"The Connecticut Part of Brooklyn"

This Sunday at 7 pm, the Brave New World Theatre Company is doing a free outdoor presentation of To Kill a Mockingbird on the front porches of Victorian Flatbush on Westminster Road between Beverly and Cortelyou. A great excuse to see the neighborhood in all its glory. Check the website bravenewworldrep.org for details.

Posted by: Anonymous at September 12, 2005 12:22 PM

I agree. While Staten Island surely has some beautiful areas, the commute to Manhattan is not comparable to most parts of "brownstone" Bkln. Apples to oranges really. It's as much about location as it is the type of house you can find.

Posted by: Anonymous at September 12, 2005 4:13 PM

No one is saying there are not beautiful homes in Staten Island, but a 25 minute ferry ride minimum just to get to the ferry terminal means that unless you work at One New York Plaza you have at least 30 minutes of getting to the ferry and ferry ride (if you live close to the ferry on SI) then need to catch a cab or a subway to work (which will likely take more that 15mins). That's why neighborhoods close to the city have shot up in price so much (e.g. Ft. Greene, Clinton Hill, Prospect Heights, not to mention Ditmas Park and others further south). I live in Clinton hill and my door to door to downtown is 20 to 30 minutes tops unless something is wrong with the subway. That includes walking and waiting for the subway and my work is a good 4 block walk from the subway. When commutes start to extend over an hour, then it gets tough I think. Midtown, for example, from SI is tough everyday for most people. I used to do that from Fort Greene and it took me about 40 minutes.

Posted by: Anonymous at September 12, 2005 5:15 PM

Red Hook still is way out of the way...

Posted by: Anonymous at September 12, 2005 5:17 PM

That's my impression of SI too. Not as much of an urban feel or lifestyle. Not that its not a nice place, but if you are going to live in NYC, might as well be urban living... not to knock SI, its just what you are looking for in a neighborhood and home really.

Posted by: Anonymous at September 12, 2005 7:13 PM

Hi,

I am new to PPS (moved in a week ago) from Park slope (2 years) and before that pretty much every neighborhood south of 96th in manhattan. I kept moving into edgier and edgier neighborhoods, not for the clubs, restaurants, but for the old feel of the neighborhoods of nyc. Manhattan has become just one big island of transplants...there are no more local nabes with places like alphabet city and the lower east side completely gentrified. Brooklyn is the only place to find it and its dissappering fast, but its still very much here in victorian flatbush and I love it. Yeah you have to drive or get on the subway for a couple of stops to get a variety of restaurants (you do it in manhattan all the time), but we all know 90% of the time one is going to one bar, one brunch place, one deli, etc in your nabe so I don't think its so different. As far as comparing it to the suburbs, I think most of us would agree that having a real house, yard, garage, driveway, sun on all sides, with 6-9 bedrooms is much better than any penthouse apartment or brownstone. What we're all really avoiding is the homogenity of the suburbs which victorian flatbush certainly isn't. Here you get the best of both worlds. I mean where else in nyc do you get your neighbors dropping by to say hello, instant play groups, and neighbors with similar age children asking to meet up all in the first week. This place rules at least for 30 year old set with kids who want an architectual gem of a house in a "real" nyc neighborhood and not one that just opened another cafe habana with some poser hipsters hanging in the garden.

Posted by: Anonymous at September 12, 2005 9:07 PM

i have some empathy for the staten island poster. but lets say this, when a person posts that staten island is not urban enough what they really mean is trendy enough. meaning there are no whole foods on the horizon, no bistros and cafes charging 20 dollars for brunch and obligatory luxury condos.
as a person who has a rental property and lived in park slope and now owns and lives in bay ridge, i've gotten use to people looking down on me for living there. too many guidos, too conservative etc,etc,etc. yes those people exist ,along with great restaraunts, schools , parks ,shops that sell stuff you actually need and even a democratic city council member.
i also have to say i'm tired of diversity postings. at last check none of us live in indiana. our diversity are muslims and russians who compete for housing stock not the diversity of crown heights, bed stuy and fort greene that get rolled over and out of the neighborhood. what so much do you all like about that diversity? the crappy schools? the crime? the need to justify why you moved there when you couldn't afford some place else? i know its the price!
this does not mean all you posters who live in these nabes and the rest of brownstone brooklyn are terrible it just seems there is an elitism developing. the fact is most of us were just lucky schmucks who bought 5 plus years ago. me, i'm tired of brooklyn becoming manhattan. although bay ridge has fresh direct i don't need to where it as a moniker. besides i like going to the supermarket.

