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weird question (parents: why do you like Park Slope?) — Brooklynian

weird question (parents: why do you like Park Slope?)

anonymous
anonymous
edited November -1 in Park Slope
just wondering how many of you Slope residents have kids. Did you consciously choose to live in Park Slope because of PS 321? What do you think of the oft-mentioned stereotype that Manhattan yuppies move to the Slope when it's time to procreate? Do you feel discriminated by the neighborhood hipsters? What do you childless residents *really* feel about the large influx of young, urbanite families? grazie!
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Comments

  • carnivore
    carnivore
    I think that reading through this old thread will at least partially answer all of your questions:
    http://brooklynian.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=679
  • anonymous
    anonymous
    We're European expats, we migrated from the Upper West Side with two kids. Could no longer afford the rent.

    Bought a brownstone at 8th St two years ago. Have two boys, 6 and 2, youngest is born here.

    Will be leaving soon, we can't afford the private schools (we're not in 321 district). We'll probably go back to Europe, where the public schools from nursery to college are affordable.

    Perhaps apart from the housing PS is just as expensive, sometimes even more, than UWS.
  • ic96
    ic96
    That's a good point. Looking at Real Estate in Park Slope, it's just, if not more expensive than a lot of the areas in Manhattan. Myself and my wife are looking, we're middle class, and while our rent is way more affordable than Manhattan, prices for sales look the same (if not more in PS). Plus, who wants to get a 2BR that has the BRs at 10x10?
  • rose
    rose
    I moved to Park Slope when my daughter was 6 months old because we were living in a very small 1-bedroom apartment in the East Village with the crib in the living room and we couldn't afford anything bigger in Manhattan. We found a 2 BR apartment in the middle of Park Slope for the same price. (This was in 1993.) My husband lived here before we got married and we both liked the neighborhood though I would have preferred to stay in Manhattan.

    I definitely did not move to Park Slope for PS 321, we're not in the zone for 321 and I never considered trying to lie or wheedle for a variance. I'm not going to say it's overrated, but it's really not the only game in town, no matter what the PS 321 parents tell themselves. :roll:

    I'm not aware of a large contingent of hipsters in the Slope and haven't noticed them discriminating against me.
  • anonymous
    anonymous
    I left Park Slope after we had our kids. We moved to the slope and lived for quite a while with no kids (we were living in Williamsburg before). I have always preferred the neighborhood feel of Brooklyn over Manhattan. The neighborhood has changed as all neighborhoods do inevitably change. Personally I don't see many of the changes as positive--how many cell phone stores do you need? Soon more chain stores will be along 7th Avenue and it will be a different neighborhood yet again.
  • anonymous
    anonymous

    Subject: thanks

    thanks for the replies and the link to the old thread. Ouch! That heated thread confirmed my worst fears of the turf war between those with children and those without. I think that kensingtonmom is right though, and it's a question of general neighborhood change, which is occurring all over NYC, and not chiefly a PS phenomenon.
  • linusvanpelt
    linusvanpelt
    I moved to Park Slope long before I was married or had kids. As for discrimination by hipsters--if you live in Park Slope, you are only so hip, so I can't say that's been much of a problem.
  • nina
    nina
    None that I know of :wink:
  • anonymous
    anonymous
    Rose wrote: I definitely did not move to Park Slope for PS 321, we're not in the zone for 321 and I never considered trying to lie or wheedle for a variance. I'm not going to say it's overrated, but it's really not the only game in town, no matter what the PS 321 parents tell themselves.
    People are so crazy about PS321 that I have thought of doing what I need to do to get a variance (lie wheedle). But I do wonder if this is a case of overhype? Just curious if you don't feel like your kids "missed out" by not going to the supposed "best" (whatever that means) public elementary school? I am about to embark on the school mission and all schools in brooklyn are far from equal.
  • brooklynpotter
    brooklynpotter
    linusvanpelt wrote: As for discrimination by hipsters--if you live in Park Slope, you are only so hip, so I can't say that's been much of a problem.
    there is a difference, linus, between hip and hipster. i am absolutely hip, but never a hipster. ever.
  • rose
    rose
    kensingtonmom wrote:
    People are so crazy about PS321 that I have thought of doing what I need to do to get a variance (lie wheedle). But I do wonder if this is a case of overhype? Just curious if you don't feel like your kids "missed out" by not going to the supposed "best" (whatever that means) public elementary school? I am about to embark on the school mission and all schools in brooklyn are far from equal.
    I absolutely don't feel like they missed out on anything. They went to the Brooklyn New School, which was wonderful. Plenty of their friends went to PS 321, and from what I could tell, it seemed like a good school, but by no means perfect. It always seemed really overhyped to me. Parents would tell me about the problems their kids were having there (mostly complaints about the teachers) and then their eyes would glaze over and they'd chant, "But it's such a great community." It seems to inspire a cult-like devotion. But BNS did too, among some parents -- people have this need to feel like the parenting choices they make are not just the best choices for them, but that all other options are bad.
  • brooklynpotter
    brooklynpotter
    i've heard--and this is only through my friends with kids--that ps 107 is better.

