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Topic: Fort Greene, Brooklyn
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| where it's at | Posted – 9/14/2007 12:00:36 PM | show profile I?ve got a question for all you New Yorkers: What are your thoughts on Fort Greene, Brooklyn? I?m looking at an apartment there, and have heard a mixed batch of opinions and comments. Some say it?s the new ?up-and-coming? spot; others are a little wary. The apartment is right on Myrtle Ave.?basically sandwiched between beautiful brownstones and a housing project. I visited the area just briefly but am afraid I didn?t get a good enough feel? and now I?m back at home in Ohio needing to make a decision. Anyone have any good/bad experiences visiting/living in Fort Greene? Any insight would be appreciated. Thanks so much! |
| Printingman | Posted – 9/15/2007 10:09:36 AM | show profile | email poster Ft. Green is nice. It was once an African American enclave that has recently (within the last 10 years) gone through a gentrification. My friend bought a brownstone there about 10 years ago for 350,000, it's now worth way over a million. Myrtle Ave is probably on the edge of Bed Stuy? Maybe someone can weigh in on that. |
| Unemployed-gal | Posted – 9/15/2007 10:58:25 AM | show profile As with everywhere, its best to actually visit the place you're looking to live in first, to see how you like it. I think you should have spent more time in the area when you came to visit, but that's just me. Also, if Myrtle Avenue is that close to Bed Stuy, then its probably not a good place to live. I know of someone who got held up at knifepoint in broad daylight once in that area. There are better places in Brooklyn to live, such as Park Slope, Brooklyn Heights, Cobble Hill, or Williamsburg... |
| ManhattanMatt | Posted – 9/15/2007 12:35:25 PM | show profile Fort Greene ... is still very much a black enclave. It gentrified a bit, but it's "come" about as much as it's ever going to. It's surrounded by bad neighborhoods (Downtown Brooklyn, Bed-Stuy, Prospect Heights), and the nearest subway station is the "G" train, which basically takes you nowhere. If you're looking to move to Brooklyn, the general rule of thumb is this: Take a map of the entire borough, and locate "Flatbush Avenue", which pretty much bisects the borough on a Northwest-to-Southeast diagonal. Highlight Flatbush Avenue. Any neighborhood SOUTH of Flatbush is a good bed. Avoid all points NORTH of Flatbush. |
| questoo1 | Posted – 9/16/2007 3:17:21 PM | show profile I wasn't clear if you were buying or renting, but if buying I'd be very wary...there is so much developement going on in brooklyn, its just a matter of time before the market is flooded - if you own and you want to sell in 10 years, having a housing project right there will no doubt hurt you. Apartments across the street from nyc public schools priced less then similar apartments not on a school block, I could only imagine what a project does to that equation. Even without that, the potential for crime I'd think would be heightened in that environment. |
| ManhattanMatt | Posted – 9/16/2007 3:54:30 PM | show profile I wouldn't rent there, either ... Fort Greene is not exactly a "destination" neighborhood (meaning to hang out you have to go elsewhere) ... it's inconvenient for your friends from other parts of the city to get to (not to mention the inconvenience YOU will face every day commuting out of that neighborhood) ... and it's surrounded by BAD neighborhoods. |
| stripedcover | Posted – 9/17/2007 6:35:47 PM | show profile ...yeah stay away from all NYC neighborhoods that are mostly black.... WOW that's racist! But if it keeps annoying, close-minded non-ethnics from gentrifying culturally rich and reasonably priced neighborhoods I'll take it. |
| questoo1 | Posted – 9/17/2007 8:40:20 PM | show profile don't play the racist card...nobody said anything about black neighborhoods but you. |
| ManhattanMatt | Posted – 9/18/2007 12:12:15 AM | show profile ACTUALLY ... Printingman brought up the racial makeup of the neighborhood in the second post. Re-read the ENTIRE thread before flaming, please. |
| ManhattanMatt | Posted – 9/18/2007 12:13:39 AM | show profile And Striped Cover ... YOUR racism is showing in asserting that only black neighborhoods can be "culturally rich". |
| lo17 | Posted – 9/18/2007 4:08:50 PM | show profile i think ft greene is a totally nice neighborhood. you don't move to nyc or brooklyn for that matter to live in a white bread suburban area. the comment about dividing brooklyn by flatbush and not going north of that is just about the silliest thing i have ever heard. north of flatbush is williamsburg and greenpoint which are 2 great places to live and have very short commutes to the city. south of flatbush are coney island and crown heights which are 2 places i wouldn't love to live, but that's just me. crazy comment. ft greene has a really nice park, beautiful architecture and yes, a mixed population, but that also means it has great ethnic restaurants and a great sense of community. the g train is the only negative thing i can say about the area, but in a lot of cases, you will also be close to the C,E trains which take you to the city. |
