Brooklyn --> Maplewood

Since my family and I started looking to move from Brooklyn (Boerum Hill) to Maplewood, all we have heard is how so many just like us are making the very same move. Well, we finally made the leap and have been in Maplewood for almost a week. Are there actually other recent BK transplants out there? Brooklyn had so many great things to offer, and now we just have to find the same in Maplewood. We're looking to meet some other good people who are also relatively new to the area, or have been around for a while. Perhaps with a little one around the same age (almost 2).

Welcome. Park Slope ex-pats with 3-year-old daughter here. Once the weather gets warmer, I may start up a Sunday morning playgroup at Borden Park again. PM me your info and I'll put you on the email list.

Welcome! We've been here for 15 years from Park Slope. You will have some adjustments to make. But you will find the people here friendly and outgoing. You will find more people out when the weather gets better.

I am relatively recent, from Jersey City by way of Brooklyn. There are lots of us city-folk - in fact, two of my close-by neighbors are from Brooklyn and I have met plenty of others who made the same migration. We have a 15-month-old as well!

Not Brooklyn, but close enough. Manhattan -> JC -> Maplewood and we have a 13 month old as well. We have been here for a little over 2yrs.

We moved to South Orange directly from Manhattan (Columbia area) 3 years ago, but we lived in Forest Hills before that and Park Slope when we were first married! We have a 3.5-year-old.

Welcome to Maplewood! We moved from Cobble Hill a year ago in April. We have a 2.5 year old and I'm part of a pretty active moms group here with kids around that age. Please feel free to PM me if you'd like to get together sometime!

We've been really happy here--maybe it's because we were both ready to be done with cramped city life, but it didn't take long at all for us to adjust. Our kid adjusted immediately--SO MUCH SPACE to run! I think my favorite part (which you'll really appreciate once it gets just a bit warmer) is being able to go outside with your kid without a PLAN--a stroller, snacks, extra diapers, the walk to the playground..... my kid spent a lot of time outside last summer in a diaper with no shoes and played with rocks and dirt, and it was such a welcome change from the rigamarole of just "going outside" in Brooklyn.

mdmargul said:

Since my family and I started looking to move from Brooklyn (Boerum Hill) to Maplewood, all we have heard is how so many just like us are making the very same move. Well, we finally made the leap and have been in Maplewood for almost a week. Are there actually other recent BK transplants out there?

You'll realize how funny this question is after you've lived here for a while. Pretty much anyone with young kids you meet you can start by asking "what neighborhood in brooklyn did you move from?".

And the answer is Park Slope more often than any other. This place has been called Park Slope West.

Welcome to town.

I've been here for over 30 years, but I grew up in Fort Greene if any of you newer Brooklynites came from that area! Would love to talk to you about it - our kids are all grown up, so won't be doing playdates!

You'll probably like the neighbors who came from somewhere else, also. (There are some of us who did NOT come from Brooklyn.)

We moved to SO from Flatbush a long time ago. We have a 50 year old and a 47 year old. And grandchildren.

I am most proud to say we moved to Maplewood from The Upper West Side, West 80th Street, in fact.

Half a block to Sarabeth's and a couple of short blocks to Zabar's and H&H Bagel.

Hard to top that but overtime, Sonny's, Tabachnik's Deli and other spots met the needs...

Best Regards,
Ron Carter
Now in East Orange, enjoying lower property taxes and The Secret Garden @ 377

Back when folk still lived in communes, my taller half lived for a bit in Ft. Greene, and then for many a year in Cobble Hill. There's no shortage of former Brooklynites here (I WAS going to say that you can't swing a dead cat without hitting someone from Kings County, but I'd get skinned alive by the feline fanciers from the Pets & Animals Forum). :-D

Welcome to the neighborhood!

petereg said:

mdmargul said:

Since my family and I started looking to move from Brooklyn (Boerum Hill) to Maplewood, all we have heard is how so many just like us are making the very same move. Well, we finally made the leap and have been in Maplewood for almost a week. Are there actually other recent BK transplants out there?

You'll realize how funny this question is after you've lived here for a while. Pretty much anyone with young kids you meet you can start by asking "what neighborhood in brooklyn did you move from?".

Cept'in for the cool kids they all hails from Souf Philly ... Passyunk yo.

