Brooklyn, New York is such a wonderful place to live and work. It’s so easy to fall in love with Brooklyn. It’s unlike any other borough in NYC. If you want to know more about this charming borough, we did some digging and came up with a slew of interesting information, from historical insights to unexpected revelations. Trivia night is almost around the corner. What really caught our eye was a particular neighborhood in this borough. As you may have guessed from the title, we are talking about Gowanus. Without further ado, let us at Brooklyn Movers New York deliver some interesting facts & stats about Gowanus NYC.
Where is Gowanus exactly?
Gowanus is a neighborhood in the borough of Brooklyn, New York City. It is located in the area once known as South Brooklyn. Brooklyn Community District 6 encompasses the area. Gowanus is delimited on the north by Wyckoff Street, on the east by Fourth Avenue, on the south by the Gowanus Expressway, and on the west by Bond Street.
Why is Gowanus cool?
Gowanus, a semi-industrial section of Brooklyn centered around the (possibly, someday clean) Gowanus Canal, is gorgeous, with a gritty past reaching all the way back to the mid-nineteenth century. Today, the neighborhood holds the promise of waterfront property, water-refracted light, and historic warehouses and manufacturing buildings with incredible space and rehabilitation possibilities. If you’re looking to move here, Gowanus movers will be more than happy to assist you.
And, because New York City is a real-estate town, Gowanus is in an ideal location: it is close to decent public transportation to Manhattan, is accessible to numerous highways, is nestled alongside the desirable brownstone neighborhoods of Boerum Hill, Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, and Park Slope, and is not far from the Downtown Brooklyn Cultural District.
Since around 2000, Gowanus has evolved into a popular yet off-the-beaten-path destination for artists, photographers, DIYers, music venues, hipsters, and cultural entrepreneurs in Brooklyn.
Gowanus’ transformation into a hip, arty neighborhood did not occur suddenly; some artists settled here as early as the 1970s. Recently, urged on by organizations such as the Southwest Brooklyn Industrial Development Corporation, a critical mass of new mom-and-pop companies has altered the neighborhood’s vibe. If you’ve got a lot of stuff to move, we suggest employing furniture movers NYC to help you out.
Interesting Facts & Stats about Gowanus NYC
Gowanus has some really cool stories. First of all, the name of the city literally means “the sleeper”. But Lord knows, this place doesn’t sleep. Gowanus Bay – named after a Canarsie Indian named Gauwane (Gouwane, lit. “the sleeper”) – was the site of the first Dutch settlement in what is now Brooklyn in 1636. The ponds of the Gowanus Meadowlands have been used to power the early settlers’ tide-powered gristmills along the Gowanus Creek. This place has really seen a lot. Let’s get on with some more facts & stats about Gowanus NYC.
5 things to know about The Gowanus Canal
1. The Gowanus Canal is really toxic. Yeah, it’s not quite Little Venice. The Gowanus Canal has been neglected for hundreds of years, and the areas surrounding it have endured decades of its poison. For them, the Superfund cleanup represents a clear environmental win.
2. People used to have trouble sleeping here. In the late 19th century, life along the fetid Gowanus Canal shoreline in Brooklyn was the stuff of nightmares. The odor radiating from the 1.8-mile-long gash of stagnant water was so repulsive that it entered people’s sleep.
3. Only the most resilient species can live in the Gowanus Canal. If visitors are flushed into the canal on occasion, only the most tenacious may call the Gowanus home. Mummichogs, a little fish species, is one of them. Alter, who began researching mummichogs a year ago, believes they are one of the canal’s few permanent residents.
4. The Gowanus Canal Superfund site is one of only three federal Superfund sites in New York City on the Environmental Protection Agency’s National Priorities List.
5. The Gowanus Canal is a 1.8-mile-long or 2.9 km
Things to do in Gowanus
- Go for a stroll along the canal itself.
- Visit the Bell House and Littlefield to see a performance, comedy show, or another event in the Gowanus area.
- Look at the Carroll Street Bridge. It’s a beauty. As one of the only four retractable bridges in the United States, it’s a national treasure.
- Arts Gowanus hosts the annual autumn Gowanus Open Studio Tours, a great opportunity to see what’s going on in the neighborhood’s galleries. If you own some art pieces yourself, fine art movers can help you move them safely to Gowanus.
- Gowanus Dredgers offers boat tours on the Gowanus.
At 718 Cyclery, you can participate in a group bike build or sign up for a free bike maintenance class. - Check out some cool buildings. These buildings, including a refurbished 1885 Old American Can Factory, are now home to a variety of businesses, including a variety of creative industries. Dance studios have long occupied the Gowanus Arts Building at 295 Douglass Street (between Third and Fourth Avenues). Groundswell Murals, a non-profit organization that works with at-risk youth to create large public murals, has its headquarters at 339 Douglas Street.
What it’s like to live in Gowanus?
In the 21st century, Gowanus has developed quite a while. It’s hard to miss Gowanus now, a charming former industrial area nestled between Carroll Gardens and Park Slope. And it doesn’t stop there. It’s a popular belief that the neighborhood isn’t on the radar, but it’s been having a moment for a long time. Gowanus’ typical asking rent is $3,123, while its median sales price is $1.6 million as of October 2021. As opposed to the median rent price of $2,600. And sales price of $948,000 in the Borough of Brooklyn, according to the StreetEasy Data Dashboard.
What people love about Gowanus is that it’s like Park Slope’s sleepy, creative cousin. It is bounded on the east by Fourth Avenue, the south by the Gowanus Expressway, the west by Bond Street, the north by Wyckoff Street, and the south by the Gowanus Expressway. (The majority of canal-side structures are six-story or less.) A major plus is the nearby Whole Foods, although the parking in the area may be expensive, costing upwards of $450 or $500 per month in some of Gowanus’ more upscale buildings. There is currently no boat service between Gowanus and Manhattan, but the N or D train from Union St. can get you to Midtown in about 30 minutes. We hope you learned something new from these few facts & Stats about Gowanus NYC.