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Thanks for the feedback, that's what I thought the general picture looked like but wanted to get any inside info I may not have. Love the area in general. bkthorp your description sounds like my experience living in the mission in SF in about 1993, and that was nice. But there's way more big bucks in CH than there was in those last remaining years of pre-boom SF.
Re safety map, interesting. I think it's worded well, specifically stuff like this: "...can be considered somewhat seedy depending on who you ask."
Overall, I think there are a lot of people "out there" who don't live in NYC, plus lots of people who do, but live in an "urban provincial" bubble, who don't see how the city has changed (for better/worse/both) since the 70s/80s.
One question might be how far down Putnam to the east of the putnam triangle does it get sketchy. I'd go down to Throop, but that probably depends on the person. I'd be interested in what other posters think is the eastern boundary before things are just a bit much for them.
One question might be how far down Putnam to the east of the putnam triangle does it get sketchy. I'd go down to Throop, but that probably depends on the person. I'd be interested in what other posters think is the eastern boundary before things are just a bit much for them.
In my recent visits, the area around the Nostrand Ave A/C is good, but I just didn't love walking from the Utica Ave A/C stop. Thing is, that's the stop for Stuy Heights, and that is an area everyone seems to love. I looked at houses around there, there are many lovely houses on beautiful blocks, it's true, lots of prideful homeowners, etc., and restaurants etc. Dunno, seemed kind of remote, and I'm also really really a late night person (i currently live in the east village and go to my 24 hour gym at 1 AM), and I wasn't loving it over by the park.
One thing to add is that "a bit much" or whatever is different if I'm just going to walk, hang out, visit someone there vs. live there. There are lots of places I'm not actually afraid to walk through or anything, even in the evening, that I just might not want to live there. Spoken as someone who had a bunch of guys cleaning fish on the sidewalk outside my house every weekend in the summer at one point. Plus I do like to be close to cafes and such since I work mostly from home these days. And I'd want to know if I have to get friendly with a bunch of folks doing regular business on my corner.
Another thing, as I mentioned above, is the subway station you get off at to get to where you live, what the vibe is around it.
In my recent visits, the area around the Nostrand Ave A/C is good, but I just didn't love walking from the Utica Ave A/C stop. Thing is, that's the stop for Stuy Heights, and that is an area everyone seems to love. I looked at houses around there, there are many lovely houses on beautiful blocks, it's true, lots of prideful homeowners, etc., and restaurants etc. Dunno, seemed kind of remote, and I'm also really really a late night person (i currently live in the east village and go to my 24 hour gym at 1 AM), and I wasn't loving it over by the park.
One thing to add is that "a bit much" or whatever is different if I'm just going to walk, hang out, visit someone there vs. live there. There are lots of places I'm not actually afraid to walk through or anything, even in the evening, that I just might not want to live there. Spoken as someone who had a bunch of guys cleaning fish on the sidewalk outside my house every weekend in the summer at one point. Plus I do like to be close to cafes and such since I work mostly from home these days. And I'd want to know if I have to get friendly with a bunch of folks doing regular business on my corner.
Another thing, as I mentioned above, is the subway station you get off at to get to where you live, what the vibe is around it.
I don't like Nostrand ave. To me it seems loud, crowded and dirty. I'm also a bit biased because the actual road is horrible with bumps and potholes and I hate driving down it. But yes it's important to understand how you feel walking from the subway to your place, especially at night. I always suggest the rule of three. Visit the place the time you normally get off of work, the time you normally come home from a night out on the weekend, and the time school lets out. If it's uncomfortable for you, probably not a good bet. I live across the street from a high school and was worried about it at first. But I tested things out with that "rule of three" and everything was comfortable for me.
Hey. My partner and I just moved away from Putnam Triangle after two years, and we miss it. We're two very non-threatening gay guys -- the sort of dudes who you'd home in on if you were looking to mug somebody -- and we had a great time there. The Putnam Grand is an excellent, friendly bar; Buka's a killer restaurant (though their cleaning chemicals can be funny-smelling); The Hill Cafe's handy to have nearby; the pet groomers are friendly There's the Brooklyn Victory Garden, the three grocery stores in four blocks, the sweet Yemeni kids at the bodega at Grand and Fulton, the pet groomers, the infinite awesomeness of Speedy Romeo -- there's a ton to love in that corner of the city.
