Brooklyn --> Maplewood

jai

Apr 25, 2013 at 7:08am

Gioamorim said:
Well, I would totally live there if I could afford it. I'm not saying South Orange and Maplewood aren't nice. you know, it was so pretty in autumn and now it's beautiful in spring here, people are nice and so on. I think I'm just an urban girl, wanna be among the crazy flow of people, ideas and noise

That used to be the case in the 90's but now it's just a bunch of boring bankers and hipsters, everyone "roaming" for the next big thing. Sorry don't miss the roaming herds, which btw one is beginning to see a lot of these days in SOMA.

SuzL

Apr 25, 2013 at 8:13am

H!
We're moving to maplewood in June from Brooklyn. Most recently from Park Slope, but previously lived in Windsor Terrace and Cobble Hill. We have 2 boys (2 and 4). Would love to meet up once we make it across the river!

Suzanne (who is very used to signing her name to all of her posts . . . )

RsMommy

May 7, 2013 at 5:37am

Welcome to the SoMa area, there are wonderful resources for families in this area - the pool, libraries and parks are always a hit. You can join the mothers & more chapter to meet other families. There is a holistic mom network as well that is smaller. There is a relatively new site that has many local moms called Momagama, I am a member and its a great resource as well (http://www.momagama.com).

Shoshana

Sep 6, 2014 at 8:59pm

It's interesting that when many people talk about "Brooklyn", they often mean "brownstone Brooklyn" or gentrified Brooklyn (northern Brooklyn).

To me, Brooklyn (which I love) is immigrant southern Brooklyn, where I am one of the few people speaking English on the street (Russian, Hebrew, Urdu, and Yiddish are more common, with a smattering of Chinese and Spanish), where the Indian-owned bodega on the corner sells Israeli candy bars and Jewish weekly papers, where in one block I pass (among others) a woman in a hijab, a sari, and a "Russian doll" type...

Tom_Reingold

Sep 7, 2014 at 7:23am

Shoshana said:
It's interesting that when many people talk about "Brooklyn", they often mean "brownstone Brooklyn" or gentrified Brooklyn (northern Brooklyn).

To me, Brooklyn (which I love) is immigrant southern Brooklyn, where I am one of the few people speaking English on the street (Russian, Hebrew, Urdu, and Yiddish are more common, with a smattering of Chinese and Spanish), where the Indian-owned bodega on the corner sells Israeli candy bars and Jewish weekly papers, where in one block I pass (among others) a woman in a hijab, a sari, and a "Russian doll" type...

Sho' 'nuf, it is an intensely diverse place, with a diversity that makes Maplewood look like total monochrome by comparison, and I mean that in more than ethnic colors, also economic and other kinds. My younger daughter now lives in Bushwick. I've visited her, passing through various neighborhoods. I've also various had reasons and occasions to visit Brooklyn. It's quite a place, exciting, boring, beautiful, ugly, everything.

I've ridden my bike many times now, in the past year, over the Queensboro, Williamsburg, Manhattan, and Brooklyn bridges. They all have their characters. The Brooklyn bridge is gorgeous in its construction and its views. It is immensely crowded, half or more by tourists. It's a bit of an annoyance, but it's also a thrill to breeze by people with inches of clearance as I move at over 20 mph. I ring my bell constantly to remind people to stay in the tiny, narrow pedestrian path and stay out of the tiny, narrow bike path.

The Manhattan bridge is all business. People there are going places. It's not beautiful, but it makes plenty of sense.

The Williamsburg bridge makes me want to yell "HAWD CAW!" So much fun. Lots of young people looking so hip and beautiful and smart.

Queensboro bridge: not a fan. Traffic sucks on the street on both ends. Bad memories of riding it in high school when there was no bike path. Scary.

Here is a set of pictures I took going to Bushwick and coming back one day this past July.

marcsiry

Sep 7, 2014 at 2:33pm

Tom, I don't know when you were ringing the Queensboro in high school, but I was riding it in high school in the early 80's and I recall having to ride over metal grating for most of the way, with an excellent view of the turbulent river hundreds of feet below. Also not a fan!

Tom_Reingold

Sep 7, 2014 at 4:04pm

@marcsiry, I graduated (from High School of Music & Art) in 1978. The Queensboro is not as bad any more, not at all. I don't know why, but the memories come back. This summer, I raced at Kissena Velodrome, and I rode out there from Manhattan most times. It's a rough ride, especially on a bike built to race on a track.

