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brooklyn neighborhoods + finding apartments (in general)
Shazkar Shadowstorm
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I just want to make a thread to gather information.
I've already received several starting points but the more information I have the better.
I plan to, when the snow starts to melt, go look at all these neighborhoods in person...
For someone who will live with his friend upon graduation and is 22 going on 23:
Where in brooklyn is cool to live? can you describe the neighborhoods, and pros and cons?
With the knowledge that my place of work it TriBeCa and convenience is a nice thing (meaning 23AC subways are best for me but i can transfer if needed).
areas that have been suggested to me:
williamsburg obviously
greenpoint
boerum hill, cobble hill
fort greene
brooklyn heights
park slope, carroll gardens (too family seeming for me i think? at least from the one time i was in c.gardens)
please suggest more or tell me why one of these would be good or bad!
other things that will be helpful:
- resources for finding apartments (have looked at craigslist and nytimes)
- my friend is a silly goose and has a fear of things, telling me "i wanna live somewhere younger" and fears living in a place with "too many couples"... how do i 1) help facilitate this, 2) while convincing him not to worry about it
- also convincing my friend that brooklyn is nice to live in, he is too used to manhattan
- explaining to me the whole no-fee business... so, brokers charge massive fees for apartments basically? how much do they charge, and how do you find more no-fee places?
- as far as I know, the neighborhoods I listed are all relatively safe, but if there are any areas to watch out for, let me know
Also, I've never really rented a place before, I've only ever sublet a room in an apartment, so any just general tips on the process and whatnot would be very helpful. Typical things to look out for and avoid, etc.
note: dont need a place till summer, but wanted to make sure i started looking now
I've already received several starting points but the more information I have the better.
I plan to, when the snow starts to melt, go look at all these neighborhoods in person...
For someone who will live with his friend upon graduation and is 22 going on 23:
Where in brooklyn is cool to live? can you describe the neighborhoods, and pros and cons?
With the knowledge that my place of work it TriBeCa and convenience is a nice thing (meaning 23AC subways are best for me but i can transfer if needed).
areas that have been suggested to me:
williamsburg obviously
greenpoint
boerum hill, cobble hill
fort greene
brooklyn heights
park slope, carroll gardens (too family seeming for me i think? at least from the one time i was in c.gardens)
please suggest more or tell me why one of these would be good or bad!
other things that will be helpful:
- resources for finding apartments (have looked at craigslist and nytimes)
- my friend is a silly goose and has a fear of things, telling me "i wanna live somewhere younger" and fears living in a place with "too many couples"... how do i 1) help facilitate this, 2) while convincing him not to worry about it
- also convincing my friend that brooklyn is nice to live in, he is too used to manhattan
- explaining to me the whole no-fee business... so, brokers charge massive fees for apartments basically? how much do they charge, and how do you find more no-fee places?
- as far as I know, the neighborhoods I listed are all relatively safe, but if there are any areas to watch out for, let me know
Also, I've never really rented a place before, I've only ever sublet a room in an apartment, so any just general tips on the process and whatnot would be very helpful. Typical things to look out for and avoid, etc.
note: dont need a place till summer, but wanted to make sure i started looking now
poo
Shazkar Shadowstorm on
0
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I'd say the Heights strikes me as your kind of digs, but that's me. I lived all over Brooklyn my first year here in the city... mostly in the lame parts with no social activity to recommend it really, like Fort Hamilton (below Bay Ridge) and the Bushwick/Ridgewood area.
If you can stomach the bizarrely disproportionate rents, Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass is an interesting neighborhood, though I think the financial fallout has wiped out a lot of what was acceptably cool in that area.
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I would definitely recommend it
rumor has it that variable and organichu are coming over tomorrow too
so that would be cool even though we live way across the river and stuff
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The Mad Writers Union
As for where to look, curbed.com has a rental marketplace. I haven't really checked out the rental listings as Im looking to buy, but that blog is pure real estate porn.
i personally had alright/ok/not that great luck with craiglist looking in the no fee section...it's really a crapshoot though anywhere you go from what i can see
no fee simply means that either the broker is getting paid by the landlord, or there is no broker (you can rent directly from landlords or management companies)
keep in mind that there will also likely be a credit/background check fee ($40 per person or so)... and definitely expect to lay out 3 months of rent up front (1st, last, and security deposit).... this is typical of people who do not have rental experience (so no references) like you.
