Brooklyn

The borough of Brooklyn used to be (and still feels like) a separate city, which partially explains the reason why it's laid out the way it is - with its own "Downtown", for example, as well as mirror images of some of Manhattan's features (e.g. Prospect Park playing the same role as Central Park in Manhattan).

NORTH-WESTERN BROOKLYN

Brooklyn neighborhoods that make news most often (real estate-related or otherwise) are located in the north-western section of the borough (community districts 1, 2, and 6):

• Boerum Hill
• Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn's own version of the Upper East Side (that is to say, most Wall Streeters who happen to prefer living in Brooklyn opt for Brooklyn Heights)
• Clinton Hill
• Downtown Brooklyn Brooklyn's business and commercial hub that still doesn't feel very neighborhoody. Give it a few more years.
• DUMBO (=down under manhattan bridge overpass). Brooklyn's version of SoHo, known for its loft buildings, resurgent nightlife and awesome views of downtown Manhattan across the East River.
• Fort Greene
• Greenpoint - slightly more removed than its hip cousin, Williamsburg (due to the necessity of changing trains when commuting to/from Manhattan), Greenpoint wins in the cheaper rent department and is generally more tranquil than its hip neighbor to the south.
• Lefferts Gardens
• Park Slope known for beautiful brownstone buildings, wide avenues and neighboring Prospect Park. Hence, baby-stroller central of New York.
• Williamsburg - the housing stock (particularly old buildings) is not necessarily that good, but the neighborhood wins with its combination of trendiness and small-town feel.

NORTH-CENTRAL BROOKLYN

Community Districts 8, 3 & 4

• Bushwick - the new frontier of hipsterness in the city. Still a poor neighborhood, with relatively cheap rents and plenty of old industrial loft space.
• Bedford-Stuyvesant
• Crown Heights
• Crown Heights South
• Prospect Heights
• Stuyvesant Heights
• Tompkins Park North

WESTERN BROOKLYN

Community Districts 7 and 10:

• Bay Ridge
• Sunset Park
• Windsor Terrace

CENTRAL & SOUTHERN BROOKLYN

Community Districts 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 and 17.

Moving further down south we find neighborhoods that feel more sparse, less densely built up and sometimes even less "urban" (this is a generalization: some sections of Southern Brooklyn are still very much high-rise). The presence of immigrants (the first and second generation), notably from Italy and the countries of the former Soviet Union, is felt in many of these neighborhoods.

• Bensonhurst
• Brighton Beach
• Homecrest
• East Flatbush
• Farragut
• Flatbush
• Gravesend
• Midwood
• Northeast Flatbush
• Sheepshead Bay

EASTERN BROOKLYN

Community Districts 5, 16, 18

• Brownsville
• Canarsie
• East New York
• Marine Park
• Ocean Hill