| where it's at | Posted – 9/18/2007 11:28:40 PM | show profile Thank you so much for your comments. Keep ?em coming! For what it?s worth, one of the things that excites me the most about the prospect of living in Brooklyn is the mixed bag of cultures. If I somehow came across as narrow-minded by asking what you guys think about the area, I apologize. That surely wasn?t my intent. Printingman, I believe Myrtle Ave. runs horizontally through both Fort Greene and Bed-Stuy, although the apartment is definitely on the Fort Greene side? it?s pretty close to Fort Greene Park. Again, if anyone has any more comments, I?m all ears! |
| pippapasses64 | Posted – 9/19/2007 10:56:41 AM | show profile Another forum to check out I live near Fort Greene and I have to say, from the responses on this thread, none of these people have ever set foot in it, or are working off of information 10 years out of date. This would be a better board for you to check out: http://brooklynian.com/forums/ There's a thread called Fort Greene/ClintonHill/Bedford-Stuyvesant. |
| pippapasses64 | Posted – 9/19/2007 11:01:23 AM | show profile and... I misspoke - should have said most of the people on this thread. |
| zftcg | Posted – 9/19/2007 12:10:02 PM | show profile pippapasses, I was thinking the exact same thing! I was starting to wonder if I'd stumbled across a Usenet post from 1993. I just moved to the neighborhood next door (Clinton Hill) last year, and my sense is that, if anything, Fort Greene is rapidly becoming too gentrified and overpriced (although that's more the southern part of it, around DeKalb/Lafayette -- Myrtle is less developed). And the notion that the G is your only subway option can be easily dispelled by looking at a map -- it's close to the C, B, Q, R, M, and 2/3 lines. And don't discount the G so quickly -- because it's so short and uncrowded, it runs consistently on schedule, and it's only two stops to Hoyt/Schermerhorn (where you can switch to the A/C) and three to Bergen St (where you can switch to the F). Park Slope is a beautiful neighborhood, and I highly recommend it for all those looking for an easy commute to their hedge fund/law firm jobs in Lower Manhattan. But for the rest of us struggling to get by in an ever-more-expensive city, it definitely makes sense to check out some of the other Brooklyn neighborhoods. |
| chucho | Posted – 9/19/2007 1:08:56 PM | show profile >> Any neighborhood SOUTH of Flatbush is a good bed. Avoid all points NORTH of Flatbush. << I would say that's a very base rule as to be essentially useless. I lived in a very comfortable and relatively safe studio that was bigger than other "one bedrooms" that was north of Flatbush. I've seen some sketchy areas south of Flatbush, too; what you mean, I think, is "live in or as close to Park Slope as possible". Brooklyn can be hit-and-miss from block to block. For example, saying (as someone else did) "downtown Brooklyn" is a place to avoid lumps in a very posh area, actually. My advice: live as close to a subway stop that gets you into Manhattan fastest, 'cause that's what you're going to be spending a lot of time doing. And stay away from obscure subway lines (W, G). It once took me over two hours (!) to get from Prospect Park South to the Upper West side between 2 a.m. and 4 a.m.. It's very unpleasant to spent 35 minutes on a subway platform . . . three different times while the trash cars crawl by. Anywhere close to Atlantic Avenue is fair game, IMO even if it's near the YMCA -- hey, at least the Krishnas will feed you for free on Tuesdays :) If I moved back to NYC I'd look in upper upper Manhattan (Inwood, Washington Heights, even up to Riverdale in the Bronx) or the South Bronx (under the same "Brooklyn rule": as close to a subway stop that gets me into Manhattan fastest). Of course, these areas for some reason don't have the sex appeal of B'lyn -- I guess because they have fewer indie young white urban professionals from Minnesota living there to hype it up. |
| HisGirlFriday | Posted – 9/20/2007 10:44:53 AM | show profile I have no personal experience but was reasearching something else when this popped up: Timeout NY lists this Fort Greene block as one of the best in the city. http://www.timeout.com/newyork/article/4105/the-rankings-1-10 |
| eroticpen | Posted – 9/20/2007 1:11:32 PM | show profile My bf lives in Ft. Greene so I spend a lot of time there. I think that it's a great neighborhood. Particularly the area close to the park. There are some really tasty restaurants along Dekalb. Habana Cafe on S. Portland is a fun outdoor hangout spot that's open during the Summer. I don't know that I'd recommend living on Myrtle Ave at this point because it's a bit noisy with the car traffic and it's still a bit schlocky looking in my opinion. Overall I like the vibe of the neighborhood. |
| jchiest | Posted – 9/21/2007 2:47:14 PM | show profile | email poster I Live in Forte Greene! It is a very gentrified community. I've been here since I was born so if your nervous about Fort Greene then please go no where near Bedstuy, Flatbush, Canarsie because Fort Greene has changed dramatically. The commute, actually is great..centrally located. It takes me 20 mins to get into Chelsea, if that. All trains run there not just the G! Do your research. Myrtle is coming up and so is the damn rent! |
