A few years ago someone priced out of Park Slope could turn to the quieter, and less expensive Windsor Terrace as a viable alternative. Today, however, as Windsor becomes livelier, it is also experiencing skyrocketing real estate costs.
“It’s not really considered a bargain anymore, like it was a few years ago,” said Abigail Palanca, a broker with Town Residential who grew up in Windsor Terrace and lives there now. “There’s been incredible, incredible change, but there are so many families who are still here and so many new families who have moved in, the dynamic is still really nice. You still step outside and everybody says hello. When my kids run too close to the street, I hear five people calling their names.”
Windsor Terrace, well-place between Park Slope, Kensington, Prospect Park and the Green-Wood Cemetery, was a well-kept secret that is no more. Subway access is decent. Commuters can expect a 45 minute trip to Midtown Manhattan on the F train. Parking in Windsor is also a bit easier than in its adjacent neighborhoods.
“When I first bought my house here, there were a lot of older people, not a lot of kids—my kids didn’t have friends in the neighborhood,” said 20-year veteran resident of Windsor Terrace, Mary LaRosa Lederer, who owns neighborhood realtor Brooklyn Real. “There were a lot of retired cops and firefighters. I’m seeing a lot of change.”
The changing demography of the neighborhood has not changed the feel of the neighborhood as much as what had been expected.
“I think the fact that we don’t have a Fifth Avenue or a Seventh Avenue or a Smith Street probably saves it a little, because the person who wants to live here has a family or wants quiet,” Ms. Lederer said. “I think that grounds Windsor Terrace a little more.”
