Real Estate ...

As suggested by its name, Park Slope’s most coveted asset is its eastern border: the enormous 526-acre Prospect Park, an oasis in the middle of urban Brooklyn designed by the Central Park architects that includes a 60-acre lake and a nearly century old botanical garden that helped to make Park Slope one of Natural Home’s 2006 top 10 best "eco-neighborhoods,” in addition to the neighborhood’s generous supply of farmer’s markets, green space and public transportation. The neighborhood has an abundance of townhouses filled with families and young singles attracted to its friendly atmosphere and diversity, contributing to its recent boom of Zagat-listed restaurants and general trendiness.

Park Slope has historically been understood to be the downward sloping area west of Prospect Park, with borders at Flatbush Avenue, Prospect Expressway, and 3rd Avenue. As locals succinctly put it, "if it don’t slope, it’s not the Slope.” Most of the recent development in Park Slope then, has ironically taken place in what locals would characterize as Gowanus, a quainter, more industrial neighborhood to the west of Park Slope. Given its huge desirability and the strict preservation of green space, look for most of Park Slope’s development to take place here and on its northern border on Flatbush, where a greater array of subways and amenities make it perhaps more attractive.