Thinking about moving to Prospect Heights -

uh. it's as dangerous, or more, than park slope. a cop got killed in PS a monthish ago and another shot last week. so, the city is dangerous. whatever.

ft. green? hello transpo. unless you're right by atlantic you're fucked.

oh, and by expensive shit, I mean barney's handbags, etc. EXPENSIVE shit. no one jumps me and says "omg, that stuff is $450 retail!"

grocery, frankly, sucks.

restaurants and bars are above average given how many there are.

shopping? not sure what you mean. natural heights* on washington is great. on vandy the pet shop, joyce's, fermented grapes* and red lipstick* are awesome.'

restaurants ... franny's, beast, tom's, aliseo, amorina, le gamin, cheryl's -- all delish.

bars ... soda* is great. sepia* and ripple* are also fantastic, but without the food option (but you can order food from delivery joints). tavern on dean* is awesome for late night eats, as well as brunch. and the bar is quite lovely. mooney's is a broke down place but worth the trouble if you drink mixed (heavy pour) drinks or guinness. I'm not a huge fan of freddy's - the whole $4.25 pricing on drinks is retarded. make it an even dollar amt, please.

* I'm friends with the owners of these joints. obvi from extensive nabe involvement.

I lived in Ft. Greene from about 1995-2001 right when it was comin' on up with its first restaurants and shops (pre-Atlantic Center and Target). I lived across the street from BAM, so transportation via Atlantic was great and I found shopping, resturants to be fabulous. There was the occassional street hassle, but anyone who I knew who got into serious street crime lived further up Dekalb.

Then I lived in Park Slope for a few years...I joined the coop, lost my mind and the scene there drove me nuts...

Finally, we bought three years ago and I like PH. Again, I've encountered little in the way of street hassles, but I've heard more gunshots over here than I ever heard in Fort Greene. That being said, I've got two kids and like the nabe. Shopping and groceries suck (I live via Fresh Direct), bars are great, people generally friendly. Little in the way of the finer things, but having the Museum, Library, Botanic Garden and Prospect Park within a five minute walk is an incredible experience.

Come on over, pull up a chair, put down some roots and put on yer gentrification game face...

I think its funny that people think from Fort Greene are worried about crime in moving to PH. Prospect Heights has always been far safer than Fort Greene. So come on over.

ltjbukem wrote: ft greene real estate costs more than prospect heights...enough so that people who are priced out of ft greene move to prospect heights. no hype. just the truth. i would rather live in fg, but i'm too poor to afford anything there. again, just the facts.

alafairnaidia is a huge proponent of ph, from what i can tell, and all the best. but RE prices speaks the truth, no bullshit.

Actually, places go in and out of fashion, and gentrification seems to move along corridors, so it's possible for the market to lie, or misprice neighborhoods with respect to their medium-term value and fundamental desirability, for quite a while. To me, it looks like PH has been a relatively overlooked and unheard of island compared with the quality of life here, during the rush to hype DUMBO, push Brooklyn Heights through Carrol Gardens into Red Hook, push Fort Greene through Clinton Hill into Bedstuy, push East Village through Williamsburg into Greenpoint and Bushwick.

It also depends on who you are and what you do and what you're looking for: e.g. hasidim, buppy, gay couple, hipster, artist, Russian, Korean, bohemians with kids... these stereotypes all have their stereotype neighborhoods. By contrast, PH is a fairly mixed, unassuming place to live, home to a real variety of long term and newer residents. And now I'm here, there's nowhere else in the city I'd prefer to live. If I had the means, I'd move to a nicer place round here, certainly not FG.

doctorj, since when has ph real estate ever been more pricey than fg real estate? i'd venture to say never.

no mispricing exists. again, just the facts. completely appreciate that you like ph over fg, but the market doesn't lie.

Screw PH, come to Park Slope!
You get a free stroller with your first months rent!

alafairnadia wrote: and getting stuck in the LES with a jacked F train taught me to live somewhere where more than one line, on more than one set of tracks runs.

Word. One of my favorite things about this area is the number of trains in walking distance. The F was closest to my old place, but eventually I started walking the extra 10 minutes to the B, because if there was train trouble I could catch the Q or head up to the 2-3.

LOL!!!

see my post up above on 4/4:

"the only dangerous part of 'prospect heights' is not really prospect heights. it's crown heights, ie east of washington. most likely franklin, nostrand, etc. that IS NOT prospect heights."

hhaah..that isn't prospect heights. did your cowoker tell you it was prospect heights? if so, they're as deluded as the real estate broker that showed them the place. ha!

ltjbukem wrote: doctorj, since when has ph real estate ever been more pricey than fg real estate? i'd venture to say never.

no mispricing exists. again, just the facts. completely appreciate that you like ph over fg, but the market doesn't lie.

But in FG they are mostly larger (4-5 story) homes as opposed to PH (3-4 stories) and the brownstones around PH has typically mirror the prices of the homes in FG right? Also hasn't FG "condoized" alot of buildings which brings re prices up?

What a great thread! I'm loving it! I live in Clinton Hill on the border of FG, and I love it (not so in love with eastern clinton Hill, but thats for another thread). However, when I was fitter I practically lived in prospect park with all the time I spent there, and so wanted to live in the area. I found the condo/coop prices to be too steep about a 2 years ago, and got a better deal in Clinton Hill. I will agree with the mention of Washington as the border where shitness starts to appear in PH. I remember my wife and I commenting on that when we were in the market checking places out. I would venture further to say that Vanderbilt is where I would want to be, and closer to eastern parkway than Bergen, if you know what I mean. Anyhow, we moved to Clintonhill 2 years ago and since then I've fallen in love with the whole FG/Clintonhill mix, not to mention FG park. Transport isnt as big a deal as some make it sound, but if you walk 2 blocks to the #2 then you might be a little spoiled! ).

Crown heights? Okay, my experience there is quite dated (early 90's)BUT I can say that I witnessed two shootings at Park Place & Franklin, and on two separate times I had left the area an hour or two before other fatal shootings occurred. I dated a girl there when I was young and dumb, lol. I'm sure things have changed somewhat, but I'd guess it can still be rough on certain stretches.