Prospect Lefferts Gardens is Becoming the New Park Slope

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Prospect Lefferts Gardens is Becoming the New Park Slope

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brooklynian
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Joined: Feb '12
Posts: 241

The stunning architecture and easy access to Prospect Park have always been the main draws for newcomers to Prospect Lefferts Gardens in Brooklyn ... The Romanesque Revival, Colonial Revival and Neo-Federal style homes in the historic district are highly coveted properties ...

The neighborhood has historically been home to one of the city's largest West Indian populations. They began moving to Prospect Lefferts Gardens in the 1950s and 1960s. In recent years, the neighborhood had increasingly attracted more young people seeking affordable condos and apartments ...

The median asking price for Prospect Lefferts Gardens homes, condos and co-ops is $374,500, or $470 a square foot, according to real-estate site StreetEasy.com. In Park Slope to the west, it is $686 a square foot, and in Crown Heights to the north, it is $397 ... Less than a dozen single-family homes a year in the historic district are put on the market, brokers say. Prices range from the low $900,000s to around $1.5 million, said Lee Solomon of Brown Harris Stevens.

"People are just blown away by the space that they can afford over there," according to Ms. Solomon.

via Secret Is Out in Prospect Lefferts Gardens - WSJ.com.

# Posted 3 mos ago
BobMarvin
getting it
Joined: Feb '07
Posts: 129

The WSJ article cited is fairly good IMO and, having told anyone who'd listen since 1974 about what a great neighborhood PLG is, I certainly agree with much of it. That being said, I don't think Prospect Lefferts Gardens is "the next Park Slope" whatever that needs. PLG is a great brownstone neighborhood in it's own right with a "personality" quite different from our neighbor across Prospect Park and, for that matter, different from our other neighbor, across Empire Blvd., with which we share this list.

BTW, I've tried to post a similar comment twice from my Android tablet with no success. Is this list incompatible with such devices (or with AT&T's miserable 3G network)?

# Posted 3 mos ago
brooklynian
senior admin
Joined: Feb '12
Posts: 241

Bob, sorry about the posting problem - we are upgrading the forum, hopefully soon, to be more device friendly.

# Posted 3 mos ago
BobMarvin
getting it
Joined: Feb '07
Posts: 129

Thanks Brooklynian. It's frustrating; I can post from my ancient Mac, but I can't see long threads with that. I can easily read everything on my tablet, but not post.

# Posted 3 mos ago
booklaw
admin
Joined: Nov '07
Posts: 2,202

Fwiw, the site works fine for my iPad.

# Posted 3 mos ago
BobMarvin
getting it
Joined: Feb '07
Posts: 129

FWIW I could post from my Samsung Android tablet until this week.

# Posted 3 mos ago
whynot_31
Former Lurker
Joined: Mar '06
Posts: 12,754

bobmarvin » The WSJ article cited is fairly good IMO and, having told anyone who'd listen since 1974 about what a great neighborhood PLG is, I certainly agree with much of it. That being said, I don't think Prospect Lefferts Gardens is "the next Park Slope" whatever that needs. PLG is a great brownstone neighborhood in it's own right with a "personality" quite different from our neighbor across Prospect Park and, for that matter, different from our other neighbor, across Empire Blvd., with which we share this list.

I find it kind of annoying when traditional big media "discovers" a neighborhood, and the states it could be the next Park Slope.

It is as if they want us to react as if we think Park Slope is either the ideal or the enemy. Park Slope has its own character (or lack thereof), and PLG will develop/maintain its own character as it receives different residents.

It's sort of like stating that any neighborhood that might get an influx of blacks will soon become Harlem, or an influx of Asians will become Flushing.

I understand that the newspapers and media have to generate some excitement and buzz, but I wonder how much a role they play in making people think that neighborhoods can be easily defined by the groups that are moving into and out of them.

Yes, PLG has been filled with hard working, house proud, residents for decades.

