Brooklyn

The borough of Brooklyn (which used to be and still feels like a separate city) boasts a population of about 2.5 M.

NORTH-WESTERN BROOKLYN

Brooklyn neighborhoods that make news most often (real estate-related or otherwise) are all in the north-western section of the borough:

• Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn's own version of the Upper East Side (that is to say, most Wall Streeters who happen to prefer Brooklyn opt for Brooklyn Heights) and
• Bushwick - the new frontier of hipsterness in the city. Still a poor neighborhood, with cheaper rents and plenty of old industrial lofts.
• Clinton Hill is a small neighborhood in north-central Brooklyn.
• DUMBO (=down under manhattan bridge overpass), which is known for its loft buildings, resurgent nightlife and awesome views of downtown Manhattan across the East River.
• Greenpoint - Williamsburg's northern neighbor is slightly more removed (due to the need to change trains when commuting to Manhattan), but also cheaper and more tranquil than its hip neighbor to the south.
• Downtown Brooklyn - as you already know, Brooklyn used to be a city. Hence its very own downtown.
• Park Slope with its beautiful brownstone buildings, wide avenues and neighboring Prospect Park. This neighborhood is quite popular with families and with the city's lesbian community.
• Williamsburg - an art school mecca of the last 15-20 years with a very hyperactive bar and restaurant scene.

CENTRAL & SOUTHERN BROOKLYN

Further down south are neighborhoods that feel more ethnic, less densely built up and sometimes less "urban" (this is a generalization, though because some sections of Southern Brooklyn are very much high-rise):

• Bay Ridge
• Bensonhurst
• Brighton Beach
• Flatbush
• Midwood