EdgyFrom this week’s New York Magazine…
Two kinds of buyers choose the less bourgeois stretches of Brooklyn: the arty crowd in Williamsburg, Greenpoint, and (at the wealthy end) Dumbo; and the families that have made a go of areas like Bedford-Stuyvesant, Red Hook, and Crown Heights. Few will do great in a downturn, but the hipsters will be better off than the rest, who are likely to find themselves with no buyers to cover those renovation loans. That’s especially true in Bed-Stuy, with too few newcomers to offset stubborn crime and weak schools. Paying $750,000 for a house here puts you well into a danger zone. Crown Heights is better off, because of better subway access and proximity to Park Slope, but its houses still seem overvalued. A far stronger bet is Red Hook: Though there’s no subway and a huge housing project, it has the critical mass to handle a downturn. Water access, plans for Ikea and Fairway, and a continuing shortage of good properties suggest a real future. Williamsburg will remain a destination for those attracted to expensive vintage clothing and Thai food set to techno, and Greenpoint, next door, is a leafy family neighborhood with loads of owner-occupied three- and four-story townhouses that many brokers believe are still a little underpriced. The first casualties will be apartments around the Lorimer L stop, which lack the nightlife draw. Anyone overpaying for a condo in the Gretsch Building should watch out, given that 10,000 new apartments with waterfront views will be on the market in a few years. As for Dumbo, it’s small enough to keep demand high: It’s there to stay, says appraiser Jeffrey Jackson.
Neighborhood Values [New York Magazine]


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  1. i have never said that CH is FG. I said that it is more close to FG and will be more likely to behave more like FG in bad times then BS AND CH.
    And i am taking about prime CH wich is Clinton ave, Wachington ave (historic distric) i am not talking Classon.

  2. I dont think that it is fait to compare Clinton Hill to Crown Hights or Bedford. It is diffrent level of gentryfication. Prime CH is more like Fort Greene (it is a realy an extention of it)

  3. Clinton Hill, Crown Heights, Bed Stuy, Red Hook… I don’t want to be in any of them if the market turns south. And it doesn’t matter to me if I’m not selling. I’ve lived in edgy areas in not-all-that-bad times and it’s not something I’d like to do again, with kids.

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