Posted by: Anonymous at September 12, 2005 9:58 PM

Have you been to these other nabes? the grocery is closer to me now...30ft than it was in park slope...and there's plenty of foot traffic...is that your definition of urban?

Posted by: Anonymous at September 13, 2005 9:00 AM

I have lived in Ditmas Park for two years now, having come from Manhattan with a very short interlude in Park Slope immediately prior. At first, I was a little disoriented, missed the ease of Manhattan, my old neighborhood haunts (I should mention I felt this way just as strongly in Park Slope, which I always felt was just a poor man's Upper West Side or West Village). However, after settling into our beautiful house with a significantly larger family than I had when I lived in Manhattan, I can honestly say that I really love Ditmas Park. The people here really make it something special. There's almost a sense of "freshman orientation" bonding here - lots of young families preserving homes in a fabulous but previously neglected neighborhood, working together to bring programs, amenities, etc... to the neighborhood. There's a feeling of community here that I've never experienced ANYWHERE else. People are open, friendly, generally broad thinking individuals. New neighbors are officially welcomed several times a year and informal parties held in both private homes and at local establishments. The new Cortelyou Road businesses work hard together with the community to continually improve the quality of life. The Flatbush Family Network makes integration into the neighborhood very easy for new families. Flatbush Athletics, a fabulous FREE after school program founded by a visionary resident of Beverly Square West provides non-competitive soccer games, kickball, and other age-appropriate activies for kids who live in big rambling houses, as well as kids who live in the neighborhood apartments. This is a great family neighborhood - no two ways about it. As far as schools go, PS 139 and 237 get better all the time. And by the way, there are some legal two family houses here, which offer the rental income that appeals to so many buyers who can't swing the $1 plus price tags otherwise. Don't get me wrong, I think Brownstone Brooklyn is stunning. Love Fort Greene beyond words. But I don't think these other neighborhoods (and I looked in all of them - and even considered historic Staten Island)come anywhere close to Victorian Flatbush in terms of community. Someone once told me there was a study done which said that neighborhoods exactly like Victorian Flatbush provided the architecural foundation to build a strong sense of community - fairly closely spaced homes with wide front porches, which demanded that you actually get to know your neighbors. Seeing neighbors enjoying their outdoor space lends a sense of cozy familiarity to the place. It's hard just to walk by without saying "Hello".

Posted by: Anonymous at September 13, 2005 9:30 AM

Bigbubba I just lost any respect I ever had for you. You got lucky and bought at the right time and therefore could afford a huge house in your number one neighborhood. I doubt you could afford your big brownstone if you were a bit younger and were just entering the market today. You should feel happy, at one with the universe and grateful for your good luck. Instead, you sound smug, self-important and condescending. I guess even your huge brownstone by the park can't make you truly happy if you still feel the need to gloat and try to make others feel bad. It is because of people like you that I fled Park Slope for Victorian Flatbush like a few others who posted below even though I could actually afford it. I wanted to like my neighbors.

Posted by: Anonymous at September 13, 2005 6:44 PM

I'm the poster who moved to Ditmas Park from Manhattan with the pit stop in Park Slope. We, too, could afford a house in Park Slope, even WITHOUT rental income, but chose Ditmas Park instead, precisely because Park Slope was overflowing with a strain of people we much rather do without. Big Bubba's last post smug attitude embodies what we fled. Like I said, the community is what really makes Victorian Flatbush.

Posted by: Anonymous at September 13, 2005 7:09 PM

Imposter? You expect us to believe that horse shit? I'd have a lot more respect for you if you just apologized and went about your business. I "almost" feel sorry for you. You're so pathetic to come up with the imposter story and then basically set the record straight (i.e. accept responsibility for your comment.)

Posted by: Anonymous at September 15, 2005 10:54 PM