Our Neighborhood Guides

We’ve been working hard the last few months making updates to our website. One big change will be the addition of neighborhood guides in the neighborhoods we operate. When we first decided to add neighborhood guides, we had no idea the work that would go into them. It’s been quite a project!

Taking Photos

The best part has been traveling the city taking photographs. Sometimes this is easier than other times. The weather doesn’t always cooperate. On weekends when our kids are with us, they don’t always cooperate. Yesterday, my phone didn’t cooperate when my battery died, and I had to cut my travels short.

Some neighborhoods are easier to photograph than others just due to their natural beauty. My personal favorites are the West Village, the Upper West Side and Brooklyn Heights. I’m a sucker for pre-war buildings (in Brooklyn Heights, you might even ask, “which war?”).

Also complicating things is the layout of our neighborhood guides which requires horizontal photos.  In a vertical city, this has proven quite challenging, and I have found myself wishing I could use some of my vertical shots.

Here are some of my favorites so far (yes, I still have about 15 neighborhoods to photograph!!):

The best part of traveling the city by foot taking photos is that you get hungry along the way and get to stop and try lots of different food. I loved my gyro from BZ Grill in Astoria. I will never give up an excuse to go to SriPraPhai for their fried chicken with cashews and pineapple and their mango sticky rice. The tacos at Alta Calidad at Time Out Market in Dumbo were killer. I stopped for my favorite black and white cake from Amy’s Bread when I was photographing Hell’s Kitchen (ok, I got some in Chelsea Market too). I could go on and on. Yes, I have gained a few pounds since this project began.

Neighborhood Guides – Content

I spent the better part of two weeks drafting the guides. This was in August. Two+ months later and we still aren’t finished. What can I say, Dan and I are perfectionists, and he likes to add his personal touch to each one, making the process draaaaaaag on. At a certain point, I’m just going to have to cut him off and release these guides to the world!

We want our guides to be unique and informative, so we are including some fun facts and neighborhood favorites for each. Lots of research goes into each of these guides. I have learned a lot about the history of New York City putting these together. Having spent my whole life here, I was also able to add some of my own fun facts (like where Dan took me in Fort Greene on our first date, and, from personal experience, how different some of the neighborhoods are now compared to the 80s and 90s).

I think Dan had the most fun doing the write-up for the East Village neighborhood guide. He’s still secretly angry at me for ending our long distance relationship between the East Village and the Upper West Side and dragging him up to the Upper West Side. Don’t get me wrong, Dan loves the Upper West Side, but he misses his old East Village stomping grounds.

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Digs Realty is a residential real estate brokerage in NYC that provides full service at a discount. The Digs Mission: Saving you money without compromising service. We give our home buyers up to 67% of our commission and charge our sellers up to 4% less than traditional brokerages. For more information, view our website. Contact us at rebecca@digsrealtynyc.com or dan@digsrealtynyc.com.