condo in brooklyn or queens - time to buy?

i live in a condo building in WB - been here 3 1/2 years from another part of brooklyn. there's more stalled empty lots rather than actual buildings that have a c of o because rental market is so strong. in commuting to manhattan terms, good for us - husband goes to midtown and i go to soho, each about 20-25 minutes total. i've had no problems with transportation and can get home quickly in a cab/car service (under 15 minutes).

in terms of shops, restaurants, venues, galleries, etc... WB, to me, beats LIC. i have spent a fair amount of time in LIC - enjoy walking or biking over pulaski bridge to the waterfront there or PS1, but find that the restaurants are not as good or as good of a value.

we have a kid who goes to PS84 (a magnet school with room - so no problems with overcrowding). they have an excellent dual language program in spanish which our kid is doing. PS132 is a good school with a gifted and talented program. on the WB/Greenpoint border, is PS31 which is also a magnet and a very strong school academically.

i lived over in Cobble Hill and know downtown Brooklyn area. i just personally find it not neighborhoody (not a word!) enough for me and too close to the projects.

if you have a car, the proximity in WB to Queens for the big stores, ie: pathmark, home deport, big old navy, PC richards, big Target, etc.. a huge plus and the proximity to the BQE a big advantage. we frequently go to lots of other places in Brooklyn like Fairway, IKEA, the Brooklyn Museum or out of town, and it's just easy.

in the long run, WB will see a lot of good things like the 50 million dollar pool renovation and continued waterfront renovation. we are big fans of the east river park, mccarren park and mcgolrick park. do also use Maxim gym and the Greenpoint Y all the time. manhattan avenue in greenpoint is super close and has everything from banks to toy stores and do shop there. if you never been, try Peter Pan for a donut - one of the best in the city.

we're super happy here - have made so many friends that we spend time with, I can't believe it. just a lot of laid back interesting people, and really do go out a lot in the neighborhood.

off the Lorimer and Graham stop, there's good value and lots of great day to day shopping - the old school italian places (butcher, baker, barber, fish shop, sandwich shop, etc.. ) on or near Metropolitan can't be beat.

good luck in your search.

Thank you wisco--that was very helpful.
What developments would people reccomend that I look at in both areas and what is a reasonable price psf? I have not used a broker, but would one be useful?
So far I have looked at 1 vernon Jackson, Citylights, Murano, Powerhouse, & Solarium in LIC and the Edge, Ninety North 5th, & NSP2 in Williamsburg