How often do you leave the hood (aside from work)

carmen · February 2009

Before living in park slope, I lived in bedstuy for 2 years. I had a "normal" 9-5 kind of job in chelsea, so I was in the city 5 days a week. I also used to commute into the city most weekends to shop, see people, eat, hang out, etc.

I now live in park slope and work from home and I sort of dread getting on the train for any reason. A $20 metrocard will last me a month. I rarely leave the neighborhood (really, I rarely leave a 20 block radius of my house.) I find that everything I need or want can be found in the neighborhood and short of social gatherings or special events like shows or readings or something, I don't have any specific need to leave.

How often do you leave the hood? Is this a standard PS attitude or am I exceptionally lazy?

brooklynpotter · February 2009

i don't leave that often, other than work. or trips to the goodwill or salvation army.

you may be lazy, because i am exceptionally lazy

bkchickie · February 2009

Subject: Re: How often do you leave the hood (aside from work)

Carmen wrote: Before living in park slope, I lived in bedstuy for 2 years. I had a "normal" 9-5 kind of job in chelsea, so I was in the city 5 days a week. I also used to commute into the city most weekends to shop, see people, eat, hang out, etc.

I now live in park slope and work from home and I sort of dread getting on the train for any reason.

I have found this to be true as I've gotten older. Wonder if people in their early 20s are more likely to head into Manhattan for anything than people in their 30s.

I don't live in PS, but I think that between PH, PS, and maybe Boerum Hill and Brooklyn Heights I hardly ever venture into Manhattan on the weekends. It's a novelty to me when I do.

antigone · February 2009

I live on the border between Boerum Hill and downtown Brooklyn (State Street, to be exact) and I work in downtown Brooklyn. I venture into Manhattan 2-3x a month for restaurants or theatre. Aside from that, I stick close to home - basically the area from Court Street to the Key Food on 5th Avenue.

We lived in Park Slope until 1996 and I did go to Manhattan more frequently then, because there weren't so many shopping/dining/entertainment options in Brooklyn. Back then, there were hardly any decent restaurants in Park Slope and Smith Street was basically a bunch of bodegas. How times have changed!

amandagirl · February 2009

lately for me ( if it's not work related ) the questions is "how often do you get off your couch?" :-)

longtimesloper · February 2009

I almost never ever go into the city anymore. The last time I was in the city was back in December to return some Christmas gifts and that had been the first time in almost a year! We do go to other parts of Brooklyn for various shopping at times and to visit the mother in law out in Coney. but, I would say that about 90% of my time is spent in the Slope.

voodoonyc · February 2009

Well I guess I'm the odd one (but you knew that already), but I go into the city 5 days for work and at least one day on the weekend, sometimes two. I go to eat, shop, play with friends. I certainly shop and eat Brooklyn as well but there are still restaurants and stores that are unique only to Manhattan. Also having a car can mean a one or two hour city trip as opposed to an all day subway thing.

eggcream · February 2009

Depends on the season. I'm in the city more if it's nicer out. Colder weather maybe 2-3x a month. I went to Bdway & Lafayette last week to Crate & Barrel and stopped by Miro Cafe for a salad before I got back on the train. Wish we had one of those places here, Miro not C&B. Definitely as I get older I tend to slow down my ventures into the big city

So damn crowded even on weekdays. Night time hardly ever. Good restaurants here so why bother...

armchair_warrior · February 2009

probably a few years. only time i goto manhattan is when a friend from out of town come visit, which been years.

veets · February 2009

As infrequently as possible. I work through my home and shop local. I mwtro card with 20 on it will last me months. I consider this situation to be a great blessing.

carmen · February 2009

Subject: Re: How often do you leave the hood (aside from work)

BKChickie wrote: [quote=Carmen]Before living in park slope, I lived in bedstuy for 2 years. I had a "normal" 9-5 kind of job in chelsea, so I was in the city 5 days a week. I also used to commute into the city most weekends to shop, see people, eat, hang out, etc.

I now live in park slope and work from home and I sort of dread getting on the train for any reason.

I have found this to be true as I've gotten older. Wonder if people in their early 20s are more likely to head into Manhattan for anything than people in their 30s.

I don't live in PS, but I think that between PH, PS, and maybe Boerum Hill and Brooklyn Heights I hardly ever venture into Manhattan on the weekends. It's a novelty to me when I do.

I'm in my mid 20s (but I dont really think I'm a typical 20something) and I guess I spend more time in the hood now that I have a good network of friends locally. When I was in bedstuy most of my friends lived in the city or in williamsburg so I was always commuting to them...now that I'm in the slope I've made some awesome friends who i see a lot (Duffy's sis, I'm lookin at you!) and people are actually willing to come see ME instead of me having to go see them. As a matter of fact, my "city" friends usually find coming to brooklyn to be a novelty and are always after me to hang around in the neighborhood.

