I'm originally from Jersey
Moved to P.A. about 4-5 years ago.

I'm considering moving to Brooklyn.
I don't really like where I am
I have two friends that live up there
and they have been on me to move.

I don't know you all too well
but I certainly read almost everything here
even if i don't post.

I know some of you live in the Brooklyn area.
What can you tell me
about this life decision.

NEVER move outta Jersey, man.

fedaykin, I love Brooklyn (but it's the only place in NYC I've lived, so take that for what it's worth).

I'll say this: the sooner you move, the better. It's getting more and more expensive to live here by the day and it's already hideously pricey. If you're looking for something affordable, either count on living in a closet or in a neighborhood that's a little bit farther out (which means farther from Manhattan).

But the upside of all that popularity and growth is that Brooklyn offers nearly everything Manhattan does - some good music venues, tons of great bars, a lot of excellent restaurants in every price range, and a staggering variety of neighborhoods.

Also, the younger you are, the more you will appreciate Brooklyn, IMO. If I were still in my twenties, I'd be jazzed out of my mind every day to be living here. (Instead, I'm just old enough to get crotchety about some inconveniences a younger me would shrug off.)

Without knowing your personality and your own likes and dislikes, I wholeheartedly recommend it. Jersey may be easier and cheaper, but Brooklyn is where it's at. If you already have friends here, you're ahead of the game.

I've lived in Brooklyn for 12 years. It's a great to live. I support your decision. FYI, the neighborhoods that are close to the river like Williamsburg & Dumbo tend to be more expensive than neighborhoods that are further away from Manhattan. Long Island City in Queens is pretty cool too (as is Astoria). Brooklyn has an excellent music scene.

Think you should look around find where you want to go and wait. Brooklyn is going down the tubes. You should be able to get some nice places in Brooklyn on the cheap like in Ft Green and you will be walking distance to the train, clubs and crack.

Going down the tubes = not how it used to be.


Take both veterans' and newcomers' opinions with a grain of salt, fedaykin.

Going down the tubes = not how it used to be.

Going down the tubes = how it used to be.

In dumbo condos are not selling and going to rentals. They have a forclosue tour bus to look at real estate in the city. A lot of parents are moving out of Brooklyn in mass cause they could not get their kids in prep preschool.

What I am describing is Brooklyn 1999 I think it will easly slide back that far. How many days on the train do you see nodding out junkies. It has been pretty regular for me. Go down to dumbo beach it is littered with pot baggies and crack vials. The locals have a couple of muggings and they are having nightmares that they are Michael Cain in the last scenes of "Zulu".

The fact that clebs are getting arested for crack is just the begining as Prozak just will not work any more. Reality is beging to creep in we got to blot it out.

I don't think it will get to "Escape from New York" but if the Ernist Borgnine role is avalable sign me up.

Bah. Those DUMBO condos don't sell partly because the idiots built million-dollar condos right beside some of the most dangerous projects in the city. Ditto for the downtown Brooklyn condos. Enjoy that view, since you can't leave your building after dark. My neighborhood (Fort Greene), on the other hand, is only getting better and shows no signs of slipping back into what I understand was its very shady and dangerous past just 10 years ago.

"South Slope" and parts of Sunset Park are also showing a lot of promise.

What I see is some bad overcrowding in the most popular neighborhoods along the river and its consequences, IMO, but not so much a descent into The Warriors (though that would be kinda cool; dibs on the leather vest). The slowdown in development may actually help shake some of that out, provided it doesn't slide all the way back.

Astoria, Queens is still pretty reasonable. As is Greenpoint. Crown Heights is pretty good too.

I agree with Mr. Ty Webb. I don't think you should wait. This idea that somehow housing prices will revert to "what they were" seems pretty silly to me. Big money doesn't deteriorate too rapidly -- these guys own. The best they will do is throw us a bone and knock a hundred dollars off something like $800/month. Gee, thanks.

Do you have money saved? I didn't when I moved here seven years ago and it was a fucking big mistake. It just made things ten times harder.

my buddy lives in Ft. Green - no not TyWebb, the guy I dragged to the neurosis show. He says it is still pretty affordable, and decently livable, but not entirely safe at night. There is decent train access, and its not too grungy. It reminds me of the UWS above 79th street like 20 years ago. And we all know how that turned out.

Go for it. Everyone should live in New York for a while. Do it while you are young, and you don't have kids, or a car, or a job you can't leave, or in-laws, etc. Greatest city in the U.S.