Why PH?

brooklynbound

Why did you choose to live in Prospect Heights? I thought I'd ask with all of the recent posts about the not-so-inviting aspects of the neighborhood.

I chose to live here because it is convenient to school and work. I am within a few blocks of six trains. I'm only 10-15 minutes from Manhattan. The rent is decent. There are a lot of shops, restaurants, bars, etc. that are convenient to me. That's it.

No, I'm not in Mayberry anymore, but so far it's been a good experience. I like this neighborhood for the most part. Now I only hope to meet a few neighbors. Then it'll officially feel like home.

cool the kid

Funny story.

I was looking for a place about a year ago and looked at an apt. on Franklin during the summer, and I was totally put off by the neighborhood. The place was pretty crappy too.

Couple of months later I was looking with a different friend at a place on St. Marks (Where I live now). It was the dead of winter so the neighborhood was pretty quiet. We checked out the building, loved it, signed the lease.

Few months later I meet up with the first dude I was supposed to live with. Didn't occur to me that the first place was right around the corner from where I am now, lol. The neighborhood doesn't seem so bad now after having got used to it, being eased in over the course of spring and summer.

People seem to like to complain a lot about PH... I dunno... rent's cheap, you're close to 80 trains, Prospect Park, Botanical Gardens, Brooklyn Museum, Manhattan Bridge, etc. etc. I don't see what all the complaining's about; try living in East New Yawk

lberghol

We chose to live in PH because our best friend had been living here for a few years when we decided to move to the city from out of state. By sheer luck, we came down for a weekend to check out the area and get a feel for different neighborhoods, and ended up finding our apartment 2 blocks down from our friend's place.

I've always liked the neighborhood, it's convieniantly located, the prices are okay, and I've always thought it had a nice safe vibe (even though it can be rough around the edges) Infact, I'm kinda suprised and unnerved by this recent bout of violence and tension, because I never really suspected it would happen...but then again I am probably a bit niave when it comes to some things.

I still like the place though, we have alot of friends here and I like the area. All things considered, it's been good to us!

alafairnadia

I moved to PH after a 3 year stint in LES/Harlem/Washington Heights. a friend lived here and I'd visited her a few times - loved hanging out at soda and eating food from the islands. so I figured this was the place to be. I was working on an extremely major trial (as in - see that big hole in lower manhattan?) and had my first day off in many months and had to find a place to move. I called ahead and found a broker who worked for marjorie thompson (everyone seems to hate her, I'm grateful for the apartment) - he showed me 5 or 6 apartments. I picked the one I live in now. a year and a few months after I signed the lease, the landlord wanted me to move out so he could sell the place, I asked for how much, we negotiated, and now I own my apartment (thanks to the money I made off of hundreds of OT hours from that damned pair of trials).
still love the neighborhood and the people here. in fact, there's just more and more stuff to love - either pre-existing things that I just find out about or new stuff moving in. love it. period.

kick rocks!!!!

We moved to Brooklyn in '98, after college(me) and grad school (BF/now husband). I really didn't want to leave the west village but it was time to move in together and my apartment wasn't conducive to 2 adults +1 cat living a happy life together.

BF had lived in PSlope before GS and really liked it. He was all for the farmers market, library, PPark, the BGardens and the BMusuem. I couldn't give a hoot because I hate grass (the kind you mowe), crickets and all that good stuff.

We found a broker on 5th Ave who showed us the apartment on St.Johns that was under renovation but would be "ready" for move in the following week, it wasn't. We nicknamed the landlord Mr.Lemacho (Lemarch). We should have done more homework, like looking into their track record w/housing court after they asked us if WE had every been to HC. Anyway, we lived in that apartment for 6 years until one day looking out the LR window I noticed that the ledge outside was cracked. Upon further investigation the crack started at the top of the building, ran down the full length of it, around my window to the ground. W/rats in the walls driving the cat nutz at night, the crack in the facade and then getting pregnant it was clear it was time to roll out.

We found a place 1 block over and snapped it up. I still kick myself every once in a while for not buying the 3 BR/2bth across from 369 St.J's for 99k...but, hind site is 20/20, right?

