Who is the Kensington buyer?

From the comments section...
The buyer for a Kensington apt or house is a person who wants more space for his/her dollar. They're probably not concerned with trendy areas but just want a safe, relaxed vibe of a hood to come home to...(they're also ahead of the curve in knowing that anywhere near Prospect park can only rise in value).

We certainly agree with this. When we were searching it was very important to us to be in a neighborhood that we felt safe in. We also wanted more for our money and were at a point where space was essential. An apartment further north for the same price was a studio or Junior 1 bed (unlike the 900 sq foot we got) in an area that was considered marginal or a very long walk to a train. We bike a lot so weren't concerned with fact that we didn't have a 7th Avenue like atmosphere. Actually we were thrilled to have a couple good grocery stores, pharmacies, hardware stores and laundry within a few blocks. That being said considering the influx of buyers and the changing demographic of the neighborhood many of our Kensington friends are surprised the area hasn't caught on to retailers.

Why is Church Ave continually ignored?

We can't help but be a little jealous after stopping by Cortelyou the other day and noticing it's new health food store. The food co-op on Cortelyou has been around for some time but other fun shops have opened recently making it the main drag on this end. Now a new health food store and a Connecticut Muffin to come! Why all the attention on that end? We know residents have worked for years and years to get these amenities and were successful in getting a green market and the recent re-development of their street complete with cobblestone sidewalks, benches and new trees.

Our side of Coney Island has been experiencing huge amounts of residential growth yet our main business strip continues to be ignored by retail and business. We're not quite sure why businesses flock to Cortelyou since the rents there don't seem so much cheaper then Church Ave rents. We recently found a VoxPop blast in the inbox with a 300 sq. ft. space for $1000 a month. That's approx $40 a foot which is in the range (if not a little more) of the current vacancies on Church Ave. Even with rents in this range we think Church Ave could do well considering how many residents would like a few little shops and restaurants plus we think there is great potential for day customers. Church Ave is within walking distance of five schools (IHM, PS230 Annex, PS 230, PS 130, PS 179), a post office, two bus lines that end pretty close to McDonald (so lots of MTA on break), and many residents working from home as well as a growing parent contingent.

We want everyone down on this end to do well but we're just wondering why businesses haven't discovered our little enclave? Wouldn't it make sense to put a health food store or a coffee shop on a block that doesn't already have one?

Brooklyn Paper Explores the Boom

Ten short years ago we remember calling friends who lived in Prospect Heights out of their minds. Later as we moved to Brooklyn as renters we felt lucky to have a park and bars close to the pad and a decent commute for a pretty measly monthly bill. As we grew up and saw the boom begin we were lucky enough to buy a place in a quiet sleepy neighborhood that allowed us to bike ride to those restaurants and still be close to work (we all actually work in Brooklyn now so have no commute complaints).

As our incomes have grown a bit and we've started to think of family and yard etc. we're realizing the dream here is harder to attain.... But it's not just in Brooklyn, those friends in the Heights just bought a house in Long Island that we think is nice but certainly out of the range we would want to pay. Many of our friends are starting their families in one bedrooms. We increasingly find ourselves envious of those who had the forethought to go a little over their means for a bigger place years ago. We're also a little surprised about the types of people moving into those hipper hoods we left behind (I didn't realize I-bankers wanted to be in Brooklyn!). Generally we love were we will and are happy those who surround us within our immediate community are similar to us in terms of priorities, community, etc.

We love it here and have no plans of leaving but often wonder depending on our next step were we will go... Even if we do make a good profit on this could we afford anything else close by that will have a little more space? An article in the Brooklyn Paper from Saturday explores Brooklyn's turn around and many of the individuals who made it happen. It also touches a bit on the concerns we're sure many of us share.

Brooklyn’s desirability is encouraging intense growth that brings more people, more cars and some of the very urban ills that borough residents hoped were in the past.


The drastic population influx could give way to Manhattan-style residential density. Love them or hate them, projects like Atlantic Yards and all the new residential towers in Downtown Brooklyn are happening because developers think there is a market for the thousands of units of housing and tens of millions of square feet of office and retail space.


Many of the people who “saved” Brooklyn can’t afford to live there anymore.

Who Saved Brooklyn? (5/19/07 - Brooklyn Paper)

Feelin' Jealous - We Want Green Day!

