Bay Ridge’s development as a neighborhood has been relatively recent history. The area was chiefly rural and something of a summer retreat until 1892, after which the construction of Brooklyn’s first electric trolley greatly expanded access. Whispers of the subway’s arrival spurned growth in the early 1900s, even though the first stations wouldn’t open until the mid-1910s. By 1925, Bay Ridge’s population had doubled from where it was at the turn of the century. Today, Bay Ridge is a vibrant seaside community with plenty of open space to stretch your legs and put down roots. And worry not about being isolated on the southwest coast of Brooklyn; the R train affords Bay Ridge an abundance of subway service. A ferry terminal on the 69th Street Pier also provides passage to points along Brooklyn's western shores and the Financial District in Manhattan.