Choosing the Suburbs Over Brooklyn
Are would-be Brooklynites flocking to the suburbs? The cover story in yesterday’s real estate section of the Times looks at how relatively cheap home prices in the suburbs are luring New Yorkers who find they can get way more bang for their buck in parts of Westchester, Connecticut and Jersey than in the city. While…
Are would-be Brooklynites flocking to the suburbs? The cover story in yesterday’s real estate section of the Times looks at how relatively cheap home prices in the suburbs are luring New Yorkers who find they can get way more bang for their buck in parts of Westchester, Connecticut and Jersey than in the city. While the article mostly focuses on the widening price gap between Manhattan and suburban properties, it notes that some people who would’ve bought in Brooklyn are also finding the suburbs cheaper:
Ludovic and Fabienne Ledein, who live and work as jewelry designers in Dumbo, visited nearly a dozen lofts in Dumbo, Red Hook and Williamsburg looking for something to buy for less than $600,000. They needed enough space to work at home and to put up friends and relatives from Europe. But what they wanted cost more than twice what they could afford…They found their answer in Westchester County, in New Rochelle. For about $600,000, they bought 1,350 square feet in the newly renovated Knickerbocker Lofts, a converted factory downtown that was built 117 years ago.
Any readers contemplating a similar move?
Cashing Out of New York City [NY Times]
Photo by uicukie.
“life here is a breeze.”
not really what i’m looking for till i retire. or die.
then i’ll do it in italy. not in upstate new york.
Croton stats:
The population was 7,606 at the 2000 census.
And you think that compares to New York City in any way, shape or form??
It’s a ridiculous comparison.
No, that’s 3 to 10 miles.
Croton has 2 coffee shops, 2 gyms, and at least 10 restaurants right in town. There’s a fabulous gourmet food store as well. One of the gyms has been there for years, so I’m not sure how your sister missed it. If you’re okay going ten minutes away, you can find absolutely everything in terms of stores, restaurants, gyms, movies, music, and all the basic amenities.
I am sure there are people who can’t make the transition from the city, but I’ve never known any. Everyone I know has been thrilled with the increbible ease of life here and the tremendous array of amenities in a short distance. For me, compared to trying to shop and shlep through Brooklyn, life here is a breeze.
All these posts about NYC’s culture are so pompous and fake.
I live in Brooklyn and sure I have gone to all the major museums in NYC, a few plays (are musicals culture?), some art exhibits and the philharmonic about a dozen times. Hardly more then anyone living within 1hr of NYC couldnt easily top and I find that I have visited these types of attractions at least as much if not more then my urban peers. And whenever I went to these places the population is mostly tourists (often from the suburbs) with only a minority of ‘city folk’.
There are 8M people in NYC and probably 350K in Brownstone Brooklyn – it is clear to me that very few people here are really living a more “cultured” life then their suburban counterparts (otherwise the museums et al would be overrun)- if you are defining culture as the arts.
I would venture to guess that suburban kids have been to most of NYC cultural attractions as much as city kids – since schools, camps and community groups in the tri-state area really do seem to offer tons of field trips.
Look I like the city better too but it is sad when people have to rely on exaggeration and fabrication to justify their positions.
“we’re witihin 20 minutes of all of the things I mentioned.”
ummm…that’s 20 miles give or take, no?
20 miles to get some coffee or some thai?????
hells to the no!
There are two sides to every story.
My sister and her husband and 2 kids moved to Croton and HATED it.
She moved back to Manhattan within 12 months.
She said the services, amenities, restaurants and shops were severely lacking. Not even a gym at that time. (2 years ago)
9:11, Croton does have vacant stores on one business street and too many nail salons–only 2 that I know of, but that’s one too many. Croton has two town centers–Croton and Harmon. The problems mentioned above are in Harmon.
My comments were about the area, not just the town–we’re witihin 20 minutes of all of the things I mentioned.
We are staying in Brooklyn for several years at least for sure. But I still like to hear tips about great towns outside the city.
I was excited to hear Croton is cool, and I looked at the Croton blog, and saw there are big problem with lots of vacant storefronts in Croton and a hunger for better amenities. So it doesn’t sound as ideal as it was presented. It’s an active and passionate community though, which does help. I was chuckling at the jokes on the Croton blog about yet-another-nail-salon because our neighborhood jokes about that too. How many nail salons does the world need?
What 9:36 described of Manhattan life for a teen, how is that different from the suburbs? I grew up in a wealthy, upscale small community, not a large urban city, and that’s exactly how many teens spent all their time too. Bad parenting is bad parenting wherever you live.