karyns

I moved to Brownsville because the apartment I found (on Grafton Street) was relatively close to the train, in what I thought was a quiet, residential area and dirt cheap considering what I was paying in Crown Heights. The apartment itself had all the amenities and I was sold on the idea of an up-and-coming neighborhood I could grow with. The reality was quite different. There are no bars, restaurants or nightlife here - its not a matter of adding some, its that the poverty is so entrenched. Even if your personal living space is nice, you will be a hostage in it. This is a depressing, ugly place. There is no art here or culture, per se. That is not a disrespect to the people who live there, its just the reality. Don't believe the realtors - they are absolutely lying. There is no "development boom" right around the bend. And there will be no great neighbors or up and coming social scene. Just block after block of poor, discouraged, depressed people who don't talk to you except to treat you as an annoyance. Lastly, my apartment was robbed while I was at work one day. My roommates and I felt it wasn't the neighbors and that it was maybe the uber-skeevy landlord or the super, who both told us about a string of other robberies that nobody we asked had heard about. In short, there are too many other neighborhoods to choose from in NYC to move here. Don't believe what you read on the realtor websites or what the realtors tell you. I don't have any children to say anything about the schools but what I read in the papers do not pacify me. I would NEVER move here with a family, NO MATTER WHAT. Do your own due diligence and thoroughly research Brownsville, and move somewhere else.