Welcome!
We're from Dean Street in Boerum Hill to SO in 2005. We missed the Atlantic Antic, Moustache and Brawta but we quickly found worthwhile replacements right around the corner from our new house. Rest assured, you landed in the right place- plenty of room for improvement like anywhere else, but we can't imagine calling another place home. Spring and summer is great here lots of kids and lots of activities. You'll find a little of everything and everybody right in these two towns and that's perfect for us. Hopefully you too.

Welcome! I'm from Brooklyn Heights, but more recently moved here from the Upper West Side. We now live in Maplewood with our 27 month old twins. My parents are still in Brooklyn and we're there all the time with the boys (they love driving into the city!). Feel free to send me a message if you want to chat about local activities, groups, places to hang out, etc.

Interesting, very interesting...

My daughter Erin left Maplewood to go to college in New York, lived in the lower East Side, and two years ago moved to Sleepy Hollow, NY. Three months ago she told me how much they missed and loved the city. They sold their house and two weeks ago they moved from 3,000 sq.ft. house on the Hudson, back to 1,000 sq.ft. along the East River to a Coop called the Arches at Cobble Hill...

BTW, they have a one year old and a three year old, are selling their car, and loving life again, so they say... Go figure. LOL

mdmargul said:

Are there actually other recent BK transplants out there?

=)

In response to rcarter31 and ajc,

I grew up on the upper west side. My wife and I are moving back to Manhattan this year, this time to Greenwich Village. We'll be listing our house for sale some time this spring or summer. I've been in Maplewood for ten years and in New Jersey for 26 years. Hmm, 26 years is exactly half my life now.

Moved from Carroll Gardens (Clinton Street) to Maplewood, 2004.

Welcome.

petereg said:

mdmargul said:

Since my family and I started looking to move from Brooklyn (Boerum Hill) to Maplewood, all we have heard is how so many just like us are making the very same move. Well, we finally made the leap and have been in Maplewood for almost a week. Are there actually other recent BK transplants out there?

You'll realize how funny this question is after you've lived here for a while. Pretty much anyone with young kids you meet you can start by asking "what neighborhood in brooklyn did you move from?".

So very true! My husband and I lived in Brooklyn for 14 and 12 years (respectively), and moved here late last summer with our 4-year old. There are tons of us in M-SO. It's totally a punchline.

And yes, much to our punchline chagrin, Park Slope was the last Brooklyn neighborhood where we lived. We also lived in Clinton Hill, Windsor Terrace, and Prospect Heights. My husband and I love(d) Brooklyn... we just didn't love what our smaller budget could've afforded there. (Brief summary: almost nothing.)

Another ex-Park Sloper here. We moved moved here in '07 and have two boys soon to be 2 and 5 years old. I also lived in Sunset Park, Williamsburg and the Kensington area. Even though I am a Brooklyn native I just couldn't see raising kids in an apartment, schlepping strollers up and down stairs, etc.

we moved here from the corner of smith and bergen (right above the dunkin donuts) just about two years ago. we have 18-month-old twin girls.

we love it here, welcome!

This doesn't answer your question directly, but until the weather is warm enough to explore all the local playgrounds, you might want to try story time at all the local libraries. And the YMCA has an open play gym class for that age. I've met a lot of people from Brooklyn in all of these activities, and of course just locals with small children in general.

It's already warm enough to go to a playground. At least if you're dressed well enough, it is.

Brooklyn born, Sunset Park, Park Slop and all over Bay Ridge, have yet to meet anyone I know here in Maplewood, been here 14 years.

With a family it's easier but man, some of you who left Brooklyn for this place must get homesick. I mean, Jersey is OK but it sure ain't Brooklyn! If you don't believe me, ask the Nets!

petereg said:

mdmargul said:

Since my family and I started looking to move from Brooklyn (Boerum Hill) to Maplewood, all we have heard is how so many just like us are making the very same move. Well, we finally made the leap and have been in Maplewood for almost a week. Are there actually other recent BK transplants out there?

You'll realize how funny this question is after you've lived here for a while. Pretty much anyone with young kids you meet you can start by asking "what neighborhood in brooklyn did you move from?".

Yep. Made the move (from Windsor Terrace, and before that Greenpoint, and before that the LES, and before that the UWS) now 8 years ago. Wow time flies.

Some folks around me (here in S. Orange) call Bk and the UWS "the old country" as there are so many of us immigrants.

FWIW, I don't miss Brooklyn much at all. But then I get into The City a lot for work. I am a little jealous of folks who live there now, now that it's all a lot nicer particularly along the East River.

We met a bunch of folks when our kids were in daycare and preschool at the YMCA. Still friends with lots of them.