between Nostrand & New York 2 years ago. We have a 2 year old and another on the way in a few weeks. We’ve sen lots of new famiies moving to the neighborhood. Things are really taking off near Franklin, and with Mr. B’s new project on Dean & Franklin, all things are looking good for the area, and its starting to spill over to Nostrand (not so much further eastward, Like Kingston and Ralph etc). As for crime, we’ve definitely seen & heard of our share of scary stuff, but I’ve also never lived surrounded by so many cops. The area is heavily policed, and our block association has had a good response from the 77th precinct. We love the area, and we’ve never had nicer neighbors. Best advice I can give is really get to know the block you are thinking of buying on. Check it out at different imes of day, talk to residents, see what the vibe is. Walk around, and get to know it.  If you are talking about west of Franklin, that area is already really nice, so not much of an issue there.

coopking | 13 years and 2 months ago

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When you say several blocks out do you mean East like near Marcy or Tompkins ave? If so then yeah that area is a bit stabby. For the most part its fine but during the summer you will hear gunshots at night you will see drug deals go down and you might get punched in the head and have your iphone stolen. Having said that its a great area to invest in. 10 years from now it will be completely different. As a single guy I would live there, maybe even with a girlfriend/wife but probably not with a kid.