I'm never moving again unless it's literally around the corner or on my block. I still hate grass, but my kids love all the amenities, playgrounds, museums, park...all that! I have no beaf w/the neighborhood, I kind of like it the way it is. When we moved into the new apartment in'03 I started to notice that there were a lot of white people walking around, I guess that's the difference between one block and the next. I think for a long time I just assumed that the white folk were visiting Tom's or just exploring on their way to the museum. Looking back now, I guess that may have been when PH's started to become an attraction to others. I only moved here because the apartment was the right size, 2BR for $1100 a month and the BF insisted it was the right spot to nest. We didn't know anyone who lived there and we had friends who told us never to cross over Flatbush to the PH side. Whatever, we lived in DC years before in a neighborhood where the Safeway was robbed during the day all the time. So what? We met the neighbors, felt comfortable, became friends and stayed for a bit. I guess we figured we would meet the neighbors here and all would be fine...and it was! 9 years later we're still here, still loving it!

debra

I've lived in PH for 18 years now....moved in with my then-fiancee at the bottom of the block we still live on, at the other end. Then it was 'the other side of the tracks' from Park Slope. Our modest rent budget -- I think it was $800 or $850 for our 1 BR -- wouldn't have gotten us as nice a place in Park Slope. And PS was too homogenous, too white and yuppified for me even then. We found a lovely floor-through with beautiful woodwork and a walk-in closet, and our landlords even let us have our wedding reception in the backyard. At that time, though, you'd find crack vials on the sidewalk in the mornings, here as in many areas of NY in the late 1980s-early 1990s. All these years later, the crack vials are gone and we are still very happy here. We know and have nice relationships with our neighbors, people on the block love seeing our children grow up. Though the neighbhorhood has become more gentrified and more white, it is still relatively diverse in terms of ethnicity, age and income, and I like raising my family in diversity. When I go to the suburbs like where I grew up, where everyone is white, middle class and boring, I practically get hives. I also love the stoop-sitting here, the ease of shopping and transportation, and the sense that many of us watch out for each other in small but lovely ways. ProHo is still great -- I think of it as being the best of NYC but sufficiently removed from the asphalt jungle to offer respite.

homeowner

kick rocks!!!! wrote: Whatever, we lived in DC years before in a neighborhood where the Safeway was robbed during the day all the time. So what?

Was that the Safeway on Rhode Island Avenue? If so, we were neighbors for a while.

kick rocks!!!!

I cannot remember what Ave it was on. We were on North Carolina Ave in the NE section. Pretty close to Eastern Market. I loved DC. If they had any other indusrty other than government, I'd be living there now.

brookfetish

I moved here in August 2005 with my then fiance, now wife. My job paid for the move, but it was up to us to find a place. We chose to look in PH after doing some research online (including this site) and from a friend's recommendation. We took a trip here in July of 2005 to look for apartments and were able to focus our search on a few neighborhoods because of that research. We found a great place and had to make a decision on the spot. Had we not done our due diligence prior to arriving, I never would have felt comfortable making a decision like that.

Sure, getting a feel for the neighborhood is very important, and we did that...but being able to narrow down where we looked by reading up on things was crucial for us.

doctorj

Subject: Re: Why PH?

Brooklynbound wrote: Why did you choose to live in Prospect Heights? I thought I'd ask with all of the recent posts about the not-so-inviting aspects of the neighborhood.

I was young and reckless.

ltjbukem

couldn't afford fort greene.

sterling2000

We were looking for 3 bedrooms. We had lived in Fort Greene and then Park Slope, so we wanted to be in the area but wanted to buy. Here now for 3+ years and loving it.

jjb

Spacious apartment with a backyard; very nice landlord; lovely block and surrounding blocks; proximity to the park (i have a dog); convenient to work and pretty much everywhere else I go on the subway; friends in the area; reasonable assortment of nearby restaurants, bars, etc.; a few 24-hour groceries, bodegas, etc. within easy walking distance (i'm a night owl and often prefer to pick up groceries and toiletries and stuff during the wee hours). Didn't know what the neighbors would be like when I moved in, but as a bonus, all but a few have turned out to be very pleasant. What's not to like, really?

poppy13

Because being called snowflake on a fairly regular basis is way better than the pimps/whores at 7 AM (Hell's Kitchen). I moved here cause my current roommate found the place and I needed to get into a new apartment. I've lived in Queens and Manhattan, but so far Brooklyn is the best. The area in Queens where I lived was very residentual and all. But I knew I lived in NYC and anything could happen. More people were hit by cars on Queens Blvd than anything else.

