So, we've moved to Park Slope, an area which I once described to me as the most Brooklyn of all Brooklyn areas, which was not a compliment. This is the Brooklyn that makes some people hate Brooklyn, Park Slope is the hipster of neighborhoods, the area everyone loves to hate. Though it's actually less hipster than Williamsburg (my personal bugbear) as this is where they move to 'grow up' and pop out babies.

You guys, Park Slope is really, really twee. Twee like mismatching vintage tea sets, like pussy bow dresses and cakes made with lavender. Twee, you guys, twee. Within a block of our apartment you will find the following –

*A Swedish espresso bar (Swedish coffee is a thing?!) plus two other coffee shops and a patisserie.

*A grass fed and organic only butcher.

*A vintage shop solely staffed by men with engineered moustaches (one of about five vintage clothing stores a stones throw from one another, but the only one with insane facial hair as standard).

*A thrift store solely stocked with items from film productions.

*Countless restaurants, what do you want? Fish? BBQ? Italian? Mexican? Chinese? Lebanese? American? Vegan? It's all here.

*A gym, a crossfit, a bouldering centre, a yoga centre and a pilates centre (the mums of the Slope have to stay yummy somehow).

*Three dog walking services. Tiny dogs abound, even the childless around here want to mother something.

*Five boutique clothing stores (including one where you can have your own personalised batique t-shirts made. Yeah, me neither).

*Three gift shops.

*An oldschool milliner, now staffed by sexy bearded young men, that will make you your very own hat.

*A smoothie shop that sells wheatgrass shots.

Remember, I've only listed things in the blocks immediately surrounding us. The Slope is considerably larger than a couple of blocks and the pattern continues throughout.

The thing is, and I'm a little ashamed to admit this. I kinda love it here. I've lied to a couple of people younger and cooler than me that this isn't the case, but I'm admitting the truth to you, dear reader. It's just so damn easy, the subway is only one stop into Manhattan, the local supermarket is well stocked and plays lovely jaunty tunes (I had a little bop to 'Hit The Road Jack' just this afternoon) and Prospect Park is right next door. There are an abundance of amazing restaurants (including one around the corner that my friend in the UK recommmended after reading a rave review in a British newspaper), shops, bars…. and I've never seen so many coffee shops bundled together in one place before.

I suspect though, that the things which make it lovely here are also the things that would suffocate over time. It's unlikely that we'll end up living in NYC in the long term, but I can't help thinking of how each area we've tried would work for us if we did. Park Slope is the land of mothers, the streets are overrun with cute little mop topped urchins at school closing time each day, and their mothers seem to be quite a tight knit little community. I think about what that must be like, sending little India and Hugo to school every morning, then heading to Bikram Yoga with the other mums, followed by coffee and lunch, then to a shift at the local food coop, finally picking the kids up to spend the late afternoon at some sort of play date with the other mums… Or perhaps spending all day at work while a nanny tends to your children, there are a LOT of nannies around here.

Ultimately, this is all judgment based on assumptions I've made using my very limited knowledge, but as I I've said before, I prefer a little diversity. It's not quite as white as I found Midtown Manhattan, but its not far off, especially considering how concentrated it is. Prospect Lefferts Gardens, on the other side of the park, with its largely West Indian community, feels a million miles away. I don't think I'd want to raise my (currently theoretical) children amidst such homogeny… It's also really, really expensive, so there's that too. It's nice at the moment though, and we'll be taking advantage of all the fine eating and drinking establishments the area has to offer in these weeks leading up to Christmas, of that you can be sure.

I leave you with one of those omnipresent shit people say videos, as it nicely backs up all the stereotypes I've perpetuated here. Thanks YouTube!

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