Quote: (09-25-2013 04:37 PM)Seamus Wrote:
Anybody currently living in brooklyn care to weigh in? I've only lived in upper manhattan, but am really trying to get somewhere else by Oct. 1st and I've heard good things about the scene in williamsburg. I'm planning on checking out some places this week.
Alternately, any RVF members looking for a roommate? My budget is in the 1k-1300 range
Ill try to breakdown Brooklyn as much as I can. Brooklyn its actually a very interesting borough, It would be the 4th largest city in the US if it wouldn't have merged with Manhattan in the 1800's. Also, Don't put too much stock in the lower prices you see on craiglist. Most of them are bait and switch from realtors or straight up scams. I have rented apartments in my Brownstone on craiglist, my phone would just not stop ringing and my mailbox was full. My apartments weren't below market value, I can only imagined if I posted an apartment with a price too good to be true.
You are going to be paying almost Manhattan prices in old Money tier 1 Brooklyn neighborhoods like Carrol Gardens, Brooklyn heights, Vinegar Hill, Park Slope, Coble Hill and just about any neighborhood from the East River to Prospect Park if you are using Flatbush Ave as the border. The only advantage of living there over Manhattan is that parking is just a tad easier because there aren't as many "No Standing zones" and garages are more affordable. Also, You are actually closer to lower Manhattan from those parts of Brooklyn than you are from any neighborhood in Manhattan above 42nd St and apartments are a tad larger.
The 2nd tier would be the old White middle class enclaves like
Bay Ridge, Bensonhurst, Fort Hamilton and Sheepshead Bay. They are relatively safe and have decent local amenities. The big and this is a big problem with a lot of those neighborhoods is that affordable spots are on a two fare zone system which means you have to take a bus to the local train station. If you work in lower Manhattan you have another 30 to 40 min subway ride in a standing room only subway car. Driving to Manhattan during the rush hour is not even an option because its going to take you more than an hour just to reach any of the East River Bridges.
If you are willing to live on an illegal basement(If the listing says electrical is included chances are it is a basement apartment) you can probably find a 1 bedroom for less 1k all utilities included. If you are non-White just keep in mind that those neighborhoods did not remained virtually all White by accident.
The 3rd tier would be traditional Black Central Brooklyn Neighborhoods. From West to East; Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Prospect Heights, Bed-sty, Crown Heights, East New York and Brownsville. Fort Greene and Clinton Hill have been gentrified for about a generation now and the rental prices reflect that. Fun fact: Fort Greene was the 2nd neighborhood in NYC which allowed Blacks to own houses after Harlem.
Crown Heights and Bed Sty are being gentrified now and do have an acute crime problem depending on what Block you live in. A good rule of thumb to be able to tell how safe a Black area in Brooklyn is what I call is "The White Girl jogging" index. If you walking around in Brooklyn and you see more than 2 White girls jogging in Spadex in a 30 minute span the area is safe regardless of how many dudes with dreads and skinny jeans you see walking around.
The closer you are to the subway stop the more expensive the apartment. However, you should be able to find a 1 bedroom within the upper limit of your budget somewhere east of Utica Ave stop which is a 20 min subway ride to lower Manhattan. The amenities are getting better but not as good as those from White side of town. Crown Heights is very long and narrow from west to east so a subway stop shouldn't be more than 10 min walk away. Bed Sty is huge, Subway service is decent on the border with Bushwick and Crown Heights on the other side of the neighborhood. The middle of Bed Sty is where almost all the projects are and is also the area that is least served by subway service.
Brownsville, I am not going to mince words, Brownsville is a shit hole. It is a shit hole now and it was a shit hole when it was working class Jewish and Italian neighborhood and Blacks couldn't live there. If you heard of the Murder Inc(Not the Ja rule label, the real Murder Inc) all those hit men where from Brownsville. You would not be able to find an apartment here unless you sublet an apartment in one of the projects. There's very little privately owned apartments in Brownsville almost all the housing stock is made up of projects apartments. You can have any cuisine you want in Brownsville as long as it is Chinese take out. Surprisingly it has decent subway service by the L train and the 3 train.
East New York, the largest neighborhood in NYC. It also has the 2nd largest train station in Brooklyn. It connects the A/C, J/Z, L and Long Island Rail Road commuter line. Its actually several distinct neighborhoods who lie east of Eastern Parkway to the Queens border. It has a very bad rap on par with Brownsville but it has some decent areas. All the problems in East New York are along side the border with Brownsville and where is dense with projects along Linden Blvd.
Anything along the border with Queens is free of non sense for the most part. There's a Dominican and Puerto Rican enclaves north of Atlantic Ave called Cypress Hill. That's where the Hispanics who were priced out of Lower East Side, Williamsburg and now Bushwick have moved to. There's a nice size park with all the fixings(ponds, paths, soccer and baseball fields shit that hipsters go gaga over) in the neighborhood. The shitty part of the area is that its served by the J/Z line which I consider along with the G line as the worse lines in the NYC.
Any RFVers with extra cash should try to buy a 3 to 4 family in this area pronto. After Hispters get priced out of Bed Sty/Crown Heights in 5 years, they are coming after Cypress Hills because of the park and easy subway access.
Williamsburg and Bushwick, They are technically the same neighborhood. The housing stock is almost identical and it doesn't have the visual aesthics that the Brownstone Brooklyn has. Also, realtors have done a very good job at muddling the border between the two nabes'. Ask 5 people from the area what's the border between Williamsburg and Bushwick and you'll get 5 different answers. I agree with Maledefine below, Williamsburg has really become Manhattan lite, You'll pay the same as living in more established Brooklyn Neighborhoods but you'll get none of their pluses.
I lived on Bushwick aka East Williamsburg, is true what you read online, tons and tons of Dominican and Puerto Rican mamis walking up and down Knickabocker ave in the summer but you going to have to pay a price for all that. The price is dealing with the unreliable M train and Dominican/Puerto Rican Machismo. Don't get caught eye balling a Dominican chick and her man is with her, trust me on this. Bushwick is relatively compact so there is always a train station within a 10 minutes walk. Prices get cheaper the farther you are from Myrtle Ave rents get really cheap as you get closer to the tri border between East New York, Brownsville and Bed Sty.
A word about realtors, if you can afford them(10% year rent or one month rent), its worth it. A realtor can show you up a shit load of apartments a day and they will do the driving. If you deal with craiglist landlords what you save in money, you'll waste in time. They are worse than Colombian chicks in term of flakiness.
This is getting a little too long so I am going to stop right here. Any questions, just ask.