That said, there do seem to be more drug addicts around the Triangle than I've seen in other post-gentrification parts of Brooklyn. They're not at all threatening. You will meet the lady who has, for the last two years, been trying to get together enough cash for a "bus ticket back to North Carolina." You'll meet the prostitute who's looking for "subway fare," and who occasionally gets in screaming matches with her -- boyfriend? pimp? I think I heard two such screaming matches over the last two years. That's 0.83 screaming matches per year, and they constitute the only blatant evidence I've seen of shadiness around Putnam and Grand. If you can handle that, you can handle Putnam Triangle.
Congrats on your new place.
Wait a minute I think I know the bus ticket lady! I had two incidents of pan handling in two years and I'm almost positive it was the same lady. One time it was the bus ticket story and the next it was that she ran out of benefits and the food stamp money doesn't come again until next week. What's funny is that with the benefit story she tried to appeal to my blackness by throwing out the "hey sister".
Also, there are quite a few gay couples and singles in my building. Like you said, if they are walking around comfortable without incident, I think the area is getting the green light for safety, or at least it's probably "much safer than you think".
In my recent visits, the area around the Nostrand Ave A/C is good, but I just didn't love walking from the Utica Ave A/C stop. Thing is, that's the stop for Stuy Heights, and that is an area everyone seems to love. I looked at houses around there, there are many lovely houses on beautiful blocks, it's true, lots of prideful homeowners, etc., and restaurants etc. Dunno, seemed kind of remote, and I'm also really really a late night person (i currently live in the east village and go to my 24 hour gym at 1 AM), and I wasn't loving it over by the park.
Probably it seems remote because Boys and Girls takes up the whole block across the street. So at night time it is pretty dead around there, hardly any pedestrian traffic. There's no stores over there either when you use that exit. Also majority of people who use that train station don't use that exit. Most people use the Malcolm X/Fulton Street exit.
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"The man who sleeps on the floor, can never fall out of bed." -Martin Lawrence
One question might be how far down Putnam to the east of the putnam triangle does it get sketchy. I'd go down to Throop, but that probably depends on the person. I'd be interested in what other posters think is the eastern boundary before things are just a bit much for them.
When my partner and I lived off of Putnam Triangle, we were on Lefferts Place, between Classon and Grand. This summer we moved onto Putnam Avenue itself -- we bought a house between Marcus Garvey and Lewis, across from the Sumner Armory.
We were nervous about heading into deep Bed-Stuy at first, because our experience had previously ended at Nostrand. Before we knew better, we were afraid to go farther -- it seemed like every block closer to Nostrand we got, the streets became noisier, and the more there was an atmosphere of something like suppressed violence. The number of desperate people seemed to go up dramatically, and there were a lot of hustlers. I saw some fights.
But we were house-hunting and getting desperate, and curiosity eventually sent us further east. There, we discovered the craziest thing: just east of Marcy, the trend reverses. The vibe mellows, the streets clean up, and by the time you get to Lewis or Stuyvesant, you're in the middle of an area that looks and feels very much like the quieter, prettier bits of Fort Greene or Park Slope, but with a friendlier, neighborhoodier atmosphere.
As another poster pointed out, there is less to do out here than there is in Clinton Hill, or in the more western bits of Bed-Stuy. For non-junky eating, you're pretty much limited to Saraghina, Peaches, Beso, Celestina, Little Brother, and the tapas at Therapy Wine Bar and Marcus Vineyard. You've got just four or so good bars, and no good grocery stores. But the tradeoff is nice. I'm still stunned by how pretty everything is, and how conversational the neighbors are. The walk from the the Utica exit at Fulton Park is longish, but pleasant-bordering-on-sublime (even at 1:30 a.m., when I tend to get home from work). Just a really sweet neighborhood.
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Funny you should ask!
