Just to the north of Prospect Park is a small neighborhood named Prospect Heights. While it has long lived in the shadow of its more famous neighbor to the west (Park Slope), Prospect Heights has started to come into its own in the past few years.
Once a poverty-stricken area in the 70's, Prospect Heights has become hot bed for new real estate. With the shiny new real estate has come new shops, cafes, restaurants, and bars crowding the main streets - Vanderbilt and Washington Avenues. The neighborhood is near landmarks such as Grand Army Plaza, the Brooklyn Museum, the Vanderbilt Train yards, boasts a historic district, and helps host the West Indian Day Parade every year over Labor Day. The northern section of the neighborhood is also close to downtown Brooklyn. Many residents have been embroiled in the battle against real estate developer Bruce Ratner, and his commercial and residential development plan for downtown Brooklyn.
While it is right next door to Park Slope, it also shares a border with Crown Heights. A West Indian and Hassidic Jewish community, the area is developing, but still known as a sometimes dangerous area for outsiders. The community is still recovering from the Crown Heights Riots in the 90's and crime levels in the neighborhood are still high, though they have recently dropped. This atmosphere has also bled over into the eastern side of Prospect Heights where recent shootings have shaken up the community. So much so that neighborhood meetings have been called to start a dialog about the crime in the area.
Despite this, people are still moving into Prospect Heights in droves. Find out more about the neighborhood in the slide show below:
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