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To live in, Park Slope. To visit once in a while, Coney Island (only b/c of the amusement park and the beach).
It's not too far out from all the businesses as other parts of Brooklyn. It has somewhat of a Manhattan feel to it. But it actually feels like a neighborhood you can live in. It's also not as pricey.
Prospect Park is nearby, which is like Brooklyn's Central Park. Prospect Hall is also in Park Slope. A major organic food co-op is based there, too. Don't forget about the Atlantic Center Mall (I'm not sure if it's in Park Slope (is it in Boerum Hill?); if not, then it's very close). Grand Army Plaza and Borough Hall are also pretty close.
The neighborhood is clean, friendly, and diverse. The distribution of races in the neighborhood as a whole is pretty even here. There are places in Brooklyn that usually have a clear majority (black, Jewish, Turkish, Middle Eastern, Polish, Russian, Chinese, etc.). Not this place.
For the most part, Park Slope is a neighborhood with a lot of upper class and middle class residents. It doesn't have city-housing (at least not as much) as other places in Brooklyn (i.e. Bed-Stuy, East New York). It's safe for the most part (like all places in NY it has crime, but usually there is nothing that looks too shady or so scary that you wouldn't walk alone at night).
And yes, Bensonhurst is heavily Italian-American from what I hear. There used to be a mafia presence there. I don't know if there still is. My mother said that people would be afraid to go there in the 80s (it was dangerous). Nevertheless, you can see Turks, Jews, and Russians around there, or at least in the surrounding neighborhoods. I don't think it's as Italian as it used to be. But I've only been around Bensonhurst; I've never actually walked through the neighborhood.
I grew up in Boro Park, on the flatbush side. Today if you're a modern orthodox jew or conservative Jew, you wont fit in cause of your wild lifestyle - its mostly all ultraorthodox jews now.
If I had a billion dollars and needed to live in Brooklyn, I think I would pick either Park Slope or Brooklyn heights. I think the slope is nicer in many ways, but cant beat the views from the heights houses on the promenade, I guess.
bensonhurst has a growing chinese population I think.
Park Slope, The Heights, Dyker Heights aside, there are pockets of really nice neighborhoods all over Brooklyn now. Look at Windsor Terrace, Kensington, Bay Ridge, DUMBO (Down Underneath the Manhattan Bridge Overpass - trendy), Williamsburgh, Carroll Gardens, parts of Red Hook. The list is almost endless.
I guess Park Slope is the nicest... Queens is more my shindig.
My favorite neighborhood is Brighton, but that's cause a large majority of my friends live there.
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