For years, young professionals and families turned up their noses at Bay Ridge, a working-class area of southwestern Brooklyn, because of how far it is from Manhattan.
But as real estate prices in trendier Brooklyn neighborhoods continue to climb, more and more city slickers are taking a second glance at the "original Gold Coast," as locals call the area. With its phenomenal public schools, copious outdoor spaces, restaurant row, and affordable housing, Bay Ridge has a lot to offer.
The influx of young people has also changed Bay Ridge. Trendy, pricey restaurants have popped up on the main drag, a new crowd stays out later, and rents have significantly increased. Suddenly, Bay Ridge's lifelong residents fear being priced out of their homes.
The last shred of Old Brooklyn — the grimy, comfortable, working-class borough where a cup of coffee cost a buck — is giving way to "Girls"-era, hipster New Brooklyn. Let's see what all the fuss is about.
Welcome to Bay Ridge, one of the last shreds of "Old Brooklyn" still in existence.
It's located on the southwestern curve of Brooklyn, about a 45-minute commute to Lower Manhattan.
For a time, the only people who knew of Bay Ridge were crusty, old-school Brooklynites and those familiar with "Saturday Night Fever." The film's protagonist, played by John Travolta, captured the middle-class, family-oriented values of Bay Ridge in the 1970s.
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