Where should I live in Brooklyn?
Asked by
caeliste (
156
)
March 13th, 2009
My partner and I are moving to NYC in July (approximately) and are planning on Brooklyn. She used to live in Washington Heights and I’ve never lived in New York, so we’re not really sure where to live.
We want somewhere where two women will feel safe coming home at night, but we can’t afford more than around $1400 a month in rent. Most of the info I’m finding online is out of date, and from what I understand, New York neighborhoods have a way of changing fast. We’ll also both be commuting to Midtown every day, so more than a 30 minute train ride would be a bit much.
Suggestions?
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9 Answers
The better neighborhoods are going to run you upwards of 2000.00 for a 1–2 bedroom. You’d be better off going a little further out to Queens.
The neighborhoods I’d recommend that are cheap are far away and the ones that are closer to the city aren’t all that cheap or are not near enough to public transport. Red Hook is very nice for an up and coming neighborhood, but the train service is thin on the ground. IKEA and Fairway (AKA the best grocery store in NYC) are nearby, though. You may strike a bit of luck in Boerum Hill, Carroll Gardens or Cobble Hill, but that’s only a maybe. Such are the tradeoffs of NYC living.
The closest areas that are near the city and more likely to have something in your price range or near it are Flatbush, Kensington, Prospect Heights, the western end of Bushwick (AKA East Williamsburg), parts of Bedford-Stuyvesant and Fort Greene. Williamsburg, DUMBO, Vinegar Hill and Brooklyn Heights are very close, but too expensive, and the other neighborhoods aren’t safe or too far away.
@aprilsimnel: Is Bushwick/East Wiliamsburg as sketchy as it seems?
The closer to Williamsburg proper, the less sketchy it is. It used to be more industrial than it is now, but believe me, there are a lot of young artsy people moving into the area because they were being priced out of Williamsburg proper. Greenpoint’s a smidge cheaper than Williamsburg. You have to walk a bit to get to the trains, and as one would imagine, the closer you are to a stop, the higher the rent.
This is a really helpful question, and the answers are all great! I’m going to be moving to brooklyn soon as well. Lurve to everyone for this question!
My wife and I have lived in Boerum Hill since ‘05. It is a great, up-and-coming neighborhood. Very diverse and close to the city. Surrounded by several other, generally more expensive neighborhoods (Brooklyn Heights, Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens, DUMBO) with terrific restaurants, bars, & shopping.
Above all, congrats on your decision to move to the County of Kings!
Although $1400/month is going to be a real stretch in Boerum Hill, or anywhere safe in Brooklyn!
here’s the conclusion of that thread:
Time for an update.
Found a place in Brooklyn. I’ll be living with 2 other people, in a 3 bedroom 1 bath for $2400 a month.
While I was in NYC I stayed in Williamsburg with a friend. I liked the area, mostly for how much there was to do, but I didn’t think it was worth how much they paid. It seemed like they were paying more for location than anything else. Which I guess is what you do in NY, although the Village is really cool. But I ended up going for Brooklyn because I was able to score a bigger place for less rent.
leighc, if you want, I’ll send you some pictures of the place so you can get an idea of what we ended up with.
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