Hi we are a family of six with four young kids that have visited Manhattan on three other trips. We are looking at staying for a week this summer in Brooklyn in a condo or home rental so we can spread out (and spend less than than in Manhattan).

Can anyone tell me more about Carroll Gardens vs. Prospect Park/Park Slope and give opinions which might be better suited for a family? The Carroll Gardens condo is on Butler St., between Smith and Hoyt.

We love to eat out, and are also interested in cheap eats in those neighborhoods. Thanks!

I'm born and raised in Brooklyn, so I can try to help.

As for the 2 neighborhoods, either one would be fine for a family to stay in, and both offer access to the a quick subway ride into Manhattan.

As for cheap eats, they could also be found in either area, although both areas have gone through renovations in the past few years, and thus prices in some restaurants may be as high as Manhattan.

Carroll Gardens, is also one of those areas that can change quickly if you go wandering in the wrong direction. Park Slope is expanding with a lot of restaurants, plus Prospect Park is right there, by Grand Army Plaza and the Botanical Gardens. With this in mind, I would lean towards Prospect Park / Park Slope.

Part of it depends on how much time you plan on staying in the neighborhood-- do you want to be closer to a park/playgrounds, do you like to jog in the morning? Do you plan on returning by subway at night? In Park Slope (if you are north of 7th avenue) you are close to the park-- with fields, playgrounds-- as well as the botanic garden. Carroll Gardens (and this depends on the age of your kids, if the littlest will stay in a stroller...) is closer to Brooklyn Heights (I park there all the time and walk to Brooklyn Heights--20 minutes--where it is harder to find street parking). There are lots of small restaurants and shops along Smith Street as well as a playground nearby. The best park with grass though is Brooklyn Bridge Park near the Fulton Ferry landing under the Brooklyn Bridge. If you are going to be coming back from Manhattan by subway at night I'd prefer to come out on 7th avenue in Park Slope (which is crowded at night) than near Smith street (especially the smith and 9th station). Both neighborhoods are good for "cheap eats"-- but I suspect that the Carroll Gardens house/condo is closer a marginal area near the canal--In Carroll Gardens I would stick to the blocks between Smith and Court, Court and Clinton and Clinton and Henry. Hope this helps. If you'd like, I can check out the Carroll Gardens block when I'm down there on Wednesday.

Wow, that would be wonderful if you could check out that block for me! You guys are great. Someone who grew up in Brooklyn said that the Prospect Park area could be dicey, especially at night if we came back on the subway. Is his info outdated?

Which streets near Carroll Gardens should we avoid? Is the Smith and 9th Street station in a bad area? If we bring our car, which neighborhood has safer parking? Sorry to sound like such a wimp...we usually stay in a Manhattan hotel, so we know very little about Brooklyn. Thanks for all the help.

Don't know how old your kids are, but the Smith & 9th Street station is one of the highest elevated stations in NYC! Which means if you have a stroller, be prepared to go down plenty of stairs and escalators to get to street level. The area surrounding the station is also relatively deserted at night, with some factories in the surrounding area.

Prospect Park can be dicey, depending on where you are talking. Anywhere on the Eastern Parkway side will be dicey. The other side (Prospect Park West) is fine. However, the entire area is being built up.

Carroll Gardens is a nice area, and close to Brooklyn Heights, but the only downsides to it are the only trains that run through there are the F,G and maybe the N & R depending on how far it is. The G train does not go into Manhattan, and the F doesn't run as often as it should. (I used to live by the F train in Borough Park) Also if you plan on having a car, parking is a pain, like adisim said.

The downside to Prospect Park/Park Slope is that if you are on 5th Avenue at night on a weekend, you will hear noise from the bars and restaurants.

Both areas get dicey if you head in the wrong direction. (Carroll Gardens has projects by Bergen Street, Prospect Park gets shady further down Eastern Parkway.) Park Slope itself is perfectly fine. Also, both areas offer parks nearby, a quick commute to Manhattan, and no shortage of places to eat. Plus you can take them to Grimaldi's for pizza by the Brooklyn Bridge, or head in the opposite direction to Coney Island for hot dogs at Nathan's. Or go to Junior's for cheesecake on Flatbush and Dekalb.

Let us know the location of the condo in Prospect Park/Park Slope and I can let you know how good the area is. Also, you can check the maps at www.mta.info to see how close both places are to the subway.

Missjanna, thanks so much for the detailed info. The place in the Prospect Park area is a whole brownstone house on Berkeley Place between 6th and 7th Avenues. How does that location sound? I am leaning towards Prospect Park. Are there other neighborhoods in Brooklyn you could recommend? You guys are amazing!

Checked both locations on the map. The one in Carroll Gardens leaves you halfway between 2 stations on the F line, (Bergen Street or Carroll Street) and about 5 blocks from shady territory on Bergen Street. However, both locations are actually not that far from each other.

The Prospect Park / Park Slope location is actually fine, since it's on the Prospect Park West side, and you have access to more trains into Manhattan.(2 and 3 trains if you go up 6th Avenue, B and Q trains if you go up 7th Avenue) I used to work in the area, so I can vouch that it's mostly brownstones, and mainly a "yuppie" area.

Other areas you might want to consider would be Brooklyn Heights, (Although parking here really sucks), Dyker Heights, Fort Hamilton, Bay Ridge, Windsor Terrace, Fulton Ferry, Williamsburg,(depending on which part), Midwood and Bensonhurst.

I used to live two blocks from your Park Slope location - Berkeley between 6th and 7th is one of the nicest blocks in the neighborhood, if not all of Brooklyn. Tons of great restaurants right around you, and just a few minute's walk to the park. It's not even a question - go with the Park Slope location.

I won't be in Carroll Gardens until tomorrow and will try to check out the block but my instincts say definitely go with the Park Slope location. Berkeley is a beautiful block-- close to the park, shops, restaurants. Prospect Park is huge with many neighborhoods bordering different sections. The opposide side of the park is dicey (near parkside avenue, ocean avenue) but you will be really far from there and there is no way that you could wander there accidently without walking completely across the park or around the park-- a quick 30 minutes, a realistic 45 minutes to 1 hour. Eastern Parkway near Grand Army Plaza is fine but not great(near the museum, botanic garden, library) and intersects with prospect park west. Your area is fine (brownstones sell for about 2 million dollars if not more). I wouldn't walk into prospect park at night (I doubt that is a problem for you) and wouldn't recommend going in alone at a quiet, deserted entrance during the day (again, unlikely on a sunny, summer day). Prospect Park West is a long avenue, one way traffic, usually light. Both areas have safe parking although you have to be aware of alternate side restrictions (days when the streets are cleaned and parking off limits on one side for 1-3 hours during the day-- often 8:30-10, 11-1). Carroll Gardens has more commercial streets with metered parking but there is street parking. But I would absolutely take the whole brownstone in Park Slope.

There's a lot of good information on this thread. One thing you said, though, did catch my eye. You mentioned that you'd be bringing your car and parking on the street. I would urge you to consider the expense of a parking garage. Brooklyn is famous for car theft and vandalism. I don't know anyone in Brooklyn who hasn't experienced some sort of problem with a steet-parked car.