Living large along a glimmering canal isn’t just for Venetians, folks. In the formerly industrial neighborhood tucked between Park Slope and Carroll Gardens, Gowanus has charms aplenty. And the waterway is just the beginning. “Some people think the neighborhood is under the radar. However, it has been having a moment — for a long time,” says 17-year Gowanus resident Shii Ann Huang, a licensed associate real estate broker for Compass’ Shii Ann Huang Team. With median asking rents of $3,123 and median asking sales prices of $1.6 million as of October 2021, Gowanus is a worthy splurge. (Especially compared to Brooklyn’s median rent price of $2,600 and sales price of $948,000 according to the StreetEasy Data Dashboard.) Here is everything you need to know about Gowanus before you go-go. 

Gowanus Rentals Under $3,000 on StreetEasy Article continues below

Gowanus

517 Third Avenue

$2,278 No Fee

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1

Gowanus

260 Fourth Avenue

$2,375 No Fee

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1

Gowanus

250 Fourth Avenue

$2,550 No Fee

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1

Gowanus

112 15th Street

$2,650 No Fee

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1

Gowanus

168 12th Street

$2,400 No Fee

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1

Gowanus

180 12th Street

$2,500 No Fee

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1

Gowanus

538 Fourth Avenue

$2,550 No Fee

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1

Gowanus

240 Third Avenue

$2,885 No Fee

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1

Gowanus

420 Carroll Street

$2,979 No Fee

Studio |

1

Gowanus

420 Carroll Street

$2,957 No Fee

Studio |

1

Gowanus

240 Third Avenue

$2,991 No Fee

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1

Gowanus

571 Union Street

$2,500 No Fee

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1

Gowanus, Brooklyn’s History

Just call it Ye Olde Gowanus. The neighborhood is named after “Gouwane” (translation: the sleeper), a member of the area’s indigenous Canarsee tribe. Thanks to its marshy meadowlands, it made a prime spot for Dutch grist mills in the 1600s—so prime it became the first Dutch settlement in all of Brooklyn. By the mid-1800s, the humble Gowanus creek was transformed into a canal to support the industrial revolution, with bountiful factories like tanneries and paper mills springing up along its bank. Now that the Gowanus neighborhood is a plummy residential area, those former warehouses provide an element of “cool” that can’t be newly recreated today. 

Gowanus Homes Under $750K on StreetEasy Article continues below

Gowanus

161 12th Street

$599,000

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0.5

What’s The Deal With the Gowanus Canal?

As of this writing, 2022 is a big year for Gowanus. That’s when the Environmental Protection Agency anticipated they would complete dredging the upper Gowanus Canal. That’s right: because of its industrial history, the 100-foot-wide Gowanus Canal is a Superfund Site, which isn’t (ahem) super fun. The good news is the contaminated sediment is being dredged fast; some 35,000 cubic yards of it went by buh-bye in October 2021. 

“People who don’t really know about Gowanus think of it as a polluted industrial site, but it’s not that,” Huang says. “It’s a cool mix of industrial buildings and low-rise buildings, and for now, it has beautiful light.” Not to mention the perks of the water itself, including the Gowanus Dredgers Canoe Club, which will happily show you how to row-row-row your boat gently down the stream. “Gowanus has cool activities,” Huang says. “And the canal is quite pretty at sunset and sunrise.”