I also feel extraordinarily lucky to work from home and not HAVE to deal with the city so often, although it is kind of comical that I moved to NYC 3 years ago in love with "the city" and now I do basically everything in my power to avoid actually going there haha.

the chipster · February 2009

never

eggcream · February 2009

hmm mid 20's I would no, not typical. My mid 20's I went a lot more often.

obamanut · February 2009

antigone wrote:
We lived in Park Slope until 1996 and I did go to Manhattan more frequently then, because there weren't so many shopping/dining/entertainment options in Brooklyn. Back then, there were hardly any decent restaurants in Park Slope and Smith Street was basically a bunch of bodegas. How times have changed!

Yeah, Park Slope used to be just a relatively quiet place where people lived, kids played outside, and families cooked and ate in their own homes.. pfft, LAME. :roll:

Like you, I'm also so glad that Park Slope has now become an overcrowded restaurant/bar/boutique playground for the rich with no parking and no affordable supermarkets--such a welcome reprieve from those crappy old days when the 'nabe' was full of *yawn* normal people doing boring normal things..

raw · February 2009

Oh come on Obamanut, what could be more fun than paying $6 for moldy strawberries at Key Food on 7th Avenue and $10 for a beer on 4th Avenue? Join the party!

antigone · February 2009

Obamanut, you sound like my husband whom I fondly refer to as a crank. I can always wind him up by saying how great Smith Street is now, when there used to be nothing there. "Nothing there?" he howls in outrage. "You mean no place where you would shop!"

As I said, I don't live in PS anymore. We were pretty much priced out when we went looking for a house back in '96. We found more bang for our buck in Boerum Hill - I love it here. When I do go to PS, I tend to get annoyed by all the stroller traffic. My kids are grown now and I'm old and cranky. I do miss the park though. PS was a great place to raise kids back when we were there. However, the shopping situation sucked. I'm not gonna lie, I'm happy to have Target (shitty as it is) in Atlantic Center and Trader Joe's on Court Street.

And Park Slope never had good parking or good cheap supermarkets in the ten years we lived there. My favorite shops back then were The Scouting Party and the cheese shop on the corner of 9th and 7th Ave., both long gone now. I'm glad we got out when we did.

magpie · February 2009

Subject: Leaving neighborhood

I hardly ever leave the enighborhood. I walk to work, walk to the food coop, walk the dog in the park. It's not because there are any great stores here, it's because I CAN'T TAKE THE HEADACHE OF FINDING A PARKING SPOT, especially on a Sunday night. You can call me cranky, but I liked it better years and years ago when I could find parking and all the stores on 7th Ave were cheap bars and no strollers in sight.

ljnd · February 2009

Carmen, I am in my mid-40s and have lived in PS since 1994. I have to say, whatever I can do to avoid going into Manhattan, I do. I have to go for work sometimes, though I mostly work from home.

I do all my shopping here and don't eat out much at all (I love to cook). I see movies at BAM (or sometimes the Pavilion or Court St), and go to the gym at the Y, and play in the park with my kid, sing in the choir at St. Francis Xavier, and do local things (like that book fair at the Methodist Church this weekend! OMG!). If I want music, I go to Barbe's (or to Johnny Mack's when my friend's band is there). In the summer, I go to the beach at Riis, and hang out with my kids in my boyfriend's garden, which is a respite from everything.

I love it here. The city's wound a little too tight these days and I feel out of place there in ways I didn't used to when I was younger.

raw · February 2009

I leave Park Slope for Indian Food in Manhattan near 28th Street, Korean Town, Vietnamese restaurants, Seafood restaurants, Japanese Bar-b-q, cheap groceries on Canal Street, and Greek restaurants in Astoria.

I also need hardware, tools, and stuff that I only find in Manhattan.

Paragon near Union Square sells sporting equipment I can't find in Park Slope.

Union Square has a better farmer's market then we do. Better because it happens more frequently.

If I'm hitting Union Square, I might as well run into Petco or whatever that big box pet store is....

My doctors are in Manhattan. I tried Park Slope doctors, but never found the right match.

In Brooklyn, I go to Fairway and Trader Joe's outside of Park Slope.

booklaw · February 2009

I work in Manhattan (and have since before we moved to the Slope), so if I'm meeting friends for dinner during the week it's going to be in Manhattan (unless they too live in the Slope, in which case we might dine here). If we're seeing an action movie, for which a big screen is desirable, we'll go into the city. Otherwise, we'll eat and go to films in the various Brownstone neighborhoods of Brooklyn.

