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]
I like the atmosphere of Brooklyn, the architecture, the people…there are so many unquantifiables that go into our idea of “home” that it always cracks me up when people (ie the NYTimes) write their RE / neighborhood articles as if the urban landscape is made up purely of subway lines, apartment stock and “amenities” (barf).
Does nobody have a sense of place anymore?
PS – Prospect Park = WAY better than Central Park (IMHO), and Lincoln Center would be ok if it weren’t so overpriced.
northslope–even with a kid you would move back? That is the reason I never will–on account of the fact that I would never be able to give my kids even half of the lifestyle we have in Clinton Hill. Last night, after doing a bunch of gardening with my 3 year old we went up onto the deck and cooked out and watched the birds in the big tree in the yard. There is just no way I would ever be able to provide my family with the same kinds of lifestyle amenities. Crammed into an apt in Manhattan? Not for me.
The Brooklyn hype machine has exploded! Please report to the radiation protection center immediately! I repeat the Brooklyn Hype machine has exploded!!!!
The What
Someday this war is gonna end
> ‘Good ol Williamsburg.”
I was going to guess that, but the bit about “tree-lined street” threw me off.
“And where did you find that in Brooklyn?”
Good ol Williamsburg.
omg do I need more sleep. Can’t type or use proper grammar.
I moved from the east village to park slope two years ago, for two reasons: for the same money I could get a lot more space, and I was sick of the constant noise. However, and very much to my surprise, I find that the thing I miss most about living in Manhattan was that I could walk to and from work. Used to be a great 35 minute commute, great way to wake up and then to put stressful days behind me, and I used to do it unless I was incredibly late or the weather was really dreadful. Now I pretty much have to take the subways, unless the weather is beautiful and I have well over an hour with nothing planned after work.
If I could find a quiet, decently sized place downtown, I’d go back without reservation.
That said, I’m a renter. If I could scrape up a down payment, I’m sure I’d find much better deals in Brooklyn, downturn or not.
OK, so how many of you voted multiple times on the “no” side? lol.
Or have there really been 198 “no” votes by 10:22am…
Anyway, it it were not for daycare issues the likelihood of my moving back to Manhattan would be 95%. With all the grief associated with finding good daycare, it’s more like 30%.
But, all things being equal, I’d be delighted to move back to Manhattan. It’s not that I have anything against Brooklyn. I just like Manhattan more. I’m a city kind of guy.
And I have no interesting in the Manhattan “scene” now that I’ve learned fatherhood means never getting to sleep again. It is just a more convenient place to live and I really hate the extra commuting time. Being crammed onto a 3 train during rush hour is not my idea of happy living.
Not being able to walk out of a store and hail a cab pisses me off to no end as well. Why the hell can’t you hail a cab in this borough?
Oh, and the closing of the used book store on Bergen between 5th and 6th is pretty much the last straw for park slope and me. WTF kind of neighborhood doesn’t have used book store?
I don’t understand the hype either, let ’em live where they want. As wasder said, I wouldn’t live anywhere else, no matter how much money I had. For me, and lots of other people, it’s not just the money, it the space, the yard, the quality of life, the neighborhood and the people. Most importantly, it’s the spectacular pleasure of not being in Manhattan.
Sure, when you go out late in Manhattan, it’s a pain to get home, especially on the train after midnight, when it goes local. 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. But it wouldn’t be the same. They don’t have the same graciousness of space in the street planning, or the same mixture of neighbors. The history, although interesting, is different, I’d even miss the Foodtown. I don’t want to live in Manhattan. I really love Brooklyn, warts and all. I love the spirit, the independence, the Brooklyn moxie and chutspah.
The article is aimed at young professionals and upwardly mobile types with no kids, who generally don’t settle down anyway, and are always moving from better deal to better deal. When you get older, your family grows, you want roots. You want to be connected to a place. Most of my upwardly mobile, hip and happening friends and co-workers who lived in trendy areas of Manhattan did one of several things as time went by – if they had great deals or rent stabilized apartments, they generally stayed. If they had kids, they left the city for the burbs. Or they moved to Brooklyn.