New (for me) Brooklyn

David and I rode our bikes around 4 of the historic districts, east and south of Prospect Park in Brooklyn on Sunday, and I was flabbergasted. It's full-on, Victorian suburbia in the middle of Brooklyn. It reminds me of parts of Chicago on steroids. It's insane. As I read more about it, I see that it's used in films and TV regularly because it could stand in for Any-perfect-town, U.S.A. The houses range from Greek Revival to High Victorian to French Provincial to Shingle Style to Neo-Georgian to crazy antebellum Southern. I couldn't believe this was Brooklyn:


The areas we actually went through were first Prospect Lefferts Gardens,with it's mix of English and French suburban terrace house streets, then Prospect Park South with its full-on in-TENSE mansions, and finally Ditmas Park and Fiske Terrace/Midwood Park which have more modest (but still HUGE) upper middle class detached, mostly Victorian houses. And the TREES!!! Old-growth TREES everywhere!

The area is bisected by a super cute street called Cortelyou Road which has 5 great little restaurants, one bar, a farmers market, an organic market, a co-op and more. I nearly passed out.

I could think of a couple of people that should move here immediately (you know who you are). The Q train is a five minute walk and then it's 45 minutes into midtown, during rush hour. This means you live on one of the best subways, in the city and simultaneously live in the suburbs (and I use this word in the best possible way).

Here are some more views of the four historic districts

Prospect Lefferts Gardens



Prospect Park South







Ditmas Park & Fiske Terrace/Midwood Park