The Old New Victorians

An ad for the Brooklyn Union Gas Company’s Brownstone Information Center.

A couple weeks ago we had breakfast with Everett Ortner, one of the first “brownstoners” to buy up a dilapidated house in Park Slope in 1963. This was during the time when most people were fleeing the city in favor of suburban life and it was difficult to even get a mortgage on a home in most urban neighborhoods. Everett and his wife Evelyn (who sadly passed away in 2006) were part of a small yet influential group of neighborhood activists who fostered a “Back to the City” movement, and advocates including the Ortners began giving lectures all over the country about enjoying the communal spirit that city living brings. Eventually, banks began to feel slightly more secure in lending to brownstone buyers, and by 1971, the New York Times reported that some 20,000 brownstones had been bought up in Brooklyn. The Brooklyn Union Gas Company – one of the movement’s greatest financial backers – even had a Brownstone Information Center at 23 Prospect Place.

We owe a lot to the founders of this movement for making a small dent in the American mentality and bringing us one step closer to a life free of suburban sprawl. Fifty years later, can the trend spill out beyond our historic neighborhoods and into the greater American conscience? And can we balance an increasing desire to live in cities with the need to keep them affordable for all? Seems a tough challenge, but ultimately worth it.

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