    doesn't 321 have something like 13 kindergartens?

    and what's the story with the brooklyn free school?
  • rose
    rose
    brooklynpotter wrote: i've heard--and this is only through my friends with kids--that ps 107 is better.

    doesn't 321 have something like 13 kindergartens?

    and what's the story with the brooklyn free school?
    107 is very hot right now. It used to be pretty bad, with a horrible gorgon-like principal who would not let parents into the building, and told a lesbian couple I knew that their child should never mention her family situation at school! That principal has been gone for a while and parents seem very happy with the school now.

    The concept of the Brooklyn Free School, as I understand it, is that the kids are free to learn what they want, when they want. So if you decide that you want to learn math, you ask a teacher to teach you math. If you don't want to learn anything, you can play video games all day. :roll:
  • brooklynpotter
    brooklynpotter
    hell, i want to go to the brooklyn free school
  • linusvanpelt
    linusvanpelt
    brooklynpotter wrote: [quote=linusvanpelt]As for discrimination by hipsters--if you live in Park Slope, you are only so hip, so I can't say that's been much of a problem.
    there is a difference, linus, between hip and hipster. i am absolutely hip, but never a hipster. ever.

    Yeah, there's a difference -- hip is what one calls oneself, and hipster is what one calls other people.
  • steve
    steve
    linusvanpelt wrote: [quote=brooklynpotter][quote=linusvanpelt]As for discrimination by hipsters--if you live in Park Slope, you are only so hip, so I can't say that's been much of a problem.
    there is a difference, linus, between hip and hipster. i am absolutely hip, but never a hipster. ever.

    Yeah, there's a difference -- hip is what one calls oneself, and hipster is what one calls other people.

    That's pretty funny kids. You hipsters...
  • linusvanpelt
    linusvanpelt
    kensingtonmom wrote: people have this need to feel like the parenting choices they make are not just the best choices for them, but that all other options are bad.
    Bingo -- but I think this is an aspect of NYC life that goes beyond schools -- people also act this way about their choice of doctor, neighborhood, etc. It just grows out of this overarching sense that New York is a competition to the death for limited resources, that there can only be one Good Enough Choice in any given decision and everyone else is screwed.

    321's a very good school as far as I know, but let's face it, "community" kinda means "a lot of other middle-to-upper-class white parents I can feel comfortable with, but it's a public school so I don't have to feel guilty about it." Rich parents are a perfectly defensible reason to be attracted to a school, in that it means the school has an especially well-funded PTA because of all the flush families, but let's not kid ourselves.

    Frankly, if your kids comes from a supportive home and reasonably well off background, he or she will probably do well in most of the area elementary schools -- 10, 39, 107, 154, 282. (kmom, I believe 230 is also very good, though I mostly know about the gifted program there.) The test scores, though they're only one metric, bear this out: if you look at only the non-low-income kids, pretty much each of these schools performs the same. Unfortunate maybe, but true.
  • marie
    marie
    Rose wrote: [quote=kensingtonmom]people have this need to feel like the parenting choices they make are not just the best choices for them, but that all other options are bad.
    Bingo -- but I think this is an aspect of NYC life that goes beyond schools -- people also act this way about their choice of doctor, neighborhood, etc. It just grows out of this overarching sense that New York is a competition to the death for limited resources, that there can only be one Good Enough Choice in any given decision and everyone else is screwed.

