Neighborhood in central
Brooklyn, lying in the strip of land between
Prospect Park to the East and
Greenwood Cemetery to the West, and bisected by the Prospect Expressway.
Windsor Terrace, sloping steeply to the South and bordered by these by these parks, is bounded by Park Slope on the North and Kensington on the South. Befitting this, it is a transitional neighborhood, with the elegant and trendy late 19th century blocks of the outer reaches of the Brownstone Belt on the northern end gradually giving way to the working class apartment complexes and later era row houses of Southern Brooklyn as one heads South.
The neighborhood has an attractive location due to the large border it shares with Prospect Park and the elegant Bartel Prichard Square on its Western corner, reminiscent of monumental European traffic circles. The first development of the neighborhood occurred on the northern end in the late 19th and early 20th century as spillover from Park Slope, which was an elegant 'suburban' district at the time. In contrast to the slightly older developments of Park Slope with their dark stately brownstones set right against the street, many of the blocks of Windsor Terrace feature rows of homes with small front gardens reminiscent of suburban London. By the time development reached the downwardly sloping central and southern reaches of the neighborhood, the character of central Brooklyn had changed and now it was home to immigrant groups. These blocks were settled primarily by working class Irish and Italians. The Independent Subway arrived in the early 30s with stations at Bartel Prichard on the northern end and Ft. Hamilton Parkway on the southern.
The construction of the Prospect Expressway halved this already narrow strip of a neighborhood, severing streets and leading to many confusing dead ends. Gradually many of the former Irish and Italian blocks gave way to new immigrants, but some of the original character has been retained. In recent years, Windsor Terrace has been largely reconfigured as an extension of Park Slope, with young urbanites filling many of the apartments. Rents have risen to approach Park Slope levels (nearly $2000 for a two bedroom as of 2001), and as a sign of the neighborhood's attractiveness, apartments that are firmly within Kensington advertise as being in Windsor Terrace, just as a few years ago apartments in Windsor Terrace were advertised as being in the 'South Slope'.