i personally live in park slope..which is yuppieish..
but i live right on prospect park which is really nice
pretty much all year round...plus you live near the F,2,3
Q,B and others depending how far up the slope you
are...the major disadvantage with the 'burg and northern
brooklyn is the lack of trains...the 'L' is probably the
least reliable train in the city...(mainly due to the fact that
they're upgrading supposedly for more volume).

if i were looking i'd try to live on the north side of flatbush
closer to grand army plaza...seems to be pretty to really
cheap for new york..(someone i know had a three bedroom
for something like 1300 which is crazy) the farther north
you go the seedier it gets though...to semi dangerous...as
well as farther from public transport. the other locales i'd
consider is carrol gardens...although i don't know what you'll
find for cheap around smith st. mainly due to it being basically
the next 'burg. also if you live on the lower part of the slope
ie 4th, 5th or 6th avenues you'll probably find cheaper places..
especially the farther south you go..i.e. past 9th street..

5th avenue has all the 'nice' bars in the neighborhood as well
as a real grocery store and real laundromats...

hope that helps...

i currently live in fort greene after a few months subletting in bushwick. all i can say is that i get hassled way less in fort greene.

I think DUMBO is a place close to manhattan that still has some more raw industrial loft spaces, though i'm not sure what the prices are like now. east williamsburgh still relatively affordable, like you said, astoria and a few other neighborhoods in queens, and then...

hoboken. what's hoboken like? i don't know.

Ahhh. Real estate in NYC. Perhaps my favorite topic...

Public, what are your priorities? Where will you be working and far of a commute are you willing to deal with?

If you want cheap but a "place with potential," you might want to check out Port Morris in the Bronx. It doesn't have too many hip restaurants and the like just yet, but a lot of artists have started moving there and the rents are quite cheap. Or, if you can afford to buy and have the fortitude to do major renovations, you might be able to pick up an entire building for very little money. Port Morris is right on the river and has decent subway access so it isn't hard to imagine it becoming a hip location in the future... but for now it's a lot of old storage buildings and some manufacturing.

If you want to stay in Manhattan, consider Washington Heights, Inwood, Hamilton Heights and East Harlem. Another option is the very far eastern section of the Upper East Side, near York Ave. Also, the very far reaches of the Lower East Side/Chinatown area has some reasonably priced stuff.

Brooklyn is great, but everything seems to be approaching Manhattan prices... Prospect Heights, the area near Prospect Park, north of Flatbush was cheap 5 years ago but now rivals Park Slope. If you're willing to be futher from the subways or be close to a not-so-useful subway, consider Clinton Hill or Bed Stuy. The historic district in Bed Stuy is very pretty. A lot of professional families have moved back to Bed Stuy in the past few years, making it far safer than it was in the 80's and early 90's.

Astoria, Jackson Heights, and Long Island City are all quite nice. But if you work anywhere other than midtown manhattan, the commute can be a bit of a pain.

If you're willing to consider NJ, Jersey City is cheaper than Hoboken and a bit more interesting. But also a bit less convenient to NYC.

Does anybody know anything about Jersey City neighborhoods? I'm finding a lot of cheap, seemingly decent apts. in Jersey City Heights. I assume transportation, as mentioned above, is an issue. Any other insight is greatly appreciated.

Also, Israel, what do you mean by "hassled," exactly?

I used to live in Jersey City Heights...
I believe there are three forms of transportation:
Nj transit
Path train
and Independent shuttle buses (that are never on time)
my cousin called them immigrant buses because no one normally spoke english and because I managed to blend in after awhile.

Unless you are close to the Path, it seems like a hassle to go into the city and then go back...
but, the city is really beautiful across the Hudson and Hoboken is just a short ride away...

Carroll Gardens.

It's an Italian neighborhood where old men still hang out at social clubs with Italian flags out front, but there are also plenty of young, creative professionals (but not yuppies like park slope). Whoever created Sesame Street probably lived here. You can walk to Lowes and Home Depot (if you don't mind a long walk) and take the G train to Target. Brooklyn Heights and Red Hook are also in walking distance, in opposite directions. About 20 minutes on the F train to the city. I moved here from the East Village a year and a half ago and it's so much quieter and more peaceful.

Most of Red Hook is far from the subway, so keep that in mind.

Don't believe the hype about Astoria, Williamsburg, or Red Hook. Not that they're bad places to live. Just that there's always a reason rent is less.