park slope versus manhattan

Background: we are going to move to Park Slope (that%26#39;s what I want) next month, coming from California (Bay area).

My husband is very scared that Park Slope is a boring neighborood. With our two kids (3 and 6), he thinks that we won%26#39;t have anything to do after a month and will have to go to Manhattan

anyway. He thinks we will be stuck in the train forever, every week-end, to go anywhere in Manhattan from Park Slope.

Plus, he is going to work at Chambers Street station and he thinks the commute is going to be awful. (I try to tell him that if we live Upper West Side, around 90th street or further, the commute will be the same. Am I right?)

The Bay Area (CA) is a kind of big suburb and he doesn%26#39;t want to be in that anymore.

I feel like with two ';outdoor'; kids, Park Slope would be a good compromise.

What do you think?

park slope versus manhattan

Park Slope -boring, that%26#39;s crazy. There are as many restaurants, bars, boutiques and live music venues as you could possibly want and a big plus is the park. When I lived in Manhattan I went to sleep amidst the cacophony of car alarms. In PS, I feel you get the best of both worlds. nightlife without the noise and congestion. One more point is that the focus of nightlife over the last 5 years has been moving from Manhattan to Brooklyn especially the hipster areas of Williamsburg and Greenpoint. Bear in mind, that most people in PS do not head into Manhattan on weekends, because we have most everything we like or need in the neighborhood.

If you live on 90th and Bway and work on chambers Street, the commute is just as long as that from PS, but the housing prices in Manhattan will force you to live an smaller quarters than in Brooklyn. Plus Prospect Park is very kid friendly.

park slope versus manhattan

Maybe you should read ujp on the area. Not sure how accurate or up to date this assessment is, but it%26#39;s a start

nymag.com/realestate/鈥arkslope.htm

Do you have a place yet? Buying or renting?

Park Slope is far from boring nor is the upper west side. Park Slope has Prospect Park, the UWS. Central Park. More supermarkets on the UWS. The commute to Chambers Street will take less than 20 minutes from the 96th Street station in Manhattan. It might take a few minutes longer from Park Slope. Depends on where you are at in Park Slope.

Outer borough living is something that has to be experienced to be appreciated IMO. Ten years ago if you told me I would be moving to Queens, I would have laughed in your face. If you had told me that eventually, I would prefer Queens to Manhattan, I would have needed stitches....but all of the above is true.

I originally moved for financial purposes, but I also liked the area I was moving into. (This is an important factor, when moving to a borough, find an area you like...don%26#39;t just pick the closest to Manhattan...because now matter how hard you try; it%26#39;s not gonna be Manhattan.)

You are correct with the commute, because of Express trains, mine is one of the shortest in the office. Depending on what subway stop you are near, the trains can be annoying on the weekends (that%26#39;s a valid complaint)...it%26#39;s best to be near a hub with Express trains, and multiple lines if possible.

But all in all...come friday 5 pm, I am very happy to take the train out of the city. Working full-time in Manhattan allows me more than enough time here. Over time I have grown to appreciate being away from it all when I need to be.

Coming from the actual suburbs; you won%26#39;t find the Slope boring whatsoever. Perhaps if you were moving from the corner of 42nd %26amp; Broadway, it might be different. Once your husband spends enough time in the Manhattan rat race, he will most likely appreciate that he doesn%26#39;t live AND work there.

I agree 100% with above posts!

Park Slope is a wonderful place for kids, and NOT BORING at all!

Park Slope is crawling with familes with small kids, so get ready for lots of instant community!

Propsect Park is alive and kicking with activities year round! Great hills for sledding after a big snowfall, with half the crowds and none of the attitude of Manhattan. And, the snow stays white for more then 24 hours! You must get at least one sled!

There are at least 2 great playgrounds in Prospect Park, and two smaller ones in the nabe: 7th ave and 1st street in front of the school, and 5th Avenue and 3rd Street (J.J. Byrne Park).

There are least 3 Yahoo groups for parents in Park Slope! Friends of our gets great hand-me-down strollers, etc from these Yahoo groups, plus gossip and recos on baby-sitters, house cleaners, doctors, pre-schools, etc..

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ParkSlopeDad/

groups.yahoo.com/group/ParkSlopeParents/

groups.yahoo.com/group/parkslopeworkingmoms/

There%26#39;s even a ';Baby Loves Disco'; event at Southpaw on a regular basis. Southpaw is an excellent rock music club on Fifth Ave (which you should go to!!), and ';Baby Loves Disco'; is a low-volume rock/disco music night, where parents bring their kids. This was the latest hot thing last year.

(Just saw Joan Jett at Southpaw in the summer. She rocked!!)

http://babylovesdisco.com/calendar/

Scroll down to bottom for Southpaw link calendar and info.

Fifth Avenue has lots of excellent bars and restaurants, and you can walk to them all (I sure did!). I%26#39;ll try to find a past thread on that. I highly recommend Barbes for adults. Def the over-30 crowd.

http://www.barbesbrooklyn.com/

Also, tell your husband to read ';Motherless Brooklyn'; or ';Fortress of Solitude'; to get a taste of what it%26#39;s like to grow up in Brooklyn. OK, these books can be scary, since they are about crime, but even so, they show that Brooklyn ain%26#39;t the sleepy suburbs!

To answer Nywhiz, no we don%26#39;t have a place yet. We will have one month (in an appartment provided by the Company) while in NY, to find and rent .... or buy (i%26#39;m not sure it%26#39;s a good to buy right away - plus, the market seems even higher than in the Bay Area!).

I thought one month would be enough to decide since nothing is on the market to be rented for dec 1st anyway.

Park Slope will not feel like the suburbs nor will it be boring. But you might want to also look in Manhattan. Agree Battery Park City might be a good option to consider. There%26#39;s also a lot of new building going on in Tribeca. A key issue for you will be schools. Don%26#39;t know what the options are in Park Slope or if private school is a possibility for you.

I wouldn%26#39;t buy right away. I%26#39;d rent for a year and then decide. ;)

Park Slope is hardly ';suburban';!!! As a matter of fact, you will find Park Slope more like the ';urban'; parts of San Francisco (there are no free-standing houses; it is largley handsome grand attached brownstones that have been broken into apartments.) I think that you will find it just what you want, and the commute will be fairly easy.

In addition, if you plan on keeping a car (2/3 of households in Brooklyn do not, you know) you will find it vastly more manageable, affordable, and usable in Park Slope.

i cant talk from the same experiemce as the locals, but when my husband and I visited the area we dreamed about moving there, its lovely, and not far from manhattan at all... You are lucky to be moving there! I am envious...

love and light...

Hi

just to add my 2 cents...I love the Slope %26amp; have now been here 22 years. it ain%26#39;t boring, as others have mentioned - music, great restaurants, Prospect Park, walking distance to the Brooklyn Museum %26amp; Brooklyn Botanic Gardens...a short train ride (or even a walk) to BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music). In the past 10 years it%26#39;s gotten to the point that I don%26#39;t want to live in Manhattan anymore, I prefer it here. if I was to liken it to a community in San Francisco, it would be a combination of Noe Valley/Hayes Valley/with a smidge of Russian Hill (the part along Prospect Park West).

...and if you remain driving in the traffic circle around Grand Army Plaza long enough, it could feel like swerving down Lombard St. ;-)

Chambers St. is a very easy commute for your hubby.