Might move to Brooklyn NYC need help!

[Articthunder666]

I might have an opportunity to move to Brooklyn in about eight months. I've been to Manhattan a few times and really liked the city but I have no idea what Brooklyn is all about. I was just wondering if anyone could point me in the right directions about and where to look for an apartment. It would be my girlfriend and myself. We're in our early/mid twenties and make decent money...nothing too lavish though. Just looking for a decent neighborhood to start over in. thanks in advance.

[Subsonix]

Williamsburg is the shit, but I've got no idea how expensive extra it it. Pat Dixon seems to like Astoria, which is a bit further out I think.

[wookietv]

i live in bk... what type of things are important to you? restaurants, bars, clubs, art scene, or more simply price?
you should consider where you're going to work as well. you'd want a decent subway access that makes sense to your needs.

e.g. of some of the more popular neighborhoods i know about:
*park slope: a little bit older residents (late 20's-30's), in general, couples often live there with kids. sometimes referred to as Parent Slope, seems like most have either a stroller or a dog . great restaurants, bars. gay friendly... it is west of Prospect Park, aka the Central Park of bk, concerts in the summer. more expensive than many other bk neighborhoods, brownstone homes. around Prospect Park is the big BK art museum, botanical gardens, main BK library. on the north side of the park is Grand Army Plaza where there's a weekly Farmers Market(this is where i live so i know more about this area, but i don't have kids or a dog )
*very similar to the west/nw is Carroll Gardens, Boerum Hill, and Cobble Hill. The Smith and Court Streets are hubs for a lot of restaurants, cafes and bars. similar feel to park slope.
*south of park slope is Sunset Park. very spanish and growing asian population. cheaper than the above neighborhoods (this is going in the direction away from manhattan, so you pay less, but if you work in the city, it just would take longer by subway)
*in between park slope and Sunset Park is this grey area that realtors have started to call South Slope and Greenwood Heights (there is a giant awesome cemetery there, Greenwood Cemetery). more restaurants, bars, cafes, bakeries, etc. are starting to open down there as more people expand outwards because looking for better apt deals.
*and south of sunset park is bay ridge. it has a great shopping/restaurant/bar area and is cheaper because it's further out. my brother lives in bay ridge, and gets a good sized apt for the $. you just have to compromise with the distance. by subway, it probably adds about an extra 20 mins to get into the city than compared to Park Slope.
*north of cobble hill is the brooklyn heights/downtown brooklyn area. if you ever watched the cosby show, their home took place in bk heights. pricey... doctors, lawyers, well off. brooklyn heights sits by the harbor. downtown brooklyn is just east of bk heights. if there were a business district of bk, it would be downtown bk. the big buildings of bk are here with its own skyline that rivals many small cities around the country.
*north of downtown is DUMBO aka Vinegar Hill. DUMBO is the realtors name but the now normal name for the area. many people would have no idea anymore what vinegar hill is. it stands for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass. it's basically the area between the BK and Manhattan Bridges and just east of the Manhattan Bridge. This and BK Heights have the best views of downtown manhattan. lot of new apt buildings and condos. quickly building up an art scene...
*going further east is Fort Greene, another neighborhood that transformed in the recent decade as a restaurant destination. my mom grew up in brooklyn and at the time was never allowed to go to F.G. because it was considered a dangerous area. i laugh at that idea now because of how picturesque it is.
*north of this would be wburg and greenpoint. wburg is the ground zero of the hipster movement. however, some of the best bars, restaurants, etc are in wburg. depending on where you are, there's generally good access into manhtattan, though the rush hour subways get stupid crowded there. greenpoint is right next to wburg, has a little less subway access, but is cheaper.
Bed-Stuy is east of wburg, often called E. Williamsburg by realtors to attach onto the wburg name and to disconnect with the old memory of what bed-stuy used to be like. has a lot of the same style brownstones as park slope, but is cheaper. in the 70's and 80's, had a large crime stat. since then, though, crime has decreased and more people are moving in looking for a good bargain. people getting priced out of wburg have been moving to bed-stuy, including many artists, musicians.

there are many more neighborhoods, but i'd be ill-equipped to really speak about them.
as far as astoria goes, it's not really further out... it's kind of north of wburg, whereas the L train from wburg leads you into 14th St in manhattan. the N & Q trains from Astoria just bring you more north around 59th St. Astoria is also a great area, cheaper than many places in brooklyn, and a diverse amount of shit to do, i lived there a whiles back. Known as a very greek neighborhood, one of my favorite restaurants in ny is there (if you visit it's called Taverna Kyclades, best fucking swordfish).
i would live there again, but it's no where near where any of my friends live in bk.

hope some of this helps, ask away if you have any questions

[Articthunder666]

@ Subby. Thanks man I'll check it out!

@Wookie - holy shit! thanks man. I have lots of research to do now! My main concern is price and publix transportation. Bars, food, clubs, and art is all great but I'd sacrifice some of those things for the other 2 things. thanks man.

[poingjam]

Why Brooklyn specifically? You can find similarly priced apartments in any of the outer boroughs (lots of two bedrooms for around $1200 a month, studios for around $900). More popular neighborhoods are more expensive, of course.