We try to stay hip to the happenings in and around the hood. We tend to notice lots of press on so called gentrifying "affordable" neighborhoods in Brooklyn that include us, Prospect Lefferts Gardens and well us and PLG. (Sorry but we just don't think a $1 million dollar brownstone in WT keeps out enough riff raff and those "Victorian" homes are obviously a bitch to heat). We keep tabs on the hood mainly b/c we know Mark and some of his buds from PLUS (Prospect Lefferts United for Services) have been organized for awhile now and like to know what is next and basically what we can emulate. Well today we saw this....Get Down and Dirty on Lincoln Road.

PLUS (and PLG residents) organized a planting event... We want a planting event, someone organize a freakin' planting event!!!! All of you people who said you wanted a greener Kensington well by gosh DO SOMETHING! We're in the mist of trying to get a tree and graffiti survey (and form sign up) thing to happen on Church, as well as keeping this damn blog going, and calling the parks department about maybe getting some evening events at Greenwood Playground. (Yes, we ARE patting ourselves on the back as we write this). Kensingtonians this is to you - don't just comment, organize to re-vitalize.

*Email us (kensingtonbrooklyn@gmail.com) if you want help organizing or the people to contact. And just so you know, we'd like to beautify Church Ave.(b/w Ocean Pkwy & McDonald). It needs it and there are plenty of empty tree 'spots' as well as the little dead one you see above in front of Friendlys.

Why Kensington is Good for Biz

We have to say although we've found the rents on Church Ave to be a bit outta whack for the hood our research has been limited. Friends in the real estate biz have reminded us that in commercial space there is always negotiation. Which brings us back to the lack of general fun sorts of amenities here Kensington. Sure, we can get our nails done, go to a diner for pancakes, eat some damn good samosas or get dishwasher liquid for 99cents but, if we wanna hang in a local joint all day w our laptop sipping tea we hop on a train. Yesterday we were craving some middle eastern and rode up to 7th Ave. Most weekend nights we hang with friends in Brooklyn but when we're doing stuff with local friends or have people come to us we generally stay in. There aren't too many places to go out to eat or to sit and have coffee or to even swig a beer (yes we've tried Dennys and it does have some panache!). Recently we had a long talk w a long time resident (just someone who found it affordable and easy to live here back in the late 90s). He said that he wasn't sure if a commercial biz would be able to thrive here and we totally disagreed. Here were our points.

1. In the last 3 years (since we've been here) although the neighborhood is maintaining is diversity and affordability it is also having a huge influx of people like us who are professional and getting priced out of the neighborhoods we rented in. (As an example our building was only 19% owner occ. when we moved in and now over 70% w 2 more on market). Many of us commute in and out to jobs further 'north' in Brooklyn or the city and want some stuff to do when we get home. Many of us have irregular hours and are looking at places to frequent while we work from home just to break up the monotony

2. Concern about the hours before 5pm is a tough call but we took a look around and noticed there are in fact a lot of people here during the day many of which are looking for a good place to grab a sandwich or coffee. Just within a 6 block radius there are five schools (PS 130, PS 230, PS 230 Annex, PS 179 and IS 62). Many of these teachers ride up to Terrace Bagels for their lunch. There is also a nearby train station (F at Church & F at Ft. Hamilton) as well as 3 bus lines. There has got to be at least a few MTA workers looking for lunch. We also have a Post Office (ahhh Kensington Post Office) and many commercial businesses down McDonald. Let's not even mention the truck traffic (they have to eat some place right?) or those construction workers from all the recent development. We also gather from the amount of babies we see being strolled around there are a ton of Moms and Dads looking for a meeting spot outside the nearby library or Greenwood Playground.

3. The selection is limited so a little diversification would probably get a lot of support. We already have a Thai place and still people seemed to flocked to Tonys this past week because it had sit down service. Besides now 2 Thai restaurants, we have 3 Chinese, 3 Mexican, 3 pizzerias, 2 Pakistani/ Bengali and 2 diners. (We're forgetting a few probably like Ambrosia but are they open these days?).

We're not sure what would do well, we sure know what we would like... Maybe something like the Windsor Cafe or an Olive Vine or a sandwich place with vegetarian selection and how about Cuban? We think a lot of people are just looking for a place to get out of their houses/apartments... did we tell you how many people we saw at Thai Tony's? The real estate market isn't changing any time soon in Brooklyn and as more and more people get priced out of trendier hoods they'll head here. While we frequent and love the places we have there are a ton of spaces available for rent on what are already bustling commercial strips. If you've got the capital and are looking for something off the beaten path that could eventually blow up as this hood gets busier we'd say negotiate and let us know for some free press.

This is not a *New* Concept

We saw this picture on Brownstoner today and it reminded us of the recent rumblings from some members of the community re: business diversification and improvements. Personally we don't like the word gentrify because of the implication but we are in favor of diversification.

