Pleins feux sur le quartier : Acheter à Carroll Gardens

More than a “French town”, it is a Brooklyn dream for “bobos” that come to find the newcomers of the neighborhood. An excellent compromise between the proximity of Manhattan (20 to 30 minutes by metro), the animation of the many local bars and restaurants, and the quiet residential streets just steps away.

 

Never has any neighborhood in New York gathered enough French people to deserve the nickname “little France”. This unbearable injustice is about to be repaired: more and more, this corner of Brooklyn appears in the American media as “Little France” or “Little Paris”.

 

French Neighborhoods in Brooklyn

Rest assured: if the idea of ​​finding yourself between French New York does not seduce you, we are still far from the French colony, except the Sunday after July 14, “Bastille Day” as said here. That day, Smith Street turns into a giant petanque ground and aniseed drinks flow afloat.

The rest of the year, the Gallic footprint remains light, but it is true that the three small contiguous neighborhoods of Boerum Hill, Cobble Hill and Carroll Gardens (often gathered under the acronym BoCoCa) show a sweetness of life European which in largely explains the recent success.

 

Carroll Gardens

More than a “French town”, it is a Brooklyn dream for “bobos” that come to find the newcomers of the neighborhood. An excellent compromise between the proximity of Manhattan (20 to 30 minutes by metro), the animation of the many local bars and restaurants, and the quiet residential streets just steps away. Carroll Gardens takes its name from the small gardens that stretch out in front of the houses in some streets. During the development of Brooklyn, about 1850, an urban planning rule imposed gardens of at least 33 feet (about ten meters) in front of the houses in a certain number of streets. Since then, the President Streets and other First Places conceal magnificent “front yards”, usually maintained by passionate homeowners. Around Halloween and end of year celebrations, many are illuminated with splendid decorations.

The gardens have been there forever, but until about fifteen years ago, the reputation of this Italian-American neighborhood was … mixed. All this has changed a lot. The sweetness of life is real; public gardens and other parks attract families in large numbers, as well as the nearby recently refurbished Brooklyn Bridge Park piers, which offer an endless playground for families, with a never-ending view of the skyline.

 

French Education at P.S. 58

But most of all, at the heart of “gentrification”, there are local public schools, including PS 58, Carroll Gardens Elementary School, which offers a renowned French-English bilingual program. The zoning is very strict in New York at the primary level, you have to be in the all-zone PS 58 to be able to enroll your children.
Another school that attracts expatriates is the International School of Brooklyn, a trilingual private school (English, French and Spanish).

The pressure on the “townhouses” of charming “First Place” or President Street is therefore considerable and they continue to snatch at prices often exceeding 3 million dollars. The demand is very strong and strict planning rules prohibit the construction of towers that have sprung up nearby, in downtown Brooklyn. As a result, available inventory remains very low and prices continue to be very good.