pounding pavement
Apartment searching in Brooklyn on Saturday ended up being one of the crappiest days of my life. Not knowing any better, I had chosen to look at 5 apartments in a poor neighborhood. I spent five glorious hours riding the subway and walking around in July heat only to arrive in various tenderloin-esque places in Park Slope. I always heard that Park Slope is a beautiful neighborhood, but no one ever mentioned that there's an ugly part of it too. After that day, I learned not to bother to look at the apartment if the neighborhood was anything less than safe.
I arrived home drained and in despair. I'd dealt with blood sucking landlords and dilapidated apartments renting for $1400.
The second day was supreme
The first apartment was alright. Better but not ideal neighborhood (i.e. quaint, but no cafes, young people, pubs, shops, etc.). The apartment was also decent--clean, spacious, but a little old. The landlord was very sweet. But no dice.
The second apartment was great. It was in the middle of a Polish neighborhood (think Chinatown, but all Polish people, speaking polish, eating at polish restaurants, buying Polish groceries, and drinking at Polish taverns). I'd never seen anything like it before. The neighborhood is super clean, safe. The apartment is 2 blocks from a park and a catholic church. And the street between our block and the subway station is lined with shops, restaurants, delis, and most importantly, laundromats!
And there's even a polish tavern at the corner of my block. I always wanted to live near a pub of some sort. Best of all Williamsburg is a 15 minute walk from home--access to the hippest street in Brooklyn--Bedford Ave. Our apartment was fully renovated and had cable in every room--perfect for us.
I decided to check out the last two places on my list that day, even if I had already fallen in love with the polish apartment. As i got off the subway, I saw another bad neighborhood sprawled out before me. Trash lining the sidewalks, houses in need of repair, no shops, cafes, or safety in sight. I called both appointments and cancelled them immediately.
I signed the lease for the place in Greenpoint last night. I managed to find an apartment in New York in 2 days. Not bad considering the average search takes 2 weeks.