I mean Brooklyn is great, I'm glad to be here, but if you find something in not-too-far-away Queens, that's good too. And if you find anything remotely cheap in Manhattan below like 117th street, take it.

[Articthunder666]

Looking all around NYC. Just kinda like Brooklyn from what I've seen. I'm looking in the Astoria area too. You don't exactly get as much bang for your buck in nYC as you do in Jacksonville, FL hahaha. time to downsize.

[poingjam]

Yep. But you'll get used to not having as much stuff. I just threw out about two thirds of my shit today to make room for a bed and it felt great.

[Dee]

There's also Prospect Heights, which is a small neighborhood above the park but a bit cheaper than Park Slope, and still close to the bars/restaurants.

Also, I agree with everything wookie says

Definitely do research about the areas you want to look for apts in, but also go to them and walk around. During the day and at night to get a feel, if you have the time. You can always do a short sublet somewhere for a month or so when you move here so that you can spend more time living here and getting a better idea of the different neighborhoods.

[Huggie]

Originally Posted by Articthunder666

Just looking for a decent neighborhood to start over.

What happened?

[Huggie]

Originally Posted by wookietv

i live in bk... what type of things are important to you? restaurants, bars, clubs, art scene, or more simply price?
you should consider where you're going to work as well. you'd want a decent subway access that makes sense to your needs.

e.g. of some of the more popular neighborhoods i know about:
*park slope: a little bit older residents (late 20's-30's), in general, couples often live there with kids. sometimes referred to as Parent Slope, seems like most have either a stroller or a dog . great restaurants, bars. gay friendly... it is west of Prospect Park, aka the Central Park of bk, concerts in the summer. more expensive than many other bk neighborhoods, brownstone homes. around Prospect Park is the big BK art museum, botanical gardens, main BK library. on the north side of the park is Grand Army Plaza where there's a weekly Farmers Market(this is where i live so i know more about this area, but i don't have kids or a dog )
*very similar to the west/nw is Carroll Gardens, Boerum Hill, and Cobble Hill. The Smith and Court Streets are hubs for a lot of restaurants, cafes and bars. similar feel to park slope.
*south of park slope is Sunset Park. very spanish and growing asian population. cheaper than the above neighborhoods (this is going in the direction away from manhattan, so you pay less, but if you work in the city, it just would take longer by subway)
*in between park slope and Sunset Park is this grey area that realtors have started to call South Slope and Greenwood Heights (there is a giant awesome cemetery there, Greenwood Cemetery). more restaurants, bars, cafes, bakeries, etc. are starting to open down there as more people expand outwards because looking for better apt deals.
*and south of sunset park is bay ridge. it has a great shopping/restaurant/bar area and is cheaper because it's further out. my brother lives in bay ridge, and gets a good sized apt for the $. you just have to compromise with the distance. by subway, it probably adds about an extra 20 mins to get into the city than compared to Park Slope.
*north of cobble hill is the brooklyn heights/downtown brooklyn area. if you ever watched the cosby show, their home took place in bk heights. pricey... doctors, lawyers, well off. brooklyn heights sits by the harbor. downtown brooklyn is just east of bk heights. if there were a business district of bk, it would be downtown bk. the big buildings of bk are here with its own skyline that rivals many small cities around the country.
*north of downtown is DUMBO aka Vinegar Hill. DUMBO is the realtors name but the now normal name for the area. many people would have no idea anymore what vinegar hill is. it stands for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass. it's basically the area between the BK and Manhattan Bridges and just east of the Manhattan Bridge. This and BK Heights have the best views of downtown manhattan. lot of new apt buildings and condos. quickly building up an art scene...
*going further east is Fort Greene, another neighborhood that transformed in the recent decade as a restaurant destination. my mom grew up in brooklyn and at the time was never allowed to go to F.G. because it was considered a dangerous area. i laugh at that idea now because of how picturesque it is.
*north of this would be wburg and greenpoint. wburg is the ground zero of the hipster movement. however, some of the best bars, restaurants, etc are in wburg. depending on where you are, there's generally good access into manhtattan, though the rush hour subways get stupid crowded there. greenpoint is right next to wburg, has a little less subway access, but is cheaper.
Bed-Stuy is east of wburg, often called E. Williamsburg by realtors to attach onto the wburg name and to disconnect with the old memory of what bed-stuy used to be like. has a lot of the same style brownstones as park slope, but is cheaper. in the 70's and 80's, had a large crime stat. since then, though, crime has decreased and more people are moving in looking for a good bargain. people getting priced out of wburg have been moving to bed-stuy, including many artists, musicians.

there are many more neighborhoods, but i'd be ill-equipped to really speak about them.
as far as astoria goes, it's not really further out... it's kind of north of wburg, whereas the L train from wburg leads you into 14th St in manhattan. the N & Q trains from Astoria just bring you more north around 59th St. Astoria is also a great area, cheaper than many places in brooklyn, and a diverse amount of shit to do, i lived there a whiles back. Known as a very greek neighborhood, one of my favorite restaurants in ny is there (if you visit it's called Taverna Kyclades, best fucking swordfish).
i would live there again, but it's no where near where any of my friends live in bk.

hope some of this helps, ask away if you have any questions

Do you take Adderall ?