How Healthy Is Your Neighborhood?
Ditmas Park/Flatbush
Score: 31/50
Available Green Space: 4
While these neighborhoods might not be too far from Prospect Park and the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens, they can’t claim any decently sized park as their own. It’s ironic, actually, that these parts of Brooklyn once used to be farmland and now have a scarcity of wide open green space.
Fresh Air: 5
Smack in the middle of Brooklyn, these neighborhoods are far away from the noose-like highways that border the borough’s waterfront. Car traffic is relatively light in quiet Ditmas Park, but is much heavier in Flatbush (let’s not even get into the nightmare that is driving on Linden Boulevard, ok?), making the walkability of the area not as pleasant as you’d want it to be.
Bicycling Infrastructure: 6
While there aren’t as many clearly marked bike lanes here as the avid cyclist might want, these neighborhoods are very convenient to get around by bike, due in no small part to the fact that this part of Brooklyn is relatively flat, so a lot of ground can be covered in very little time. Pro-tip: go out of your way to avoid Flatbush Avenue; it is a terror-filled death trap for cyclists.Gyms: 7
There are tons of gym options in the area, including a lot of discount gyms in Flatbush that offer crazy cheap rates that would make anyone who pays in the mid-three-figures each month to belong to the Equinox in Brooklyn Heights freak out.
Healthy Food Availability: 9
This is where both Ditmas Park and Flatbush really shine. There are a ton of great, cheap options for healthy vegetarian food in Flatbush, including brightly flavored curries and fresh juices at West Indian restaurants. Plus, the Flatbush Food Coop (all the great prices, none of the weirdness of the Park Slope Food Coop) is located on Cortelyou Road for all your shopping needs.