Brooklynites Jumping Ship to Manhattan?
Could it be that many self-proclaimed Brooklyn loyalists are ready to trade it all in at the first sign of a recession? Was the borough’s surging popularity in recent years merely a function of Manhattan becoming unaffordable? Or is Brooklyn still a first choice for many? The Real Estate section cover story from yesterday’s New…
Could it be that many self-proclaimed Brooklyn loyalists are ready to trade it all in at the first sign of a recession? Was the borough’s surging popularity in recent years merely a function of Manhattan becoming unaffordable? Or is Brooklyn still a first choice for many? The Real Estate section cover story from yesterday’s New York Times certainly tries to create the impression that, given the chance, a number of folks who professed to like Brooklyn in recent years are finding the lure of affordable rents and proximity to work just too much to resists. Take Andrew Baisley, who describes himself as a “cheerleader for Brooklyn.” The Bushwick resident, though, just last month jumped at the chance to rent a $2,100-a-month one-bedroom in Chelsea. When you go to Manhattan, there’s an air of selling out, he says. I’ve accepted that. Let’s try to get a sense of how many fair-weather Brooklynites there really are out there:
Manhattan Calling [NY Times]
The L train did used to suck comprehensively. I would routinely have to let 2 or 3 trains pass by every morning before there was one I willing to stuff myself into. Glad to hear that the updated signal system seems to have improved things.
I was working in Midtown at the time, so I would have to switch to the uptown 4/5/6. That was truly hell during morning rush hour.
4 or 6 train is definitely the worst…
Everytime I have to go downtown for a meeting, I wonder how people commute for 25 minutes standing up, twice a day.
collin, well said. it may SOUND like being close to all these amenities is so great, but in truth it turns out not to be the topmost priority for people.
I would live in Manhattan if I had a high pressure job and needed a place to return to and go into my cave. Instead I have a pleasant job and when I get out of work I don’t need to activate my brain more or to recover.
I live in Brooklyn because I absolutely love it. I love waking up to Lincoln PL on weekend mornings. I love the trees in the Spring when the Cherry Blossoms are blooming. I love that i can walk around at 2am and everything seems like it did decades ago before ipods and cells phones and twittering. I am 28 and enjoy to unplug. I walk by Prospect Park and the breeze is strong and a couple is sitting on a bench talking and I feel like I am home. No sky scrappers or loud college kids or night clubbers from Jersey. I just freaking love it. I have a washer and dryer in my cheap apartment and I have neighbors that tell me when they see someone weird in the building and its just a great feeling. I would not go to Manhattan. And it has nothing to do with price. I just love my home.
the L train is the absolutely worst nightmare of a train in entire nyc. dipster is lying out of his ass in previous post. every single person i know and work with who takes the L says it’s a nightmare at ALL hours. plus it’s filled with vile people. i’d rather go poor and take a cab than take the L train.
the *L*OSER train!
*rob*
I don’t find the L that bad. Some mornings it’s empty and some mornings it’s really crowded. I get on at Lorimer and can always fit on the train – I’ve had to let maybe 5 trains go by in 2 years. That’s probably because they finished that signal system on the L that allows the trains to run much closer together (2 minutes i think)
Some people make the L out to be the anti-christ of all trains. I tell them to try getting on the 6 train @ 77th street at 8:30 in the morning.
hey d-h,
How is the L train these days? I used to date somebody who lied at the Graham Ave stop back in 2000. Trains were insanely crowded. Are they better? Worse?
wasder,
If the choice is a house with a garden in Brooklyn or a cramped apartment in Manhattan, then I’d choose Brooklyn.
But, the choice is between an apartment in Brooklyn with a long commute or a slightly smaller apartment in Manhattan with a shorter commute. Shorter commute = more time. And I have never in my life felt so in need of time as I do now.
Not to mention when we lived in Manhattan my wife I could both walk to work (or take bus/subway if the weather was lousy). This was so much more pleasant than the subway, and combined we are spending at least an extra $120/month on metrocards.
Also, I would really like to have washer/dryer in my apartment or at least on the same floor, and I’d like to be in a first floor apt. or in an elevator building. It will be easier to find a place like that in Manhattan than north or center park slope (which is where I have to live if I want to keep my son in his daycare center).
nsr
quote:
I suppose if I had the money, I could get a home in someplace like Hamilton Heights in Harlem, which is a comparable neighborhood to Crown Hgts, with similar architecture.
that’s where i lived in harlem. it’s a sh-t hole there and the quality of life SUUUUUUUUUUUCKS. the only cool thing about that area are the really GOOD dollar stores and open fire hydrants in the summer.
*rob*
I was going to guess that, but the bit about “tree-lined street” threw me off
yeah – there are tree lined streets. most of the streets btw Graham and Union are quite leafy.