I am told one can respect the beliefs of others, without ratifying them.

# Posted 3 mos ago
armchair_warrior
retsop cixelsyd
Joined: Dec '05
Posts: 7,625

not gonna gentrified anytime soon.

Fight white guilt and injustice by smoking tax free guilt free Reservation Smokes or go gamble in a Native Casino.
I like to stick it to The Man, The Man happens to be Liberal in NYC(power Structure).

# Posted 3 mos ago
BobMarvin
getting it
Joined: Feb '07
Posts: 129

"PLG will develop/maintain its own character as it receives different residents."

Maintain, I think, since PLG has been one of the most successfully integrated neighborhoods in the city for the last 50 years.

# Posted 3 mos ago
BobMarvin
getting it
Joined: Feb '07
Posts: 129

"not gonna gentrified anytime soon"

And has never needed gentrification.

# Posted 3 mos ago
whynot_31
Former Lurker
Joined: Mar '06
Posts: 12,754

I've read articles about how there have been struggles to keep the big houses from being illegally chopped up into apartments.

Do you think an influx of new residents will help or hinder the goal of keeping those big, beautiful houses intact?

I am told one can respect the beliefs of others, without ratifying them.

# Posted 3 mos ago
BobMarvin
getting it
Joined: Feb '07
Posts: 129

Much of the PLG Historic District is in Lefferts Manor, where the 1893 single-family deed covenants and the later single family (R2) zoning keeps houses intact and one family. It's more complicated in the rest of the neighborhood but IMO there are a number of factors that will keep houses intact. One is large number of apartments available in apartment buildings outside of the historic district, which should reduce pressure for apartment conversions in single family houses. Another is the fact that many of the historic houses, while large, are not quite as large as brownstones in some other brownstone neighborhoods, like Park Slope or Bedford Stuyvesant, making them impractical for more than one or two family use. This is not total protection of course. I know of at least onelargr house (on Parkside Ave.) that is now 8 family,but one and two family homes predominate. Lastly, many homeowners are intensely interested in preserving their historic houses. A case in point: when one of the 13 historic houses on Ocean Ave., on the western edge of PLG, was bought by a developer the residents were galvanized to push for Historic District status. They were unable to save that one house, where a particularly ugly condo now stands, but they resisted offers to sell their houses as a group to a developer and succeeded in getting the Ocean on the Park Historic District established a couple of years ago, protecting the remaining 12 homes.

One more thing; for many reasons (not the least of which was the LM covenant) PLG did not deteriorate like many other brownstone neighborhoods, such as Park Slope,or the upper west side. during the depression, or the post-war period, when old city houses were seen as undesirable. We didn't have large scale conversions to SROs, like those other neighborhoods where conversions, from single-rooms to larger apartments was seen as a plus in the '60s and '70s. If PLG avoided having most houses broken up into apartments in the "bad old days" I don't think it's very likely now.

# Posted 3 mos ago
whynot_31
Former Lurker
Joined: Mar '06
Posts: 12,754

The reasons you list are part of why I can't see the character of the neighborhood majorly changing; it has always been solid.

Yes, it has escaped most of the crime and drug problems that have plagued other areas of the city. ...in part because it has been less densely populated and lacks big commercial (i.e. hang out) strips.

I am told one can respect the beliefs of others, without ratifying them.

# Posted 3 mos ago
armchair_warrior
retsop cixelsyd
Joined: Dec '05
Posts: 7,625

BobMarvin said:
"not gonna gentrified anytime soon"

And has never needed gentrification.

than it isn't becoming park slope :p. park slope is gentrified.

Fight white guilt and injustice by smoking tax free guilt free Reservation Smokes or go gamble in a Native Casino.
I like to stick it to The Man, The Man happens to be Liberal in NYC(power Structure).

# Posted 2 mos ago
BobMarvin
getting it
Joined: Feb '07
Posts: 129

Exactly!

# Posted 2 mos ago