Another thing to keep in mind is that many of the Nostrand Avenue storefronts are illegal sub-divisions. Anytime you see a storefront which is 5-6ft wide, its been cut off from the main area and sub-divided illegally. You could probably get a better view on that from either the PD or FDNY as both have supposedly been trying to crack down on it over the years but it does serve to make the streetscape more crowded and cluttered. In addition, the businesses that occupy those smaller storefronts tend to have TONS of merch crammed in them which also impacts the view from the street.

Great post guys! I think you covered almost everything, and I do think the biggest thing that separates Franklin from Nostrand right now in terms of commercial potential is Franklin’s proximity to Prospect Heights and several of the Heart of Brooklyn institutions (Brooklyn Museum, Botanic Garden, Prospect Park, etc). The former provides the higher-income spenders, and the latter produce occasional spillover (I ran into French tourists looking for a burger who had left the Museum this summer on Franklin) that Nostrand probably doesn’t get, particularly since the 4 runs express to Franklin and is a pleasant, manageable walk down Eastern Parkway from those places.

Thinking about street-level differences, Nostrand is definitely more of a thoroughfare than Franklin–it gets the yellow-line “main drag” distinction on Google Maps, while Franklin remains the “side street” white. I couldn’t find traffic numbers online, but this isn’t surprising–Franklin only runs from Flushing to Empire. From Flushing to Fulton in Bed-Stuy, it’s one lane and a bike lane, and it widens to two lanes in Crown Heights. Nostrand, on the other hand, is two lanes straight from Flushing to Sheepshead Bay, meaning it both carries more traffic and goes more places.

I did a little experiment using http://www.gmap-pedomter.com to compare street and sidewalk widths, and the results were interesting. From Atlantic to Eastern, both Franklin and Nostrand are, on average, about 21-22 meters wide from storefront to storefront (sidewalks and road included). However, the car-carrying street on Franklin is between 10-10.5 meters wide in most places, while on Nostrand the average is 12-12.5. Two meters may not seem like a noteworthy difference, but it does shift the car-pedestrian balance–slightly less than half of Franklin is devoted to cars, while slightly more than half of Nostrand is. It also means that Nostrand’s road is 20% wider than Franklin’s, and that Franklin has 20% more sidewalk space than Nostrand, both of which sound like a lot when stated that way.

Thanks for writing this!

Great article!

Hopefully BOTH streets will spruce up in the near furtute!

It’s funny how some people serm to think Franklin Ave & Nostrand Ave are miles apart, when in reality they are a 2 -3 block walk.

I skateboard the difference everyday.

Interesting set of questions – but what really is at the heart of the issue is the question of entreprenuership and one’s real ability to be one. Spaces are available along both avenues – you can see that from either craigslist, as well as a casual walk down either avenues. The changing/existing demographics are ever present – whether from upward trending per capita households or even from the existing households that have multigenerational spending and consumption levels. Why is it that the only entrepreneurs come from the ranks of are those who open similar shops rather than those who lament a lack of diversity and then step forward to try a new offering – it all comes back to appetite for risk, as well as financial preparedness for the undertaking. the commercial property owners are not in the business of “giving space away” but instead seek to rent to businesspeople. If the only business people are those who have put together their savings from their work at another “beauty salon”, and then want to strike out on their own – who is to say they should not be afforded the chance. As contrasted (just for example) to the individuals who laments the lack of some basic community shops that define neighborhoods (think shoemaker, or wireless cafe or even bookstore/wine shop)., but won’t take the chance of either a) stepping out and trying to do a business, or b) support those who do try – think of Resurgent Fitness on Nostrand and Sterling or Essentials Restaurant also at Nostrand and Sterling or Crow Hill at Union and Nostrand – all new establishments offering a differnt type of fare (gym, and SIT DOWN dining). Lets reward the entrepreneurs and encourage further activity amongst ourselves rather than just lament the state of affairs while we take our $$ elsewhere.

I have to admit that my aesthetic preference has always been with Nostrand, despite my residency on two of Crown Heights’ other shopping strips (Utica, and Franklin). A lot of the great architectural detail has been covered by awnings and racks of cheap hats, but if you look hard you can see it. There are so many interesting buildings with details that you only see on buildings built as commercial structures, as opposed the mixed apartment building/ commercial space like you find on Franklin. Utica has dedicated commercial buildings for a couple blocks north of Eastern Parkway, but the detailing is not nearly as nice as on Nostrand (look up at the second floors).

