Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams isn’t surprised by Brooklyn’s rising stock on the U-Haul Top 10 U.S. Destination Cities for 2014, but rather that it failed to land five spots higher.
“We’re traveling there soon!” Adams declared.
Grabbing No. 6, Brooklyn is on the destination cities list, up one spot from its 2013 ranking. These rankings reflect the top destinations of one-way U-Haul truck rentals for the past calendar year.
Jane’s Carousel, Brooklyn Bridge Park (Julienne Schaer/NYC & Company)
While migration trends don’t correlate directly to a city’s population or economic growth, they are a strong gauge as to how well cities are attracting new residents.
U-Haul trucks have found their way to Brooklyn in large numbers since 2008, when New York City’s most densely populated borough ranked No. 16 on the destination cities list. It was No. 13 as recently as 2011, but Brooklyn’s population rose 4.7 percent (or 117,000 residents) from 2010-14, well ahead of city’s 3.9 percent pace across the five boroughs, according to the Department of City Planning.
“People from across the country and the world are moving to Brooklyn because we are on the cutting edge of excitement, from trendsetters in Williamsburg and beat-makers of Bed-Stuy, to brownstoners in Park Slope and Coney Island’s longstanding sideshow,” Adams said. “More than a tree grows in Brooklyn; we are a safe place to raise healthy children and families and the true center of the universe.”
From Brooklyn Bridge Park to the $1 billion, 3-year-old Barclays Center, home to the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets and many marquee concerts, there is always something to do and somewhere to go in Brooklyn.
And New Yorkers long to be living in the middle of it all.
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“It’s mostly young people moving here from all across America,” Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce President Carlo Scissura said.
“It’s real life. It’s not Disneyland or corporate America. The great thing about Brooklyn is that you have a great artisanal food scene, music scene, design scene, innovation economy and great transportation. There’s a variety of housing, from brownstones to high rises to living on the water to houses with backyards and swimming pools.”
Johanna Zaki, executive director of the Alliance for Coney Island, noted the top visitors for the world-famous amusement park are “still Brooklyn residents who want somewhere affordable and not too far away to go on a Saturday with their kids.”
“(Growth) is affecting us in a positive way,” Zaki said. “Private entities want to build up here. Coney Island is also a residential live-in neighborhood with 50,000 residents.
“Historically, when a tourist thinks about coming to New York City, they think about Manhattan and, in particular, Times Square. Over the past year, Brooklyn has been coming to the surface as a destination city.”
Once people get a taste of Brooklyn’s neighborhoods and attractions, classic New York appeal and business opportunities, its “cool factor” lures them back as borough residents.
And when residents need moving and storage assistance in Brooklyn, U-Haul is there to help.
“Brooklyn is cool and there are a lot of things going on people are attracted to, especially the younger set,” said Will Wolff III, marketing company president for U-Haul Company of Brooklyn Queens Staten Island, who has been in New York since 2004.
“There’s a lot of transition, a lot of moving within the city. There are a lot of one-way U-Haul trucks coming here, but I don’t notice because they turn right around (and are rented for outbound trips). There are a lot of communities we still want to serve, but we’ve landed in the right market. There are a lot of interesting things happening in Brooklyn.”
Continue to visit myuhaulstory.com as the U-Haul Top 10 U.S. Destination Cities for 2014 counts down to No. 1.
Additional photo credits: (featured image) Brooklyn Bridge Park, Marley White/NYC & Company; (thumbnail) Brooklyn street view, Phil Kline/NYC & Company.
U.S. Destination Rankings
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