OUTLOOK

What's new: The planned giant waterfront Fairway shopping-and-condominiums complex on Van Brunt Street, approved last year, is under construction. Prime for future conversions: the blocks south of Commerce Street and east of Van Brunt, as well as Coffey Street between Conover and Ferris, which has cobblestone streets and dock views. Business owners hope to turn Columbia Street into Red Hook's Smith Street; Japanese, Mexican, and Italian restaurants have opened recently.

Bargain hunting: Good buys can be found throughout the neighborhood, really, but the blocks surrounding the entrance of the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel are particularly inexpensive.

Prediction: Gentrification is coming—witness the steadily climbing prices of the past several years—but the transition is still in its early stage, and mostly confined to the blocks near the water. A good choice for the very long haul if you don't mind a substantial march to the train.

— Profile from the March 10, 2003 cover story of New York Magazine