Honestly though, I get a lot more "good morning" and "hello" now then 2 years ago, when I 1st moved in. Everyone knows change is coming as the condo buildings finish up and start to fill up. By the way, I'm closer to Classon Avenue, and I'm pretty sure there are a lot of people watching out their windows. I feel pretty safe knowning that. Always take a cab when I'm tired and tippsy. Common sense is key.

I will try to stay in this part of Brooklyn as long as possible. Now that the library is done, and Grand Army might get some changes, I'm really loving it here. And the best way to make your own neighborhood better, is to be a part of the community. Don't expect others to do it for you.

raisedeyebrow

My wife and I moved here because we needed more space and we liked the direction the neighborhoor was moving towards. We took a little risk based on the schools. We were commited to stay in Brooklyn and not move to the burbs like many of our friends have. We are very excited and hope to be part of the community's future.

I know that communities often do not like the idea of pepole like us (white, professional) coming in and changing things, but this is what I chose and the people that left benefited from the purchase. We really like the people that we have met so far (hi steve) and think the community has a solid basis unlike DUMBO.

meganlibrarian

My husband and I moved to PH 1.5 years ago. We'd been living together for 3 years in Park Slope, and wanted to get out of our slumlord's building. We'd originally wanted to buy a place, but couldn't afford either a 10-20% cash down payment (co-ops) or the cost, period (condos.) After deciding that we weren't going to buy a place, we decided that we could at least upgrade to a nicer apartment.

After 6 months of looking at rentals, my husband and I were reaching the end of our rope. We'd seen at least 20-30 crappy places in Park Slope with at least 8 different brokers. Finally, one of our brokers begged us to look at 2 places in PH. She told us that she lived there herself, and loved it. We saw the first apartment, which was on Park Place and nice but not quite what we wanted. She showed us the second apartment, which also happened to be located in the building where she rents a place. We saw the apartment, loved it, and immediately applied for the place.

After moving in and discovering all the things in this neck of the woods, we're kicking ourselves for not having explored the neighborhood years ago! My husband and I don't plan on leaving PH (or our building!) unless absolutely forced to.

pnlop

My husband and I moved to PH 6.5 yrs ago, after deciding to move to Brooklyn from Manhattan. We didn't know PH at all but had our eye on PS. After visiting over 10 apts in a day in PS, our broker suggested an apt in PH. We saw it and right away fell in love with it. Not only was it bigger than all the other ones we had seen, but it was cheaper! And the convenience of the trains right around the corner was also a big selling point.

I am so glad that we moved to PH, as it is a much more diverse neighb than PS, and it still has a more down to earth feel. The Park was the main factor for me, and we are right around the corner from it. It's the best. Can't beleive we waited so long to get out of Manhattan!

roux42

PH Rules! I have been here since '99 (Slope before) and I would never leave!

magraith

Subject: why PH?

I ended up in PH because of its proximity to Park Slope. but I learned gradually that it's way better to live here. I moved to Brooklyn in '94 after 2 years on the UWS, my first home of my own after college. The goal was park slope and my roommate and I were given instructions from an uncle that we should live between flatbush and 12th st, 4th ave and 8th ave (maybe the park, I don't remember). we did degraw between 4th and 5th. I stayed for 2 years, then moved to Dean/6th Ave when I wanted my own place. (in the projected future footprint of Ratnerville). At the time of that move I would have been happy to stay in PS, but the Dean place was too killer to pass up (small 2BR for $700! in '96). The neighborhood didn't look great, but the cops & the Bergen stop were right there, I figured I'd be OK. (I was right). I stayed there for 5 years, my later wife moved in, and our daughter called it her first home. (very tight in there by this time!) Later in search of space we moved up the hill to Eastern parkway, which by this time was a fantasy of ours since we loved walking up Flatbush to EP, ogling the big buildings on our way to First Saturday or the BBG. Of course we imagined it being more upscale than it turned out to be, but live and learn! We managed to buy a bigger 2BR on EP in 2001 (where we added my son in 2004) -- wow what a great investment! -- and sold it last October to move around the corner to our present place. I love to brag to people about my home -- huge park, big library, 2 playgrounds in short distance, museum, botanic garden, zoo, your choice of trains...is there a better place to raise a kid? YMMV but my kids are having a ball. when your fallback "nothing to do" activity is taking a 15 minute walk to ogle sea lions & kangaroos or tulips & roses on a Saturday afternoon you are living a privileged life.