To better line up with the NYC Times Neighborhood survey I extend Prospect Slopes eastern boundaries to Grand Avenue. The neighborhood name Prospect Heights can be traced as far back as 1889. The neighborhood is a small sliver between the larger neighborhoods of Park Slope to the West, Clinton Hill to the north, and Crown Heights to the east. In general the interior portion of the neighborhood consists mostly of brownstone-style residential rowhouse buildings built mostly in the 1890s and blocks just north of the Eastern Parkway and south of Steering consist of a solid blocks of larger multi-unit apartment buildings built in the 1910s and 1920s. A prosperous commercial district developed along Vanderbilt Ave, which cuts through the heart of the neighborhood. Prospect Heights became a diverse ethnic neighborhood in the 1910s through the 1960s, combining Italian, Irish, Jewish, German, and  Greek residents. After WWII Prospect Heights welcomed a large number of African Americans and Caribbean immigrants as the neighborhood became a spill over for these populations from neighboring Crown Heights, Clinton Hill, and Bed Stuy. Since the 2000s Prospect Heights has been on a gentrification track as residents seeking lower rent spilled over from the affluent Park Slope and Clinton Hill neighborhoods. The neighborhood currently has a decent mix of black and white residents and still hosts the famous West Indian Day Parade.  Thanks to the resident gentrification there are a good number of quality in-fill condos and apartments especially along the neighborhood’s northern and eastern edges. Defunct bakeries and factory spaces concentrated along the districts eastern edge are being renovated and converted into lofts. Along the southern boundary, Eastern Parkway, is Brooklyn’s version of Manhattans Fifth Avenue  “Museum Mile” as the Brooklyn Library, Brooklyn Museum, and Brooklyn Botanical Garden are all concentrated here.

From an urban perspective not much to complain about other than some autocentric uses concentrated along Atlantic, Grand, and Washington Avenues. As the gentrification process depends Prospect Heights is slowly loosing its racial and economic diversity. There needs to be strong attempts to built permanent affordable housing to keep the neighborhood’s rich diversity. Overall Prospect Heights is a wonderful urban neighborhood with one of Brooklyn’s densest populations, great access to several subway lines, great bike infrastructure, and convenient park, retail, and cultural amenities all within a 10 minute walk. Most of the stylish late 19th century brownstones remain, and the neighborhood hosts solid well rated walkable schools and a high level of safety.

Click here o view my Prospect Heights Album on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS:

* One of the denser neighborhoods in Brooklyn at nearly 70K people per square mile.
* Excellent public transit and great access to Dwtn Brookly and Lower Manhattan only 25-30 mins but subway and 40 mins to Midtown.
* Great street grid and connectivity throughout Prospect Heights.
* Some narrow sidewalks and missing ADA curbs along Atlantic and Washington Ave but overall great sidewalk infrastructure.
* Great bike infrastructure with several bike lanes and plenty of dedicated bike stations.
* Solid tree canopy esp. for such a dense urban neighborhood.
* Excellent urban architecture including attractive late 19th century brownstones still to Park Slopes and a lot of attractive urban infill, espeically along Atlantic and Washington Ave. Large more basic 1920s apartments near Prospect Park and more warehouses along the eastern border along Grand Ave.
* Overall a very safe community. Along a touch of blight along the eastern edge of the neighborhood along Washington and Grand Aves.
* Solid urban form and streetscaping.
* Great access to Prospect Park no more than a 8 minute walk from any portion of Prospect Heights. A couple smaller parks within the neighborhood and a private pool. Convenient access to the Brooklyn Botanical Garden and Zoo as well.
* Decent range of rentals although listed rentals are very expensive. Studios lease btwn 2.3K-3.8K, 1-beds btwn 3K-4.8K, 2-beds btwn 4.5K-7.8K, and plenty of 3-beds leasing btwn 4.5-8K. Good amount of the rental supply is dedicated affordable rentals or rent stabilized as 2/3s of rental product lease under 2K.
* Solid schools that are well rated but smaller and less umbiquitous than other surrounding Brooklyn neighborhoods.
* Great array of cultural amenities including tons of bars, restaurants & cafes. a handful of art galleries, several live music venues, a couple performing arts theaters, the Brooklyn Museum, and the Barclay Center, Botanical Gardens are nearby, and Brooklyn Academy of Music with a Cinema & several theaters are in walkable nearby areas.
* Excellent retail amenities many small and medium grocerias (no supermarekts within Prospect Heights), several drug stores,  good # of boutiques/gift stores,/home good stores, a couple book stores and  hardware stores, several gyms, a good # of dessert joints, a couple bike shops and florists, several churches, the main Brooklyn Library, a local post offices, several doctor’s offices and medical centers. On the northern edge there is a Target & Marshall’s, Best Buy, Burlington, and many other stores in the Atlantic Terminal Mall.

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

• Decent racial diversity. Less economic diversity as the neighborhood is pretty affluent.
• Some autocentric uses along Atlantic, Grand and Washington Avenues.
• Decent #s of family households her but also a disproportiant # of young adults.
• For sale housing is expensive but decent # of moderrately priced studios and 1-beds. Studios and 1-bed condos sell btwn 300K-1.3M, 2-beds range btwn 600K-2.6M, 3-beds btwn 850K-4M. A handful of 4-beds sell for more than 4M.”