Park Slope Generic: "Is There a Park Slope in Boston?"

Is Park Slope a generic description for a certain kind of neighborhood? Well, the discussion is filling up the Park Slope Parents email list to judge by the number of them we've seen in the last twenty-four hours. It began with a Park Slope resident contemplating a Boston move and wondering "Is There a Park Slope in Boston?" Many answers have followed, and Brookline, Cambridge and Jamaica Plain seem to be leading "Park Slope" candidates, although Back Bay and other neighborhoods have been mentioned. One resident writes, "Brookline is beautiful and manicured and close to downtown but maybe not so diverse as Park Slope. Cambridge great but also pricey...." One response suggests Cambridge because "the population is very liberal (Cambridge is known as "The People's Republic of Cambridge")." Another suggests Arlington and Cambridge "although neither of them have a park like Prospect Park, they do have open green spaces (called "commons"), and plenty of playgrounds" and also Back Bay, "which is quite similar in architecture to Park Slope and has the added advantage of being close to downtown Boston and Boston Commons/Public Garden (where the famous swan boats swim); I imagine their school district is also pretty good. Jamaica Plain is also a good option to think about, as there are houses there and a some nice playing fields (Baseball and soccer)." OTBKB also has a nice item on the discussion this morning.

It did get us wondering about the Park Slopes of Seattle, San Francisco, Miami, Minneapolis, Denver, Atlanta, Dallas and Chicago, not to mention Portland, Los Angeles, Pittsburgh and Houston, but we like this reply best: "We're from Brookline, and we always say that Park Slope is the Brookline of New York."