Renting in Bushwick

What it's like

Bushwick is where you go for room. Three and four bedroom apartments that would be impossible anywhere closer, old industrial buildings converted into lofts, and rents that still make sense split several ways. The blocks around Jefferson and Morgan are the loft end; deeper toward Knickerbocker it is ordinary residential Brooklyn and cheaper again.

The variance is the story here. Two apartments on the same street at the same price can be a beautifully converted loft and an illegal partition in a building with forty open violations, and the listing photos will not always tell you which.

Who it suits

People sharing with roommates, anyone who needs a room to work in, and anyone who wants a lease that does not cost most of their income.

The catch

Loft conversions and pressurized walls are common and not always legal. A bedroom with no window is not a bedroom, it is a fire risk and a lease you cannot enforce. Ask directly, and look at the certificate of occupancy if the building is industrial.

Getting around

The L at Jefferson, DeKalb, Morgan and Halsey, the M at Myrtle-Wyckoff and Knickerbocker, and the J and Z along Broadway. The M is the underrated one: it runs into Midtown directly and does not share the L's weekend problems.

What to check at the viewing

• Ask which bedrooms have windows to the outside, and count them yourself.
• Pull the building's violation history before you tour. This is the part of Brooklyn where it matters most.
• In a loft, ask what the heat source is and what the winter bill looks like. Big volumes are expensive to warm.