Nicer Areas in Prospect Heights

i say just walk around different times of the day to see which area feels safe to you.

What draws you Prospect Heights, as opposed to, uh, Somewhere Else? What are you looking for in the neighborhood, and what are you _not_ looking for? Well besides, the obvious, not getting knocked up the side of the head generally rates pretty highly on most people's scales.

kmascis wrote: Proximity and price are the draw, really. Looking for a decent sense of security and I am not looking to get harrassed. Also, looking for subways withing walking distance (2/3 or 4/5). Sounds obvious (as you have stated) but I really do not hope or want for much more.

as someone who recently moved into PH i actually considered most of the same things above...
what i found to be the best method for PH as far any area is to find a nice weekend mid-day (when the weather is decent enough for people to be outside in a t-shirt if not a light sweater) and walk around and note which areas are quieter and which aren't and where you feel comfortable and where you don't (this is something you can't describe.. you will just know obviously)
I actually ended up doing this a few times (checking out addresses of apartment rentals) and quickly eliminated areas i found to have the loud stereos blasting and lots of people constantly hanging out at the corner up to no good.... you may also want to walk out how far the subways are from the areas you focus on as well as the grocers and laundromats

you can also use a site like
http://www.rentometer.com/
which will give you good approx rates for what folks are paying at the buildings you are looking at...

Fjord wrote:

[I] quickly eliminated areas i found to have the loud stereos blasting and lots of people constantly hanging out at the corner up to no good

It really varies in PH on a street-by-street basis, especially when you get closer to Washington Ave. I am constantly amazed how quiet it is in my apt. and how loud it is just 1/2 block away....this changes in windows-open season, but really not that much.

One thing about PH—Very commuter friendly...

hence why i suggest you walk around yourself and check it out :P

Since my wife and I are buying a place, I've done a ton of research trying. For what it's worth, here's what we found out:

- Drugs. I heard a lot of rumors about drugs sales and drug corners, but according to Capt. Cody, who runs the narcotics division for the 77th Precinct, the cops have no active investigations on, for example, Washington Avenue. There are blogs that suggest that in the recent past Washington Avenue had people that would stand on the corner and sell, but that they have been pushed east. Other cops in the 77th said they have drug investigations on Franklin Avenue and Nostrand Avenue. That's just a few blocks away. Those avenues just got a bunch of new cops under the Impact Zone program.

- Property Values, restaurants, amenities. Gentrification is moving from Flatbush towards Washington. In the last two months Vanderbilt has been written up in the New York Sun for architecture and Time Out for restaurants.

- Muggings. Mostly kids or groups of kids without weapons hitting people and taking iPods or iPhones. A lot of the muggings on the Mugging Map are concentrated in most gentrified part of PH, near the subway stops, where the iPods are, and around Underhill Avenue.

- Underhill Avenue. There have been people shooting guns on Underhill Avenue. And there are a ton of people out with baby strollers on Underhill. And there's a really nice restaurant, Cheryl's, and a hipster bar and new bezillion $$$ condos loom over the whole thing. Underhill Avenue confuses me. Maybe the gunshots are rival real estate brokers shooting at each other…

Afternoons and early evenings after school there are tons and tons of kids hanging out on the southern end of Underhill and on the streets off Underhill. Now, I've had community development experts drive me around and point out drug dealers and they didn't look like most of the these kids. These kids seem too busy shouting nonsense at each other and playing rap music loud to focus on that kind of criminal activity. Maybe that's just me…

no dealers standing on corners on washington ave...
tell that to the guys I see almost weekly when I stop by the liquor store for Beer...

Liquor stores can't sell beer in New York.

Great post Prospectus!! I think that those are helpful comments. Especially those about Washington Ave. Sounds like you've done a lot of research on the neighborhood. Me? I just walked around and figured out where I began to feel comfortable, and defined my comfort zone.

You need to find where your comfort zone in PH begins and ends. I live near Grand Army Plaza, and I find the access to transit is terrific. I have the 2/3 for Downtown and the B/Q for midtown within about a five-minute walk.

Lincoln and Washington! That's my corner! I know a homeowner near that corner that dials 311 when she sees people standing around the corner or throwing dice there. She says the cops respond, typically in 10 or so minutes, and she's seen people arrested. The cops say that they've arrested people there, but they've only been catching folks for having open containers of alcohol and individual joints, at least according to Capt. Cody.

That said, walking around Lincoln and saying good evening or even just nodding to some of the old folks on the sidewalk, they seem an odd mix of surprised and gratified to be addressed respectfully. It's not like Fort Greene, another gentrifying African-American neighborhood I've lived. These seniors seem to have gotten cricks in their necks from just keeping their heads down…

edited down because i'm talking too much...

Okay—I think I got defensive about my corner. Here's what I meant to say about Lincoln and Washington. Not long ago, everyone seems to agree it was a drug corner. Now it's possible to find lots of sane, intelligent-looking people who live there or near there and say that it's not a drug spot, even though others like hoosierfan and silverager say drug stuff still goes on.

Drugs are everywhere in nyc,

yes, but they aren't sold on street corners everywhere in nyc

So in a sense it is the same people that complaint about crime and drugs who are fueling it..

nice theory. so before the 20-something newcomers, drug dealers must have had a hard time making a living.

I know a homeowner near that corner that dials 311 when she sees people standing around the corner or throwing dice there. She says the cops respond, typically in 10 or so minutes, and she's seen people arrested. The cops say that they've arrested people there, but they've only been catching folks for having open containers of alcohol and individual joints, at least according to Capt. Cody.

hate to break it to you, but this isn't what stops drug trafficking. dudes that matter aren't standing on the corners with their pockets full of drugs.

I think the point the poster was making was that as the people who were living in this neighborhood for years move out, the logic would be that the drug dealers would see a decrease in their customer base. However, those customers that are being displaced because they are being priced out of the neighborhood are being replaced by the newer and whiter 20-somethings who are purchasing coke from the corner dealers. The irony is these are the same folks that are complaining about crime in the neighborhood.

so you think the "newer and whiter 20-somethings" are buying coke from corner drug dealers on the street? i find that highly doubtful. "um, excuse me, do you deal drugs? you do? can i have some coke? thanks!"

and it's already been established that the majority of the people complaining about crime at community board meetings are longtime residents.

homeowner wrote: I think the point the poster was making was that as the people who were living in this neighborhood for years move out, the logic would be that the drug dealers would see a decrease in their customer base. However, those customers that are being displaced because they are being priced out of the neighborhood are being replaced by the newer and whiter 20-somethings who are purchasing coke from the corner dealers. The irony is these are the same folks that are complaining about crime in the neighborhood.

This is someplace that I would like to see what KWAC or Barney Fife has to say. Calling Car 54. I have a hard time believing that it is the newer and whiter 20-somethings that are keeping the drug trade alive in the neighborhood. Which isn't to say that I think new white 20-somethings are some wonderful being or something, just that it isn't the drug scene that I've witnessed. At all.

King without a crown wrote: I have never seen Coke confiscated off a drug dealer in Crown nor Prospect heights. I wouldn't be surprised if some gentrifiers purchased Marijuana from these guys, but coke I have yet to see.

really? I've seen tons of coke trade in this neighborhood since I moved here - way more than MJ. not that I'm disputing your assertion - I just have seen a lot of it. not recently - not in the last year or so. but before then the shit was everywhere. and the dealers were all from PH/CH/BS.

you might also check out this site:

http://www.zilpy.com/US/New_York/New_York_Metro/New_York

It give you demographics data as well a good overview of rent distribution in the area.