Here's my route from Aug 27. If you know Queens, you can picture the ride.

andresusan

Mar 31, 2015 at 2:17am

Dear Ex-Brooklyners, I live in a ranch in Orange in Upper Wyoming and we have to move unexpectedly . If you have friends that are looking to buy, I would be glad to show them our house. Yes, we have a real estate agent, but why not use my beloved SOMA Maplewood on-line? We renovated the house to live in, not to flip. Move in ready..really. If anyone is interested at looking at the house, contact me at glicksg@gmail.com and I can forward to the agent or show you myself etc. We wouldnt move unless we had too. Been here since 1996 and raised our kids here. Why? Because it is diverse and so like where I use to live...Berkeley Ca and other progressive places. We love the community and are sad to leave. But leave we must. The house has been loved by only two families, has endless storage and really, nearly all critical systems are new. Thanks for letting me intrude....

KarenMarlowe

Mar 31, 2015 at 2:21am

I was at an open house this weekend in South Orange--just looking--and the realtor told me that she had three families from the same apartment complex in Brooklyn looking at houses last week.

chopin

Mar 31, 2015 at 2:12pm

andresusan -- you mean SOUTH orange, right?

By the way, 10 or 15 years ago the NYT called SOMA the most gay-friendly suburbs outside of California. If that was a comparison to W. Hollywood and Berkeley, I guess that tells you something.

Sommerj

Apr 8, 2015 at 6:53am

nicoleewolee said:
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!

Hi all, especially nicoleewolee-- we also moved last July from Park Slope and have 18 mo. old twin boys as well as a 5 year old son. I'd love to do more playdates with other families who have kids that age, especially twins! We live on Prospect St, near Tuscan School, and have space to host, plus a fenced in yard. I have found the adjustment from Park Slope to be easier than I expected, like most people commenting here; welcome!

relx

Apr 8, 2015 at 7:32am

Sommerj said:
nicoleewolee said:
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!

Hi all, especially nicoleewolee-- we also moved last July from Park Slope and have 18 mo. old twin boys as well as a 5 year old son. I'd love to do more playdates with other families who have kids that age, especially twins! We live on Prospect St, near Tuscan School, and have space to host, plus a fenced in yard. I have found the adjustment from Park Slope to be easier than I expected, like most people commenting here; welcome!

We just closed on a house on Academy, a few blocks from the high school, and are moving from Fort Greene at the end of June, once our older son is done with K. @sommerj sounds like we are a perfect match, age-wise, as our oldest son is five, and our youngest is 19 months (sorry, only one of him). We should get together for a play date once we move--we have a fenced in yard too!

Shadeaux

Apr 8, 2015 at 7:44am

There are a few houses recently listed in the Clinton school area. This area has received a recent migration of Brooklynite families over the past few years, for any future Brooklyn folks that may be lurking.

plungy

Aug 4, 2015 at 11:32am

https://www.tapinto.net/towns/cranford/articles/cranford-ranks-on-the-list-of-50-safest-cities-i

meganlibrarian

Aug 4, 2015 at 1:47pm

Or if you want to see the entire list:

http://www.safewise.com/blog/safest-cities-new-jersey-2015/

sac

Aug 6, 2015 at 5:51am

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? 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).

We have new neighbors who are from Brooklyn (I don't recall which neighborhood) and have a little one about two. PM me if you'd like me to help you get in touch. (For all I know, you might BE one of them.)

sac

Aug 6, 2015 at 6:40am

sac 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? 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).
We have new neighbors who are from Brooklyn (I don't recall which neighborhood) and have a little one about two. PM me if you'd like me to help you get in touch. (For all I know, you might BE one of them.)

I just realized that this post/thread was from two years ago and just got bumped. Sorry about that.

soda

Aug 9, 2015 at 10:35am

rcarter31 said:
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

Moved here in '86, after living at 102 & 142 W. 80th, then at 171 W. 79th, all just around the corner from you, Ron Carter!

-s.

afa

Aug 9, 2015 at 3:32pm

Aw, my parents used to live at 200 w 79th! Wonderful memories of that neighborhood.

lizziecat

Aug 9, 2015 at 7:32pm Edited

In Manhattan Mr. L and I lived at 50 W. 90th, then 16 W. 87th, and lastly 158 W. 81st. Then we moved to Brooklyn, to 575 Ocean Avenue, and finally to S. Orange. My parents lived in Queensview, and my husband's parents lived on 14th Avenue in Borough Park.

I liked living on the upper west side, hated Flatbush, and love South Orange.