Museums, parks, community gardens, and neighborhood events make Fort Greene and Clinton Hill great destinations for daylong adventures, and help explain the influx of families choosing in recent years to make their homes in these historic neighborhoods.
 
The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) alone offers movies, plays, recitals, and concerts almost every night of the week. This neighborhood fixture, America's oldest continuously operating performing arts center since 1861, also has an in-house restaurant and bar. The Rubelle and Norman Schafler Gallery on Willoughby Avenue at Grand Street has rotating art exhibits. The Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts (MoCADA) on Hanson Place offers exhibitions, public programs, community outreach initiatives, and educational interactive tours. Then there’s UrbanGlass, the first artist-access glass center in the United States and now the largest. The space educates 900 students from around the world per year, and offers tours, classes, and studio space.
 
Fort Greene Park has a rotating schedule of events throughout the year. But you don’t need to check a calendar to head over for a round of tennis, game of soccer, or nice jog around the park’s perimeter. There’s also a playground for kids, and off-leash hours for dogs from 9 p.m.-9 a.m. A farmers’ market is held 8 a.m.- 5 p.m. year-round along the eastern side of the park every Saturday.
 
Fort Greene and Clinton Hill boast a plethora of community gardens—including the Hollenback on Washington Avenue between Gates and Greene avenues (one of 34 community gardens part of the Brooklyn Queens Land Trust); Brooklyn Bear’s, and Greene Garden. Each of these keeps hours in which the public can visit, talk to the people running the gardens, or even sign up as a volunteer.
 
Fort Greene Festival is an annual event loaded with artists, musicians, and performers of every stripe; while the Fort Greene Flea Market offers outdoor shopping and strolling from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. on Saturdays.
 
The Clinton Hill branch of the Brooklyn Public Library keeps a regularly updated calendar of family friendly events; or you can check in with the Clinton Hill Blog for things happening in the area.
 
By Nicole Caldwell