    Exactly. BUT I think it's a fierce, although at times subtle, competition in general that pervades and even defines life in NYC period. It's not just about scarce resources. You feel like you always have to be getting that edge and progressing otherwise you're left behind. It's the one aspect of life in NYC that I most have a problem with, and it's the cause of much stress and angst to many New Yorkers. We continue this competition when we have kids.
  • isa
    isa
    What in the world is "discrimination by hipsters"?
  • marie
    marie
    Isa wrote: What in the world is "discrimination by hipsters"?
    It's the self-righteous annoyance that *youngsters* w/out kids tend to feel towards *aging youngsters* with kids. I've seen it, I've been a part of it, and I've later felt badly for doing it. :lol:
  • isa
    isa
    Sounds like people are playing fast and loose with the definition of "discrimination."
  • marie
    marie
    Isa wrote: Sounds like people are playing fast and loose with the definition of "discrimination."
    umm...I think it was meant to be tounge-in-cheek and humorous.
  • anonymous
    anonymous
    marie wrote: Exactly. BUT I think it's a fierce, although at times subtle, competition in general that pervades and even defines life in NYC period. It's not just about scarce resources. You feel like you always have to be getting that edge and progressing otherwise you're left behind. It's the one aspect of life in NYC that I most have a problem with, and it's the cause of much stress and angst to many New Yorkers. We continue this competition when we have kids.
    true and since having kids I am not sure how I feel about this fierce competition. I mean, if I don't do the BEST or make the MOST, hell I am fine with it because I have always kind of been against the grain anyway. But suddenly I feel so much pressure to make sure my kids are in the BEST and every parent seems to say their school is THE BEST. Normally I am not one to think in that manachian way--that there is only one BEST because these things are relative-best meaning what? and best for whom?. But it seems with schools there aren't enough good ones to go around and it is just really not fair. I know I will work the system and find a place for them, but I am middle class and organized. What about people who aren't?

    Anyway I sort of suspect 321 is hyped (and an excellent school too) and yet worry that maybe it is that much better.....round and round my neurosis goes.
  • anonymous
    anonymous
    But can you really be hip and live in park slope? Isn't that an oxymoron? Even the NY Times calls the slope "stodgy" (Believe me, I don't see what is so great about hip frankly--I overdosed on it years ago).
  • rose
    rose
    kensingtonmom wrote: But it seems with schools there aren't enough good ones to go around and it is just really not fair. I know I will work the system and find a place for them, but I am middle class and organized. What about people who aren't?

    You're right, it is not fair. I'm going through the high school admission process now with my daughter and it is incredibly convoluted and takes a lot of time and energy to navigate. It's hard for me to understand and I am educated and organized and very familiar with the school system and I have time to do the research and make the phone calls and go on the tours and take my daughter to various tests, auditions and interviews. What happens to the kid with a parent who doesn't speak English, or works long hours at the kind of job where you can't take a morning off every week to tour a high school, or can't get their act together to deal with it, don't understand what to do, or just don't give a shit? Those kids are at a huge disadvantage.
  • kosherdave
    kosherdave
    I have no kids. But the kids in PS rarely bother me. Nor do the parents.
    I get more annoyed by the bums.
    I'll take a handful of screaming (well maybe not "screaming") kids any day over professional beggers.
  • kosherdave
    kosherdave
    kensingtonmom wrote: But can you really be hip and live in park slope? Isn't that an oxymoron? Even the NY Times calls the slope "stodgy" (Believe me, I don't see what is so great about hip frankly--I overdosed on it years ago).
    I agree. I feel the true hipsters live in Williamsburg. Yuppies and Milfs in PS.
  • friendlypitbull
    friendlypitbull
    kosherdave wrote:
    I agree. I feel the true hipsters live in Williamsburg. Yuppies and Milfs in PS.
    Dave, I think you really have to take those goggles off - Park Slope has got to have the lowest % of Milf/Mom ratio of anywhere east of Buffalo, and it isnt much better in terms of actual numbers either.

    I dont know if its a concerted effort to remove the 'f' from MILF or just a neighborhood quality that attracts the unattractive but (except for you) virtually every man I know agrees, PS is depressing in terms of eye candy.
  • linusvanpelt
    linusvanpelt
    friendlypitbull wrote: I dont know if its a concerted effort to remove the 'f' from MILF or just a neighborhood quality that attracts the unattractive but (except for you) virtually every man I know agrees, PS is depressing in terms of eye candy.
    And see, that's another thing I like about Park Slope. I feel I have permission to be unattractive.
  • rose
    rose
    linusvanpelt wrote:
    And see, that's another thing I like about Park Slope. I feel I have permission to be unattractive.
    And to wear really ugly shoes. I like that too.
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