Park Slope has long been considered one of the best places to live in New York City, well before the world’s crazy crush on Brooklyn. This leafy, lively neighborhood in western Brooklyn boasts both urban and small-town charm, good public schools, easy access to green space and public transit, historic architecture, and lots of wonderful bars and restaurants.
The boundaries
Park Slope got its name from its location on the western slope of Prospect Park. With Prospect Park West as its western edge, the neighborhood runs east to Fourth Avenue, with the Prospect Expressway as its southern border and Flatbush Avenue as its northern edge. Fifth Avenue and Seventh Avenue are its main commercial streets.
"There is a North Slope, a South Slope and a Center Slope," said John Mazurek, a longtime neighborhood resident who is also with the Mazurek Team at Douglas Elliman. "People generally want to be in the center of Park Slope."
Price range
One-bedroom condominiums are in the $500,000 to $700,000 range, Mr. Mazurek said. Three-bedroom, three-bath condos go for $3 million to $3.5 million "for the really nice ones," he said.
In the townhouse market, it’s hard to find anything under $2.5 million to $2.7 million and those "would be needing work," said Judith Lief, an agent with the Corcoran Group who has lived in the neighborhood for 33 years.
Two-bedroom co-ops and condos go for $800,000 to $900,000, up to $1.2 million, she said. For studios, "it’s hard to get anything for less than $400,000."
In the rental market, rents for townhouses can go up to $20,000 a month.
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Housing stock
The vast majority of the housing stock in Park Slope is brownstones that are about 120 years old. You’ll also find Federal-style brick buildings, too, and some made of carved limestone.
Typically, the brownstones are 20 feet wide and 50 feet deep, on a lot that’s 100 feet deep, Ms. Lief said. The closer to Prospect Park, the grander the building, with architectural details like carved front doors, tall windows, decorative plaster and ornate ironwork.
In the South Slope, you’ll find a few 19th-century frame houses with front porches and a passageway to a backyard and possibly an outbuilding that may have housed a business or repair shop, she said. Also, new buildings have been going up around Fourth Avenue in the last 15 to 20 years.
"Fourth Avenue doesn’t have the stigma it used to have," said Mr. Mazurek, noting that several high-rise buildings with luxury condos are in the works on this rapidly changing avenue.
What makes it unique
Park Slope residents have easy, ready access to the 585-acre Prospect Park, Brooklyn’s largest park and one of the true jewels in the city’s parks system.
"We have a beautiful, functional park, access to many subway lines and buses, a strong public school system and commercial streets with a lot of individually owned stores," Ms. Lief said.
"We have sidewalks and stoops where people can sit and interact with their neighbors," she added. "It’s a very active community. It’s a neighborhood of community-aware people, not just politically aware."
The neighborhood is quite near some of the borough’s premier cultural offerings, including the Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn Botanic Garden and the Brooklyn Academy of Music.
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Luxe amenities
"Park Slope has become the place for all the hot restaurants," Mr. Mazurek said.
Neighborhood favorites include Talde, which serves pan-Asian fare from chef (and "Top Chef" alum) Dale Talde; Convivium Osteria, a Mediterranean tavern in a farmhouse setting with a wine cellar and garden; Blue Ribbon Brasserie, a New American spot with an oyster bar and a late-night menu on weekends; al di la Trattoria, which offers Venetian fare in a rustic setting; and Stone Park Café, a New American restaurant with the expected local and seasonal ingredients.
The neighborhood also has lots of art galleries, bakeries, gyms, health clubs, spas, and yoga and Pilates studios.
"Norman and Jules toy store is the quintessential Park Slope store," said Mr. Mazurek. "Focused on kids, it features colorful handmade toys and baby accessories made from sustainable materials."
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Clay Pot is a neighborhood institution, he said. It’s known for its upscale home gifts and artisanal jewelry–it’s where he got his wedding ring, "a rough hewn gold band made by a local artist."
Fig offers contemporary men’s clothing. Bird has hip, upscale apparel and accessories by a range of designers.
Sterling Place has eccentric gifts, antiques and custom furniture. "The owners curate the shop, looking for interesting items you won't find anywhere else," Mr. Mazurek said.
Private schools in the neighborhood include St. Francis Xavier Catholic Academy, Poly Prep Country Day School, and Berkeley Carroll, which has about 900 students on four campuses throughout the neighborhood.
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Who lives there
This is a very family-friendly neighborhood with a horde of celebrities, writers, artists and academics (more on those below) as well as doctors and lawyers and people in finance.
In the 1960s and ’70s, lots of young families, many of whom were active in the civil rights movement, moved to Park Slope, buying up brownstones for tens of thousands of dollars and refurbishing them, Mr. Mazurek said. "A lot of those folks are still here. There is a civic-mindedness here that still exists."
"It’s a fairly erudite crowd," he said.
Notable residents
Where do we start? Emily Blunt and her husband, John Krasinski recently bought a historic brownstone in Park Slope. They join New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (who’s temporarily relocated to Gracie Mansion in Manhattan), Sen. Chuck Schumer, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Peter Sarsgaard, Patrick Stewart, Steve Buscemi, and MSNBC star Chris Hayes.
Watch the video for Tori Mellott's tour of Park Slope neighborhood
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Outlook
In general, there is a lot of money flowing into the neighborhood these days.
"Most of the deals I do here, if they’re not all cash, people are putting at least 40% down in cash," Mr. Mazurek said. He remembers in 2008 when he started selling real estate and you could get a good-sized brownstone in Park Slope for $2 million. That same building would go for $5 million to $6 million today.
On the downside, "as prices go up, it rules out certain kinds of people who can live her and it reduces diversity," Ms. Lief said.
Mr. Mazurek predicted that the "housing stock will be firm here for a while. If you own a property here, that will be a secure investment for a long time."
Ms. Lief agrees. "As long as you have interesting restaurants and stores and strong public schools, people will come."