Parking used to be a huge issue, until we garaged our car. Now not so much.

Starting this summer I will move my office and my work to my home. No more subway into the city, and probably fewer dinner dates in the city.

obamanut · February 2009

Subject: Re: Leaving neighborhood

magpie wrote: You can call me cranky, but I liked it better years and years ago when I could find parking and all the stores on 7th Ave were cheap bars and no strollers in sight.

BOOOO-RING!! :roll:

Yeah, and I liked it better during the time when the Dutch were trading beads with the Manhattan Indians, and there was no one in Park Slope, because it wasn't even called Park Slope yet. :roll:

I, for one, celebrate the renaissance of Park Slope.

carnivore · February 2009

booklaw wrote: Starting this summer I will move my office and my work to my home. No more subway into the city, and probably fewer dinner dates in the city.

Plus you might be able to deduct a portion of your mortgage or rent from your taxes as a business expense.

booklaw · February 2009

I've already asked my accountant how to determine what kind of deduction would be appropriate.

Not to mention how much lower my dry cleaning bills will be... no more dress slacks and button-down shirts.

santa · February 2009

obamanut, groceries are cheap at key foods and there are plenty of cheap bars and places to eat. I just ate a blow of rice, chicken and veggies from yummy taco for 3 bucks and might go to Black Sheep Pub later for a 3 dollar high life.

with that being said I live in prospect heights and go to park slope, fort greene, crown heights and all the other areas within walking distance on a regular basis. I do not work in manhattan so go there maybe one a week at most.

wisco · February 2009

Subject: leaving park slope

i lived there for years, and also rarely left, but i got bored and ultimately moved to williamsburg because it's easier to go places from here.

brooklynbound · February 2009

I used to go to the city all of the time. Now I leave the neighborhood maybe once or twice a week besides work.

longtimesloper · February 2009

antigone wrote: Obamanut, you sound like my husband whom I fondly refer to as a crank. I can always wind him up by saying how great Smith Street is now, when there used to be nothing there. "Nothing there?" he howls in outrage. "You mean no place where you would shop!"

As I said, I don't live in PS anymore. We were pretty much priced out when we went looking for a house back in '96. We found more bang for our buck in Boerum Hill - I love it here. When I do go to PS, I tend to get annoyed by all the stroller traffic. My kids are grown now and I'm old and cranky. I do miss the park though. PS was a great place to raise kids back when we were there. However, the shopping situation sucked. I'm not gonna lie, I'm happy to have Target (shitty as it is) in Atlantic Center and Trader Joe's on Court Street.

And Park Slope never had good parking or good cheap supermarkets in the ten years we lived there. My favorite shops back then were The Scouting Party and the cheese shop on the corner of 9th and 7th Ave., both long gone now. I'm glad we got out when we did.

I have lived here since 1987 and am in my mid 40s. There was always 5th avenue key food for cheap supermarkets and back then, we used to go to pathmark too. I LOVED scouting party!

ljnd · February 2009

Was Scouting Party that store on like 10th and 7th with all the little things in it? My daughter who's now 15 loved to go in there when she was 4 or so, because it had all these tiny toys - we'd fill up her Xmas stocking with them - it was the weirdest, most wonderful store!

pitu · February 2009

ljnd wrote: Was Scouting Party that store on like 10th and 7th with all the little things in it? My daughter who's now 15 loved to go in there when she was 4 or so, because it had all these tiny toys - we'd fill up her Xmas stocking with them - it was the weirdest, most wonderful store!

LOVED that place. Toys, cotton kimonos, musical instruments, and used books. Perfect! What happened to the women who ran it? I know a couple other business split out of it, but I lost track of them.

I could stay in a one mile radius of home, no problem. But I don't . I like going out too....even if it's just dorking around other Brooklyn nabes.

I wait for movies to open at BAM tho. It's a great pleasure of city life, being able to walk where you want to go.

veets · February 2009

Unfortunately,Jane, the woman that owned The Scouting Part passed away afew months ago.

MOD NOTE:
Thx veets. Thread on Jane and The Scouting Party split off here.
http://www.brooklynian.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=48912

anastasia beaverhausen · February 2009

While not PS, I rarely leave Sunset (except to hang out with you booze-swilling degenerates). I have an excellent Mexican place below me, Chinese across the street, a grocery store (that I never go to 'cause I hate grocery stores) a block away, a good bakery on the corner. In the day and age of internet shopping, I order a lot of things to take advantage of free shipping that almost all sites offer now (plug for Uncommon Goods - a Brooklyn based e-store with the coolest shit ever!), laundry and dry cleaner on the next block, Farmer's market in summer about 10 blocks away. Who needs Manhattan?

How often do you leave the hood (aside from work)

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