Currently our main business has lots of the same (99 cent stores, bodegas, pharmacies, nail salons) yet lots of people who would like more. However, the more people we talk to the more we hear how important it is to maintain our roots. We think old and new business could co-exist and if the recent excitement over one little sit down Thai restaurant doesn't show you the need well I don't know what will...

Kensington is having a bit of a resurgence and not just because of all the new people moving in but because of the tenacity of the people who have lived here all along. All these neighborhood associations have been around for 20 plus years. So, whether you want a Starbucks or want it all to stay the same posting a simple comment here or on a local yahoo group is just a post... We challenge you to attend your local neighborhood association meetings and get involved in this community

Neighboring 'Hood Contemplates Gentrification

Across the Park and Planet PLG are blogs out of neighboring Prospect Lefferts Gardens. Both contemplated the neighborhood's hype and status yet still unrealized expectations...

ATP:

Why does PLG fly below the radar? Is PLG destined to be the perpetual "next" hot neighborhood? PLG, arguably, has been slower to develop than other Brooklyn neighborhoods - but why?

Hmmm... sounds kind of familiar. I think Kensington's been the next neighborhood since about '03 when the word started getting out that real estate was afforable and a short distance from 'fashionable' eating & shopping areas. Things have changed a bit in the last couple of years as prices on real estate have increased, along with the rest of NYC. We also contine to see many new faces on the streets and even recently begun spotting the swankiest stroller being wheeled down Ocean Pkwy.

SofP PLG:

Still, despite the surfeit of homes on the market -- and despite the fact that PLG seems to be the only neighborhood within a mile of the park where gorgeous single families can be had for between $900,000 and $1.25 million -- there remain many people who've never even heard of PLG...and meanwhile, broken-down brownstones much further from the park (and from transportation) and in more dangerous neighborhoods regularly command prices that are 20 percent.

Obviuosly Kensington doesn't have a ton of brownstones but the homes here are certainly in the range quoted above and many areas have tons of charm. Certainly we've had our influx and many newer residents have come together with older residents to make improvements on playgrounds, form a CSA, and partake in neighborhood associations yet we're still without a sit down restuarant (except for the diners), a coffee shop, or a wine store.

The reasoning...
ATP:

Slow rental turnover is probably another reason - most neighborhoods that have taken off, like Williamsburg (cited as an example by Mr/Ms. PPLG), are full of small buildings that are not subject to rent stabilization laws. We have a hunch it's new renters who generally bring new vitality to an area, as they're typically younger and less tied to their home by things like kids. Also, the first people to move into a transitional neighborhood (often leading the transition) are younger creative types. We hypothesize that without rental turnover, you don't get a whole lot of change.

Maybe we'll get those shops and cleaner streets with renters? Seems like lots of new developments are going rental and certainly the rents in Kensington along Ocean Pkwy and beyond are much more reasonable then all of North Brooklyn. Many of the people I know who do rent though are concerned if the neighborhood improves rents will go up and they'll be forced to move out even further. It seems you can never really win, right?

SofP PLG:

There's also the notion that PLGers like where they live, like they way they live, and don't particularly feel like cheerleading. The other evening, as five families (and their nine kids, all between two and ten) gathered on the sidewalk after work and before dinner, one of the fathers (a musician with two of the aforementioned kids), said that he often felt as if he didn't like New York...but that he loved PLG. It wasn't hard to understand what he meant. Many of the neighborhoods we've lived in -- from Williamsburg to Boerum Hill, from the Lower East Side to the West Village -- have gone from being vibrant and wonderful to being overrun and annoying...oftentimes within four or five years (less if said neighborhood is featured on the Sex and the City tour). Maybe the real reason PLG hasn't seen more wholesale change is as simple as the fact that the people who live there are happy with things the way they are...

Wow does this sound familiar!? Even with the garbage pile up on certain corners, Church Ave's cosmetic deficiences and lack of a coffee shop (which PLG has) lots of people love it here (me included) and don't see the need for things... I've heard lots and lots of rumblings about Kensington being just fine the way it is and if we want said coffee shop to hop on your bike (or the train etc) and go to one. Certainly the beauty is in the people and we have made many wonderful friends here. That being said I still would like a few things be a little different (as many of you would) while maintaining our roots but wonder... is it a real possiblity considering we're in a less popular district for our elected officials and the commericial rents (I've heard about) on our major commericial strips are as high as those popular districts.

Don't go changing to try and please me (Son of Planet PLG)
Born Again Blog Ponders PLG Popularity (across the park)