I used the expanded Google Map Boundaries for Park Slope. There is also a smaller South Slope District on the southern edge of Park Slope starting by most accounts at 15th Street and running south across the Prospect Expressway. This likely predated the highway. For simplicity sake I am breaking this up in my evaluations between Park Slope and Greenwood Heights. Sadly the highway has kinda obliterated this historic neighborhood running right through the middle of it.
Generally, the neighborhood is divided into three sections from north to south: North Slope, Center Slope, and South Slope. The neighborhood takes its name from its location on the western slope of neighboring Prospect Park. The area was mostly farms and woods until the early 19th century, when the land was subdivided into rectangular parcels. The western section of Park Slope was occupied in the mid-19th century, being located near the industrial Gowanus Canal and ferries. After the completion of Prospect Park, numerous mansions and rowhouses were developed in Park Slope’s eastern section in the 1880s. By 1883, with the opening of the Brooklyn Bridge, Park Slope continued to boom and subsequent brick and brownstone structures pushed the neighborhood’s borders farther. The 1890 census showed Park Slope to be the richest community in the United States. Park Slope gradually became a more working class neighborhood. Large and opulent brownstones were subdivided and large apartment buildings were constructed. Park Slope experienced decline for a couple decades after WWII but this was not to last as the an influx of young professionals recognized the value and beauty of its brownstones and rowhouses. In 1973 much of the neighborhood was included in the Park Slope Historic District. The neighborhood quickly popularized and once again the upper class of Manhattan began moving back into Park Slope. However this time Park Slope has a wider variety of housing types as many small apartments and condos still remain and many units are stabilized rentals, allowing a good number of working and middle class residents to continue living here.
From an urban perspective this is likely one of American’s top 5 urban neighborhoods thanks to its proximity to the expansive Prospect Park, perfectly gridded streets, excellent subway and bike access & infrastructure, 30 min subway ride to Dwtn Brooklyn, Lower Manhanttan, and Midtown, great schools, top notch cultural & retail amenities, and several biz districts cutting thru the neighborhood (4th, 5th, & 7th Aves, 9th St, and Flatbush Ave). The biggest area for improvement is more racial and economic diversity. This can mainly be achieved through providing more affordable housing. In order to achieve this, the Park Slope Historic District regulations need to be loosening a bit to allow new denser development.
Click here to view my Park Slope neighborhood on Flickr
URBAN STRENGTHS:
* Excellent residential density at just over 60K residents.
* Convenient access to 3 NYC CBDs. 30 mins subway to Dwtn Brooklyn and 40 mins to Midtown & Lower Manhattan.
* Nearby perfect street grid besides a couple blocks on the southern edge of the neighborhood.
* Great public transit access with several subway lines servicing the neighborhood. Also outstanding bike infrastructure include many dedicated bikes lanes and several of them are protected. Great access to bike share stations as well.
* Park Slope is one of the safest communities in Brooklyn with only a touch of blight along Flatbush and 4th Avenue.
* Good ADA and Sidewalk in structure but a good 35% have outdated curb cuts.
* Excellent historic architecture. Really only a handful of American neighborhoods are better.
* Some modern-infill (especially along 4th Ave). Generally of very high urban quality except for a couple of blocks along 4th Avenue that still have some autocentric/industrial uses where Park Slope borders Gowanus.
* Solid tree canopy especially as one moved further from Gowanus.
* Good # of young families living here and pretty good age diversity.
* Excellent array of walkable schools including a good mixed of private & public and generally highly rated public schools. Also a good mix of elementary, middle and high schools.
* The massive Prospect Park itself provides Park Slope excellent and varied park amenities including the Brooklyn Botanical Garden and Prospect Park Zoo to name a few. Also several small parks within the neighborhood a community pool and the expansive Greenwood Cemetery to the south.
* Great array of cultural amenities including tons of bars, restaurants & cafes. several art galleries, several live music venues, a couple performing arts theaters, an Indie Theater, and the Brooklyn Museum, Barclay Center, and Botanical Gardens are nearby.
* Excellent retail amenities including several supermarket, grocerias, and co-ops, several drug stores, great # of boutiques/gift stores,/home good stores, several book stores and hardware stores, several gyms and tons of dessert joints, several bike shops and florists, tons of churches, 3 public libraries, a couple post offices, an ambulatory center is located within Cobble Hill and a major hospital and many doctor’s offices nearby. On the northern edge there is a Target & Marshall’s, Best Buy, Burlington, and many other stores in the Atlantic Terminal Mall.
* Good amount of rental product as well but also very expensive. Studios 2.5K-3.5K, 1-beds btwn 2.5K-6K 2-beds btwn 6K-7.5K. Some 3-beds. ranging btwn 4K-9K. Good number of rental stabilized units however and the number of rentals below 2K exceeds the # above 2K.
URBAN WEAKNESSES:
* Not great racial diversity and so so economic diversity but still a good # of rent stabilized units. Likely close to 50% of all units.
* A lot of for sale condo product but generally very expensive. A good number of studios selling anywhere btwn 250K-1M, an extraordinary number of 1-beds selling btwn 400K-3M. But most of these units sell btwn 400K-2M. 2-beds range btwn 650K-4M with most units selling btwn 850M–2.5M. Good # of 3-beds but very expensive ranging anywhere from 500K-5M with most product selling btwn 1.25M-3 M. A lot 4-bed product generally selling btwn 1M-7M. I saw some under market sales as well which makes me think there is likely a Community Land Trust operating in the Neighborhood on a small $ of units.
Evaluating our Urban Communities [with a focus on America] 