Boerum Hill

With the bustling Atlantic Avenue and quirky Smith Street as commercial districts and a swath of historic rowhouses — many brownstones — for residential stock, Boerum Hill is a culmination of well-known Brooklyn elements. Indie shops are peppered in with international corporations on low-lying, landmarked streets that young families and longtime residents peruse on foot or pedal. The area has housed a variety of celebrities, from Jean-Michel Basquiat and Heath Ledger to Jonathan Lethem, who set his novel Motherless Brooklyn in the neighborhood.