Renting in Park Slope

What it's like

Park Slope is the settled version of Brooklyn: brownstone blocks running down from Prospect Park, Fifth and Seventh Avenues carrying the shops, and a rental market where units come up less often because people stay. The North Slope near Grand Army Plaza is the expensive end and the closest to the express trains.

It is quiet, it is family-heavy, and it is not trying to be anything else. If you want a neighborhood that is finished rather than becoming something, this is the clearest example in Brooklyn.

Who it suits

People who want the park, anyone with children or planning them, and anyone who would rather sign a two-year lease than hunt again next spring.

The catch

Supply is thin and it moves fast. Good Slope listings are gone in days, often before a weekend open house, so this is a neighborhood where being early matters more than being flexible on price.

Getting around

The 2, 3 at Grand Army Plaza, the B and Q at Seventh Avenue, the F and G at Fourth Avenue and Seventh Avenue, and the R on Fourth. The 2 and 3 from Grand Army are the fast ride to Manhattan.

What to check at the viewing

• Ask how long the previous tenant stayed. In this neighborhood a short tenancy is worth asking about.
• In garden apartments, check the ceiling height at the back and the light in the middle room.
• Ask about the stoop and who shovels it, which sounds trivial until February.