10/13/2016
By Ivan Pereira, Nicholas Morales and Bazona Bado
For New Yorkers moving to a new home, the grass appears to be plenty green within their own borough.
Nearly 86% of New Yorkers who moved last year chose to stay within their own borough, according to a study released Thursday by StreetEasy. Experts and residents say the trend makes sense, as people are usually looking for a good bargain with little inconvenience to their lifestyle.
“A majority of New Yorkers are renters, so they think about moving once a year. They don’t want to pick up and change their routine,” said Lauren Riefflin, a StreetEasy spokeswoman.
The real-estate site teamed up with Oz Moving and Storage and analyzed the data on moves in 2015.
Riefflin said 68% of the movers went to cheaper digs, and almost all of the time the new home was not too far from their current address.
Serge Reda, an associate professor of real estate at Fordham University, said many New Yorkers have a special bond with their borough of choice and will even move further away from Manhattan to keep their pride.
“Fandom goes very, very deep, especially for those looking to buy a home and stay long term,” he said.
Sarah Csoka, 38, who moved to Fort Greene from Downtown Brooklyn nine months ago, said there was no place she wanted to be other than in her borough.
“I wanted a more neighborhood-like feel, and this neighborhood has that feel I was looking for,” she said.
When Manhattanites did choose to venture to another borough, the majority chose to create a home in northern Brooklyn, according to the data. Carroll Gardens, Fort Greene, DUMBO and Greenpoint were the top destinations last year for borough-to-borough moving. Astoria, Sunnyside and Long Island City were Queens hotspots for former Manhattanites, as was the Mott Haven section of the Bronx, StreetEasy said.
Robert Perris, the district manager of Brooklyn Community Board 2, which represents DUMBO and Fort Greene, said he wasn’t surprised that the borough neighborhoods were so attractive. Although rents and home prices have been going up at high rates in those areas over the past few years, they still offer more homey options and a proximity to subways, Perris said.
“I was speaking to someone at a dinner party who gave up a loft in the Flatiron and came here because they have kids and wanted a back yard,” he said.
Recent north Brooklyn arrivals agreed that the amenities were better on their side of the East River.
“I fell in love with … the culture, the traditions and the openness of the people here,” said Jamie Laurens, 39, who moved to Carroll Gardens from Manhattan two years ago. “It is also quiet here. I love the quiet.”
Some of Greenpoint’s newcomers said they just wanted to be part of the trendy neighborhood like the rest of their friends.
“It is pretty good, safe and family-oriented,” said Lori Loranzo 32, who moved to the area from Bay Ridge five years ago.
Reda predicted that the borough loyalties would continue to play a factor in real estate, especially as more and more people discover the idiosyncrasies that exist within each neighborhood.
“You can’t treat the borough as a whole,” he said. “It’s a tapestry of communities with different rents, cultures, everything.”