Franklin had a beautiful old commercial building[1]. It left a huge plaza of sidewalk open at the corner of Eastern Parkway. The building line went all the way back to where the first house on Eastern Parkway starts. Sadly it was traded for a the promise of a six story condo[2], with some retail. What we actually got is a half finished foundation, a giant abandoned hole in the ground, and no sidewalk.

Past aesthetics, I think the economic impact of proximity to Prospect Heights is the key to what’s happening on Franklin. While Franklin benefits from good transit, economic redevelopment will more likely be driven by spillover from what’s happening on Washington and Classon. By and large gentrification has worked blob style, spreading from one neighborhood to another. The big question that I have is how deeply the bad economy has slowed gentrification, and where? Franklin is very much gentrifying, but its not complete, and a change in the demographic momentum might give some businesses pause before opening there. However the recent business boom seems to show that Franklin Ave’s economy is growing and becoming more diverse.

[1] http://www.flickr.com/photos/hammerspace/1332815211/ — I could only find a picture of it being torn down, so the interesting roof and wooden moulding are already torn off; but look at those windows and that iron work. Also now that I am
[2] http://www.brownstoner.com/brownstoner/archives/2007/10/development_wat_142

What’s interesting to me is that Nostrand actually has a number of “community shops”, but they get lost among the bodegas and hair salons. There’s the flower shop (Barbara’s), the karaoke bars (Starlight and Q Tavern), a mom & pop insurance shop (Cambridge and Leech), a hardware store, multiple organic/vegan shops (Ital and Imhotep), a fitness studio (Resurgent), a dine-in restaurant (Crow Hill Bistro), a juice bar (Punchline), a trinkets and jewelry shop (Lionheart). And right off of Nostrand there’s an art gallery (1158Dean), b ed & breakfast and a party fairs shop (Party Favors). If all these shops stood alone on Nostrand, the perception of Nostrand would be quite different. There’s also a number of nice Caribbean restaurants that go under-appreciated for the same reason.

@LCA – what percentage would you say are illegal subdivisions? It’s interesting because one person at the meeting that I referenced in the post said that she’s heard that Nostrand has a number of “illegitimate” businesses. I’d assumed that she meant businesses that are fronts for something more illicit. But based on what you say, I wonder if she just meant illegitimate in the Dept. of Buildings sense.

@nat – it’s funny that you point out the architecture on Nostrand. Jennifer M. and I were walking down Nostrand one day and she pointed out how many of the buildings on Nostrand look as if the residential part of the building was built in back of an existing storefront. So as opposed to being one contiguous building with a storefront on the bottom, it actually looks like two buildings (one a short store front and the other a taller residence) stuck together. It’s hard to describe, but I will try to take a picture and post it. It’s actually quite interesting.

@ methinksitnotsosimple – Personally, I’m not as offended by the type of establishments that come up in the neighborhood as I am by the quality (or lack thereof) of the establishments – the interior design, the cleanliness, how it is maintained, customer service, etc.

For instance, even though there are already a number of beauty salons, there’s one that stands out as a particularly nice addition to Nostrand. I can’t remember the name off the top, but it’s located on the east side of Nostrand, closer to Atlantic – it has a brown and pink motif.

Same thing for bodegas. On New York Avenue and Union there is a relatively new bodega that has opened up within the past year and a half or so. As far as bodegas go, it is pretty nice and I’d much prefer to patronize that bodega over others. Same offerings as other bodegas, same prices, but the appearance of the store itself is a lot nicer. I hope more entrepreneurs focus on providing quality establishments to the residents of this neighborhood.

What about Bedford?

There’s really not a lot of commercial space on Bedford from Fulton to Eastern Parkway.

Bedfod is 92% residential on that stretch.

think that there are both “illegal” (places that are used as fronts, etc) and “illegitimate” (active businesses that are in non-code spaces) on Nostrand. The former are fairly easy to spot as they seem to never have customers, have a decided lack of merchandise, and are open intermittently or never at all. The latter tend to be places that are open and busy, as their owners are trying to earn an honest living, and moved into the smallest footprint they could find.

As for a percentage, I’d say 15% are illegal and another 20-25% are illegitamate based on my completely unscientific observations.

Join the Economic Development Committee of Community Board #8. Key drivers along Nostrand’s commercial strip are: one large landlord and SAFETY.