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Welcome to the neighborhood. As a long time resident I would like to add to your comments.
"-it is EASILY the safest neighborhood in our price range (eastern bed stuy was in our price range a few months ago and is now not but that was the main other choice). want a crime rate comparison? just look at trulia crime maps for brooklyn. the difference is pretty plain."
A lot of people like to make assumptions about whole neighborhoods, East New York does have some "bad" areas but even then it's nothing like it used to be and has come a long way, sections like Cypress Hills has always been better since its more residential. If you were here in the mid 90's you would laugh at people when they say the area is "bad".
"-there's some beautiful houses in the neighborhood, many with parking/garages"
and many more whose outward appearance do not look like anything special are actually historic houses covered under vinyl siding or permastone. If more people in the area had the knowledge or financial means to restore facades or just remove the vinyl siding the area would be a much more beautiful place. Theres a lot of diamonds in the rough especially in CH. If you haven't seen the site check the historic pictures on http://www.tapeshare.com/ you'll see what some of those vinyl boxes look like under their wrapping.
"-the park/the Y"
also If you haven't also checked out Forest Park in neighboring Woodhaven, please do. It's just past the high school on Jamaica ave. make a left from Jamaica onto Forest Parkway, theres a good amount of victorians there but much like CH theres many more historic houses under vinyl siding if you know what you're looking at.
"-more of a sense of community/house pride than the other neighborhoods we looked at. every time we would wander the neighborhood, people would be out and about sweeping their stoops, painting or otherwise improving their house. people were out talking to each other too -- we didn't see a lot of that in other areas. it may be a new-ish phenomena in the neighborhood but it was definitely noticeable in comparison to other places."
The sad thing is this is what most of Brooklyn used to be like, it's just outsiders would just assume the ghetto didn't have this. I'm not going to fully blame gentrification because a lot of people abandoned these area for places like Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas. But the new rezoning does worry me a little if this neighborhood does change like the rest of north Brooklyn.
I have memories of waking up early during the summer and riding my bike around as the neighborhood is just waking up and feeling like I was almost in the suburbs.
"-great mix of people/nationalities"
Yes, On my block alone we have Jamaicans, Panamanians, Bangladeshi, Colombians, Ghanaians, Trinidadians , Dominicans, Guyanese and Puerto Ricans. We have Hindus, Muslims,and Christians. Hopefully the diversity can be preserved.
So in the end, there was really no comparison to us. We landed with a beautiful home whose owners had loved it and were just ready to move on after raising a family there.
We hear that it won't be all that quiet come summer and or course it is not perfect, but it really made a lot of sense to us.
I think you guys made a great decision and you'll love the neighborhood, just talk to your neighbors and they'll look out for you. Even just a head nod or "good morning" goes a long way, I think newcomers often forget this. It won't be quiet in the summer but not necessarily in a bad way. You'll just hear a lot of music and there will be loud block parties, but it's a heavily Hispanic and West indian neighborhood so culturally we don't see an issue with it. Kids still play in the street in East New York so you'll see/hear a lot of that, maybe become a "stoop lookout" if you have kids, often times people will stop to chit chat. Come summer you'll love the fact that Rockaway beach is a 20 minute drive away.[/quote]
Thanks, I think this is a great picture of CH. The rezoning and development is worrisome for sure. People are already struggling here and there aren't many places left to go in NYC. Yeah, the neighborhood needs revitalization but don't want to see people displaced, it needs revitalization with the CURRENT community in mind. We need to push to have a say in the changes coming, got to get involved.
I never understood those people who moved into a neighborhood and didn't say hello to people or frequent local businesses. It's just the nice thing to do -- and good advice to people who (strangely) don't think of it. we also asked the sellers if they knew of anyone on the block who would need help shoveling snow etc.
The pace at which the change is happening in CH is startling even for someone new to the area -- we started looking there seriously in september/october 2014 and things seemed to be sitting on the market for a while -- we bid on another house then and didn't feel any time pressure or competition. the real estate agents seemed happy that anyone would be looking.
but by the time we got down to final negotiations in late november/early december on the house we did buy, there were apparently multiple bids and a ton of interest. the house we bid on initially also went into contract soon after too--the owner was asking a fortune for it, was sticking by his price, and it wasn't that special at all.
and the real estate agent and sellers all mentioned that the people looking to buy recently were mainly north brooklyn people.
at some point i definitely want to PM the CH crowd here for their local restaurant picks and other necessities.
thanks again for the welcome and sage advice -- we can't wait to close and move in.
Welcome to Cypress Hills! Especially beautiful in this snow.
How much do houses go for in CH? I see a 5bed 2 bath near Norwood train stop for $150k? Is this for real? Needs work but still seems too cheap.
Being that empty lots go for the mid $100k's I doubt thats a real listing or it's a tear down for an investor.
CH has a big variety in housing stock so it all depends on the size and location,
Single family homes go for the high $300k-mid $500's, CH has some large victorian and brick homes that have larger lot sizes as well as smaller woodframe and brick rowhouses so the prices vary, multi family houses are going for mid $400 to high $600K's due to the rental income potential. Within a year or two they'll go for much more.
If it's the one on Hale ave. theres no way a brick detached corner property a block from Highland Park within walking distance to the train will go for that much. Even with the needed TLC it would still go for much more. It's in the most intact, quietest parts of East New York let alone Cypress Hills, I would be wary.
Being that empty lots go for the mid $100k's I doubt thats a real listing or it's a tear down for an investor.
CH has a big variety in housing stock so it all depends on the size and location,
Single family homes go for the high $300k-mid $500's, CH has some large victorian and brick homes that have larger lot sizes as well as smaller woodframe and brick rowhouses so the prices vary, multi family houses are going for mid $400 to high $600K's due to the rental income potential. Within a year or two they'll go for much more.
If it's the one on Hale ave. theres no way a brick detached corner property a block from Highland Park within walking distance to the train will go for that much. Even with the needed TLC it would still go for much more. It's in the most intact, quietest parts of East New York let alone Cypress Hills, I would be wary.
thanks, i'll look into it. This thread made me check listings for houses in CH out of curiosity and I've been surprised how low the prices are.
Also see a 3 family near the shepard ave C train for $300k and its nicely renovated.
Has Cypress Hills always been considered a separate neighborhood from the rest of East New York? How long has it had its name?
You have City Line also. I've always thought of both as being somewhat separate nabes from ENY. They are more similar to nearby Queens nabes than the other nearby Brooklyn nabes.
It's quite distinct and a notable percent of locals will call the area CH over ENY.
We can break ENY into 4-5 areas really. CH is north of Atlantic ave and serviced by the J train. We also have City Line, The Hole, Spring Creek.
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