Open House Picks

I agree. Clinton Hill ends at Classon Ave.

The Chester Court house is indeed beautiful. There was another house available throu A&H a few years ago which was priced at $650K. It had a more contemporary renovation, but very pretty.

Trouble with this block is that it is very short and abuts the sunken Q/B line. The other end comes out on Flatbush Ave. And not the side that leads to Maple Street and the other long picturesque blocks. It’s very isolated, cut off on the other side of Flatbush Ave, where it’s right up next to huge apt bldgs on one side, the other side backing up on to a huge parking garage. This has enabled graffiti artists to come around to the sides of the poor houses on the tracks and apply their craft. I cry for those homeowners every time I pass by on the train. A house in Prospect Park South, gorgeous, but bizarrely close to the train cut, also got sprayed by another spray paint enthusiast.

For such adorable houses, they have one of the WORST locations, as far as I’m concerned, in brownstone Brooklyn. Poor things.

To Anonymous re: South Slope:

Your posting is fairly ridiculous. Architectural style does not, in this case, determine neighborhood boundaries — geography does. The move to smaller, frame houses (and in a bunch of cases, bigger, frame houses) happens below 15th Street.

Gowanus Heights makes no sense sense most of that area isn’t in any way near the Gowanus. The Gowanus neighborhood is being applied more accurately to the neighborhoods between 4th Ave and probably Nevins, just to the west of Center and South Slope.

The name of the southsouthslope website was more tongue in cheek than anything — nobody who lives there calls the neighborhood that. However, it is important to note that the lives and activities (e.g., schools, restaurants, stores, etc.) of people on many of the blocks in question — particularly between 6th Avenue and Prospect Park West — are tied directly to the Slope, particularly the burgeoning 7th Ave strip, south of 9th Street. Ergo, I would say the South Slope designation makes sense these days.

All in all, this is a fairly academic discussion. The neighborhood boundaries in much of the area keep changing — and most are inventions of real estate brokers to begin with. The Slope went to 9th Street a few years ago and now most agree it goes to the Prospect Expwy. Of course, any long time residents will tell you this is all (PS, CG, WT, CH, Prospect Heights, FG, CH, downtown) just South Brooklyn anyway.

The Brooklyn MLS is a fledgling effort that, to date, seems to include primarily properties in Bay Ridge and Bensonhurst. It gives you the ability to search other zip codes (such as 11217 for Park Slope or 11238 for Clinton Hill), but if you try searching those areas you won’t find much, if anything. The established Brooklyn brokers are basically hoping the MLS will go away and refuse to include their listings.