Gowanus…A Look Beyond the Stink

Image via fromedome.com Oh, Gowanus. You used to be East Carroll Gardens, or West Park Slope, or that no-man's land with not much but a toxic superfund site. But, now! You are well on your way to being just as gentrified as the rest of saps living in this part of Brooklyn. You have Whole Foods! And a hipster/normcore Shuffleboard venue! And kick-ass entertainment venues like the Bell House and Littlefield! Still, you've had kind of shitty week, and nobody can seem to write about you without mentioning that stinkin' canal.

Luckily, your friends at Brick Underground have worked up a list extolling your virtues by getting current residents to give visitors and potential new Gowanus-dwellers the skinny on what it's really like to live there: 

"There’s this weird phenomenon of watching TV in bars here. People are really serious about it. Try talking during 'Game of Thrones' at Halyards and you will quickly find out, people do not mess around  when it comes to their bar TV." 

"People have cars here, and it’s totally normal. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that."

"Gowanus was home to the first battle of the American revolution [the Battle for Brooklyn] and residents have known for a while that fallen soldiers from this battle are hidden underneath basements."

 "The F train is death. It’s packed, and old, and awful, and I think it comes three times an hour,  sometimes." 

"The N and R are pretty good. I usually take the R train when I need to get to Manhattan."

"Gowanus has a vibrant small business community that manufactures and sells some pretty cool shit!"

"The place is transitioning from an industrial area to a family area. I see more strollers and new constructions than I do old businesses now. It could turn into another Park Slope pretty quickly."

Oh, shiz, sorry Gowanus. Guess you're pretty fucked, just like us.