Our Borough, Ourselves
For the past month the Observer’s been running a weekly column called “Brooklyn, the Borough.” Each installment is a first-person account written by Nicole Brydson, who grew up in Manhattan and did some time in Greenpoint and Hell’s Kitchen before recently settling in Prospect Heights. In grand old Observer fashion, the column sorta reads like…
For the past month the Observer’s been running a weekly column called “Brooklyn, the Borough.” Each installment is a first-person account written by Nicole Brydson, who grew up in Manhattan and did some time in Greenpoint and Hell’s Kitchen before recently settling in Prospect Heights. In grand old Observer fashion, the column sorta reads like “Sex and the City,” but instead of bed-hopping and social climbing the focus is one woman’s quest to identify herself via her new borough. Here’s what Brydson’s learned so far:
Lesson 1: Finding the right neighborhood is tough. Williamsburg=”hupsters.” Park Slope=”pretentious mommy-daddy colony.” Fort Greene=”just about perfect,” but a little too pricey. Prospect Heights=True love, at the right price.
Lesson 2: It’s possible to decorate on the cheap. Getting gear from Lowe’s and IKEA is all well and good, but how ’bout that beige carpet from the sidewalk? “So far, no bed bugs!”
Lesson 3: Gentrification is a bitch. “I feel destined to simultaneously be gentrified and gentrifying, but to most people I just look like the new white girl on the block.”
Lesson 4: Don’t expect sanity from a real estate agent who asks you to sign a lease on the hood of her Jag.
Looking forward to more!
Escaping Hupsters for New Prospects [Observer]
An Electric Boyfriend Works the New Apartment [Observer]
Destined to Be Gentrified and Gentrifying [Observer]
My Angel Gave Me Hell [Observer]
and more white people who act like they’re black, don’t forget.
the people in ft. greene are odd.
All those people who live in Fort Greene and hail it as a bastion of diversity, and “real” and non-yuppified, etc., are DELUDED. Ft. Greene IS the new Park Slope. It’s as or more expensive, and has as many or more strollers and SAHMs. Only difference is that it has less amenities!
I like how 3:10 rolls, too. I believe its on a scooter.
3:10 Are you one of those Hupsters we’ve been hearing so much about lately?
5:18 – stop posting your shit on EVERY article on this site.
very interesting new data:
Over the past year, condo inventory levels have exceeded co-op levels as new developments (nearly all condo) continue to enter the housing stock at a steady clip. Residential development permits dropped sharply in 2007 and the expiration of the 421a abatement program on June 30th may choke off the high level of supply entering the market in 2009. So far, the elevated level of demand has kept inventory at modest to low levels.
The total number of listings has increased 9.9% from the end of December 2007 to the End of January 2008 (yesterday). Inventory tends to rise at the beginning of the year as sellers anticipate the upcoming spring market. The same period in four of the past five years has seen an increase in the number of listings:
1 Month Change (Dec-Jan)
2003, +2.3%
2004, -10.8%
2005, +16.9%
2006, +4.2%
2007, +9.9%
Clearly condo inventory is higher than it was two years ago, but co-ops are near the six-year monthly low since I began to capture this data. In fact, co-ops are 39.9% below their high in March 2003 (Just as the Iraq War broke out) and condos are 23.5% below their recent high in September 2006. Currently, overall inventory is consistent with levels seen in 2002/2003, which is contrarian to the increase seen in many metro area markets around the country at this time.
4:42, if you don’t see strollers in FG… well, I’m guessing you’re Fort Greene’s famous “Blind Billy The Guy Who Doesn’t Realize That Fort Greene is Really White and Gentrified Now.”
4:55 = white person who acts like they’re black.
4:51-fucking douchbag