109 2nd Place Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, NY 11231

Carroll Gardens began crafting its distinctly serene identity in the 1960s, back when people still considered it part of Red Hook. Officially, a divide started in the 1940s when the construction of the Brooklyn-Queens and Gowanus Expressways created the broadly accepted present-day boundaries between the neighborhoods. However, it was as early as the 1860s that Carroll Gardens established its signature residential uniqueness. Carroll Gardens brownstones bucked the prevailing Brooklyn trends of the time, set farther back from the street than most to make room for their fantastic front gardens. A typical example of this style is still visible in the neo-Grec and late Italianate rectangle of rowhouses that comprise the Carroll Gardens Historic District. Yet whether home is a preserved landmark or located above a beloved local shop, people adore Carroll Gardens for that undeniable sense of freshness it plants in Brooklyn.