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I'm one of those people leaving, but I definitely wouldn't consider downtown Brooklyn, it's not really a place (in the Jane Jacobs sense). My experiences walkin

by chris_7 10y ago

I'm one of those people leaving, but I definitely wouldn't consider downtown Brooklyn, it's not really a place (in the Jane Jacobs sense). My experiences walking around there are generally negative. the roads (Flatbush and Atlantic especially) are monstrosities that are not scaled for humans, and are unpleasant to walk along. Buildings are massive, set back, and imposing. It fluctuates between overcrowded and creepily empty. Williamsburg is a (gentrified, yes) place. An empty side street is not creepy or deserted feeling, it's pleasant, and there will probably be some people milling around outside of an Okonomi-type place somewhere on the walk. There are stoops and the like. Anyways, I see places like Park Slope and Fort Greene as more likely locations for people leaving Williamsburg.

kchoudhu 10y ago
I'm not disagreeing with you: I moved way the heck out to Bay Ridge for exactly the considerations you mention. That said, a lot of people move to New York for work, and care about one thing only: how long it takes to get to and from work. The supply of places 10-15 minutes from lower Manhattan is surprisingly limited, and downtown Brooklyn is likely to come up on any shortlist of places to look when searching for apartments.
evanelias 10y ago
Agreed, though Park Slope and Fort Greene are already both rather expensive and low on housing inventory. My bet for biggest price increase in the next few years is on Hoboken and downtown Jersey City. On PATH it only takes 10 min to get from Hoboken to Flatiron, the Village, or WTC. And PATH actually keeps to its printed schedule tightly since it's a much shorter set of lines. The commute time is hard to beat, especially for people fleeing Williamsburg and working somewhere around Union Square or Flatiron. Granted, Jersey is infinitely less hip than Williamsburg, but honestly modern Williamsburg has more bros than hipsters anyway. And given the huge cost of living difference (currently Williamsburg costs 2-3x more than Hoboken, and 3-4x more than JC) and lack of NYC income tax, Jersey becomes pretty compelling. The stigma will fade, just like it has for Queens, and Brooklyn before that.
- kchoudhu 10y ago
  We looked into buying in JC and Hoboken before abandoning NY for good. Avoiding NYC taxes would have been nice, but the PATH train service was patchy at best on weekends, and the town was pretty expensive. Apparently lots of Wall Street types had already had the same idea as you.

by chris_7 10y ago

kchoudhu 10y ago

I'm not disagreeing with you: I moved way the heck out to Bay Ridge for exactly the considerations you mention. That said, a lot of people move to New York for work, and care about one thing only: how long it takes to get to and from work. The supply of places 10-15 minutes from lower Manhattan is surprisingly limited, and downtown Brooklyn is likely to come up on any shortlist of places to look when searching for apartments.

evanelias 10y ago

Agreed, though Park Slope and Fort Greene are already both rather expensive and low on housing inventory. My bet for biggest price increase in the next few years is on Hoboken and downtown Jersey City. On PATH it only takes 10 min to get from Hoboken to Flatiron, the Village, or WTC. And PATH actually keeps to its printed schedule tightly since it's a much shorter set of lines. The commute time is hard to beat, especially for people fleeing Williamsburg and working somewhere around Union Square or Flatiron. Granted, Jersey is infinitely less hip than Williamsburg, but honestly modern Williamsburg has more bros than hipsters anyway. And given the huge cost of living difference (currently Williamsburg costs 2-3x more than Hoboken, and 3-4x more than JC) and lack of NYC income tax, Jersey becomes pretty compelling. The stigma will fade, just like it has for Queens, and Brooklyn before that.

kchoudhu 10y ago
We looked into buying in JC and Hoboken before abandoning NY for good. Avoiding NYC taxes would have been nice, but the PATH train service was patchy at best on weekends, and the town was pretty expensive. Apparently lots of Wall Street types had already had the same idea as you.