Brooklyn Rentals Under $3,000 on StreetEasy Article continues below

Crown Heights

289 Empire Boulevard

$1,875 No Fee

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Greenpoint

77 Commercial Street

$2,780 No Fee

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1

Bedford-Stuyvesant

57 Herkimer Street

$2,275 No Fee

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1

Clinton Hill

108 Steuben Street

$2,175 No Fee

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1

Flatbush

1457 Flatbush Avenue

$2,739 No Fee

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Flatbush

1457 Flatbush Avenue

$2,646 No Fee

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1

Bedford-Stuyvesant

41 Kosciuszko Street

$2,995 No Fee

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1

Farragut

909 East 49th Street

$2,400 No Fee

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1

Prospect Lefferts Gardens

258 Winthrop Street

$2,850 No Fee

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1

Bushwick

96 Himrod Street

$2,995 No Fee

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1

Fort Hamilton

9255 Shore Road

$2,295 No Fee

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1

Gravesend

100 Avenue P

$2,200 No Fee

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Living in Gowanus

“What I love about Gowanus is that its sort of the sleepy, artistic cousin between Park Slope and Carroll Gardens,” Huang says. Ringed by Fourth Avenue to the East, the Gowanus Expressway to the south, Bond Street to the West, and Wyckoff Street to the North, the neighborhood is beloved for its low-scale architecture that lends a 19th-century feel. (Most buildings flanking the canal are six stories or less.) Huang says one major perk is the local Whole Foods, but says parking in the neighborhood can be precious — to the tune of $450 or $500 per month to rent a slot for your car in some Gowanus luxury buildings. There is currently no ferry from Gowanus into Manhattan, but you can get to Midtown in around 30 zippy minutes via the N or D train from Union St. 

Brooklyn Homes Under $750K on StreetEasy Article continues below

Sheepshead Bay

2940 Ocean Avenue

$299,000

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Midwood

1494 Ocean Avenue

$610,000

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1

Brighton Beach

2934 Brighton 4th Street

$649,000

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1.5

Crown Heights

767 Eastern Parkway

$275,000

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1

Brooklyn Heights

150 Joralemon Street

$715,000

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1

Downtown Brooklyn

122 Ashland Place

$440,000

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1

East Flatbush

3500 Snyder Avenue

$349,000

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1

Windsor Terrace

30 Ocean Parkway

$600,000

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1

East New York

622 Snediker Avenue

$650,000

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2.5

Downtown Brooklyn

85 Livingston Street

$440,000

Studio |

1

East Flatbush

641 East 49th Street

$695,000

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2

Crown Heights

35 Crown Street

$499,000

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Parks & Green Spaces

Truth: Gowanus is not known for its lush and leafy parks, though the city is working on it. And organizations like the Gowanus Tree Network are planting and caring for trees to create a “healthy urban forest.” Bill Caleo, a Brooklyn-based developer and builder who is co-founder of The Brooklyn Home Company, sees big, green things on the horizon. “When the Canal is cleaned up, we truly believe the area will be the next great public park area in New York City,” he says. 

Queens Rentals Under $3,000 on StreetEasy Article continues below

Long Island City

33-01 38th Avenue

$2,856 No Fee

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1

Astoria

32-43 33rd Street

$2,500 No Fee

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Sunnyside

45-38 42nd Street

$2,000 No Fee

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South Richmond Hill

103-35 120th Street

$2,149 No Fee

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1

Ditmars-Steinway

21-21 24th Street

$2,000 No Fee

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Astoria

25-45 18th Street

$2,500 No Fee

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Astoria

32-36 48th Street

$2,999 No Fee

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Sunnyside

41-08 41st Street

$2,500 No Fee

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Elmhurst

74-28 Woodside Avenue

$1,899 No Fee

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Glendale

78-41 79th Street

$2,099 No Fee

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Bayswater

10-10 Hartman Lane

$1,725 No Fee

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Middle Village

79-37 69th Avenue

$2,900 No Fee

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What To Do in Gowanus

“Fun in Gowanus for me would be to spend time at Brooklyn Boulders with my kids doing some amateur rock climbing, eating ice cream at Ample Hills, or enjoying barbecue at Pig Beach or Dinosaur BBQ,” Caleo says. The best pie place is here too, Huang says — Four & Twenty Blackbirds, run by a pair of sisters. It’s the place to pick up lemon chess or salted caramel apple pie on your way home from work.

Gowanus is also a salvaged architectural materials mecca — key if you’re looking to upgrade your space with a timeworn wood mantel or old subway tile. “Some of it closed during the pandemic, but you can definitely along 9th street find cool architectural salvage shops,” Huang says. “The commercial, industrial elements of Gowanus are one of the things that makes it cool. You can have your neighborhood restaurants and pottery throwing place and a welding shop—it’s all here.”

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