funcrusher3000

Bay Ridge is a really excellent middle ground between a classic, homely Brooklyn neighborhood and a 'trendy' Brooklyn neighborhood (i.e Park Slope, Carroll Gardens). Bay Ridge has quite, tree-lined blocks, some with detached victorian homes, some with brownstones, some with charming pre-war buildings. It also has bustling avenues (3rd, 4th, 5th, 86th St), with both older mom & pop stores and chains like CVS or Five-Guys burgers and Starbucks. The restaurants here absolutely phenomenal...from sports bar fare to Mediterranean food. You can find any kind of cuisine you want in Bay Ridge and it is full of old staples and newer modern establishments, (favorites are Gino's for Italian, Ho-Brah for Mexican and Tanoreen for Mediterranean).

I noticed that Bay Ridge has been rated 'not good for nightlife' on this site. This sort of perplexes me, as Bay Ridge has the most Bars per capita out of any Brooklyn neighborhood. Many Bars in Bay Ridge are very popular and packed on weekends (Kettle Black, LoneStar, Wicked Monk, Trace). For a south Brooklyn neighborhood, Bay Ridge actually has a ton of nightlife.

My only real gripe with Bay Ridge is parking. It's not nightmarishly bad, but still quite an annoyance. Most people have cars here and it shows. If you live in the 70s and 80s, between 6th-3rd avenues, you will have a very hard time finding a spot after 6pm, even on the metered avenues. During the day time and mornings, parking is attainable. Parking gets better toward the 60s streets and closer to the shore, but is still relatively difficult.

I would also like to express my very strong objection to the idea that Bay Ridge is "far form civilization"....this is a total fallacy. Bay Ridge IS civilization, it's a well populated and lively neighborhood, which borders other urban neighborhood. To the north is Sunset Park, which is a diverse and densely populated urban/industrial area which borders Park Slope. To the East is Dyker Heights, which is admittedly quite and residential but still densely populated. Too add to that, Bay Ridge is serviced by the R train which connects to the N express at 59th st (1-4 stops away depending on where in Bay Ridge you live), from 59th, it's a mere 20 minutes to Manhattan. 30-40 minutes gets you to Union Square from Bay Ridge, which I think is very comparable to many trendier neighborhoods.