if you're renting decent places, keep in mind that you'll need to make 40 times the rent annually to qualify... if you don't make that much, you can have a guarantor who makes at least 80 times the rent cosing your lease
if you're looking at small landlords, or craigslist specials, some of the above may not apply
and the best i can tell you is: visit the neighborhoods you're interested in... check them out during the morning and evening rush hours (i can tell you now that you won't like the rush hour L train from williamsburg unless you enjoy pretending to be a sardine)... and check them out on nights/evenings on a weekday and weekends... this will give you a vibe for the neighborhood and whether you'd like to live there... i'm currently in South Slope, and i can tell you that if you don't enjoy kids or dogs, this is not the area for you
oh, and williamsburg stops at the BQE officially... don't let a broker lead you deep into bushwick and tell you it's "east williamsburg" lol
a lot of that broker BS happens unfortunately... if it was up to brokers, Brooklyn would have three neighborhoods: Williamsburg, Park Slope, and Brooklyn Heights. all others, especially the unfortunate areas full of poverty, projects, and minorities don't really exist if you're asking a broker... just FYI.
also yeah, the east williamsburg thing is hilarious...if it's unsavory it's east williamsburg 99% of the time
i've been to williamsburg a handful of times but only ever to attend concerts, so i guess i should go once just to see it on a normal day
and then just go to those other areas as well
*cough*Lived in Bensonhurst and Sunset Park *cough*
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Downtown Brooklyn is more interesting. Park Slope's my favorite place there. Good bars, great amenities, fun stuff happening. Slightly older crowd, but not too horrible.
I liked Williamsburg when I lived there, more of a younger energy. Greenpoint is similar, but has much better Polish food.
boring too? or decent?
and how bad is the commute from williamsburg to 14th street / williamsburg is defined as a big area, what parts are decent?
Cobble hill, Fort Greene, and Carroll Gardens are generally pretty decent places. There's some bad areas in Boerum Hill, so try to keep away from them. Clinton Hill ain't too bad, my only gripe with there is the lack of subways.
Red Hook I hear isn't too bad if you're in the right area, but I don't spend much time there. Stay away from Gowanus, it's pretty uniformly a hole.
The general rule of thumb with Williamsburg is anywhere near the first 3-4 stops on the L. I was just off the 4th stop, Grand, and although that's technically the border with Bushwick, it was fine. Easy walk to Graham St and all their amenities. I think the commute from my stop to Union Square was about 15-20 minutes most days - real quick.
The best way to find an actual place in NYC to rent is to find a neighbourhood and walk its streets looking for signs.
I need to go investigate Williamsburg as well to see what it is like at more normal hours of the day, instead of just at concerts full of hipsters.
Out of curiosity, how bad is the G going from like Atlantic Ave/Ft Greene to Williamsburg? Because I've heard terrible things about the G... but living not in Williamsburg but having easy access to it might be nice.
Yeah, between my friend and I for a 2BR we'd probably want to do low $2000s in rent, though my friend was talking about seeing if his parents would help him get a nicer place.
This, so much. Bushwick is rough even in its most charming squalid parts. LOL
South Brooklyn has a lot to recommend it, but short commutes and social activity are not among them.
Uncanny Magazine!
The Mad Writers Union
The JMZ lines are not much better, but they at least go into Manhattan.
If you are working near Union square you want the L, the 4/5, or the NRQ lines.
The L is the newest and shiniest of all the train lines. It is very fast into the city, has handy clocks on the platforms that tell you how long till the next train, and is indeed crowded with hipsters, though for the most part very few of them smell. :P Do not bother living anywhere past the Grand street stop, maaaybe Montrose if you're brave. Past that you get into scaryland and the train ride gets way long.
The 4/5 lines run local in Brooklyn and south Manhattan, then go Express past Canal street. They are the Only lines to run up past 57th on the East side, and are thus PACKED during rush hours. Going from Atlantic Ave to 14th st is not so bad though.
The N runs Express in North Brooklyn into Manhattan. I can't tell you much about it as I don't take it often, but it seems a decent train.
I live on the Q/B and I love it. It's a flat half hour for me to get to Union Sq most days, and I live pretty far down, past the park. And since it runs express in the city 34th and times square are not much further.
The best is that it goes over a bridge instead of under a tunnel, so on a clear day you'll get a nice skyline view and a glance at lady liberty once you know where to look. Always cheers me up.
Also feel I ought to mention that Prospect Park is awesome, as are the botanical gardens, brooklyn museum, and the big public library. All cheap/free ways to kill an afternoon.
---edit---
ooh, TriBeCa, not Union sq. Misread ya there. Most of the info still stands though, and if you live in williamsburg you will have to transfer trains at least once.
And other things to be wary of as I look for apartments?
Gonna go explore those neighborhoods in upcoming weeks with the weather so nice as it is.