What's your favorite neighborhood to live in?

Grammercy

Midtown East, is there another?

ddrd and i on the same page. love living in Midtown East

our leased apartment is in gramercy and we really love the area for its convenience and wonderful restaurants. Drdrd/eastsidebroker, could you define Midtown East and explain the attraction as we're not famiiar with that area. thanks.

Central Village. 9th-12th between Fifth and Sixth, while I'm dreaming. Still kind of regret trading that for more space in the West 70s.

for me the best part of midtown east is from Lexington to the Sutton Place South/Beekman from e57th-e48th or so. The very best part (to me) would be east of 3rd ave fom e52-e49th. Beautiful old townhomes, great prewar coops and some modern condos along the avenues. Good proximity to Central Park (compared to some other neighborhoods anyway) lots of shopping, dining etc, great transportation

for living i'm with NWT, although i'd extend to university. and i really like certain blocks a bit north of 14th, between 5th and 6th.

i realy adore the east village, but the housing stock isn't worth it.

i like many neighborhoods, though. gramercy, midtown east. the food issue makes the uppers a bit hard for me personally, although there has been much improvement.

the central village is beautiful but so expensive

I agree with Eastside about midtown east but I'm gaga about the older structures & just sort of ignore the newer towers & try to visualize what the area was like in the 1930s, 40s & 50s. I also love
Tudor City & I find that I'm constantly pulled east to the river.

i don't love the steel and glass towers either...just illustrating that they are there for those who like them. beekman place is probably my all time favorite street in the neighborhood.

on a side note i have been in the apartments at 207 east 57th street
if you are going to live in a highrise condo in the neighborhood, that one is about as good as it gets

Midtown East is okay if you are of a certain age. The central and west village are very quaint. But give me CPW with a view of central park and the midtown skyline. A close second would be Riverside Dr with a view of the park, Hudson River, GWB and soldiers and sailors' monument.

of a certain age? what age?

65+ The hospitals are very good.

pmg, i dont have an demographic info on the neighborhood....but i live here, and i would have to say that the neighborhood as a whole is substantially younger than that. that might have been the case in the past, but check the stroller situation on any given day. lots of youngish parents, and younger professionals.

eastsidebroker, I'm kidding.

mjh1962: I love the UWS too but what "great restaurants" are you talking about?!!! That's the main reason I leave the uws!

mid east is probably week on "great" restaurants, unless you are talking about the ultra high end four season, le cirgue, smith and wolly's. there are tons of good neighborhood style restaurants, not necessarily destination spots...

Upper Eastside.
Boring, family oriented, safe cleanish streets, little to no nightlife.
I'll come to your hood to make noise and then return to mine to sleep.

No votes for Tribeca . . . . anyone . . . ?

i dont know why i don't love tribeca, but i dont....maybe too industrial feeling in spots

not enough diversity in style of housing stock either for my taste

Midtown east is ok as long as you don't have kids. I lived just south of there for a while in Rose Hill.
Rose Hill I believe to be north of Murry Hill and south of Turtle bay. It was named after the farm that exsisted on ths same location. Talk about no mans land. To be in the center of this city and the middle of nowhere at the same time. Interesting dicotemy.

I have to say that my 2nd choice is Central Park South with either a view of the park or south to midtown - IF you can afford it.

I'm thinking about my future which hopefully includes at least one child so I would have to pick the Upper West Side anywhere between west 65th to west 93rd ideally. The east side just doesn't do it for me and as much as I would love to live in the village, I'm afraid it's out of my budget.

for my bpc is my favorite... never thought i would say that
my last stop in nyc will be central village- have loved it since i was a kid

Why are the taxes in BPC so expensive, it's not just b/c of the Park there is it? If so, that's kinda crazy.

BPC - the buildings are all on land leases. Lots of previous discussions about this you can investigate i Streeteasy in the old discussions.

Lases--I love Henry's, Cafe Du Soleil, ouple of great diners, lots up around 110th near Columbia. Good markets, Garden of Eden and Westside Market, Absolute Bagels. I know those are not really restuarants but.. It by no means has the amount of restaurants that the village or Chelsea does, but for what I consider a quiet residential neighborhood its pretty good. Mind you I lived in BPC for 6 years and that was the worst neighborhood ever for restaurants--so I'm grading on a curve :-)

UWS is so lovable, isn't it? Favorite spot is around AMNH. But, we've moved a bit north and am really enjoying 86th and northward. Riverside drive is truly lovely up there and the playgrounds are spectacular. Recently discovered Hippo park and its the bomb (for our 15 mos old anyway!). For kids, UWS can't be beat. I'm convinced. I love it! Did I mention that I love it?

UWS does not have "great" restaurants imo. Hubby and I were just discussing this today. Trade-offs.

I should add, this is the only manhattan neighborhood that I've ever lived in, so my assessment may not be completely balanced....

I lived in the west village when wife and I first met. It was such a great place to live and we had the time of our lives there 8yrs ago. Now, we have a 3yr old in tow and Markt has now changed into an Apple Store and the view from Pastis patio has morphed from an S&M club to the gleaming Gansevoort Hotel ("rated the hippest hotel in the world" according to its website). We are UWS all the way now and I think we've outgrown the West Village a little, or its left us behind, or something to that effect... We're clearly not cool enough for the WV anymore. We don't stray far and mostly eat in. We love 80's and 90's and in the parks every spare day we have. We have a toboggan hill 2 blocks away in Riverside Park when the weather gets lousy. When its too hot to bear we go down to the river where there's always a cool breeze and a couple of casual places to eat or have a drink and watch the sunset. Next year I expect to moor the sailboat at the 79th st. boat basin and add that element to our UWS life. The 2/3 out our front door gets us back down to the village in minutes if we want but we find ourselves going back less and less now. These are the only two places I have ever lived in the city. Wants and needs change and thankfully the city always seems to have an abundance of options as you get less and less hip.

The Upper East Side because nobody wants to live there anymore.

spin, on so many levels i agree with you. but i'm reminded by a comment made to me when a mother picked up her child from a playdate at our chelsea loft.

she said, and i more or less quote verbatim, when i was young i really wanted to live in a loft. but then i had children and had to grow up.

uwsmom, love hippo park. what a treasure.

Surely the best neighborhood for me (I have kids) in which to "live" in not in NYC. Sorry folks but let's get real, the weather alone is all the reason I need to prove my point. We really like Newport Beach CA - so "why don't you move there?" you ask - well, I think NYC is the best city in which to work. The jobs here, the access to capital, the access to talented employees makes NYC the best place to build a business. My number is $10M - once I can fly out of here with my check we'll see you later.
Don't get me wrong, I love the City, but certainly there are much more livable places. I'll always keep a place here though, NYC is a fabulous city to visit and I see myself spending several weeks here per year after I leave.

Jazzman, lots of us have kids. I disagree that NYC isn't a great place to live with a family ~ but, to each his own. I grew up in a small costal town too (S.FL)and I would never raise my kids there. Boring. No culture. ZERO diversity. so-so schools, false sense of security (Jaycee Dugan anyone?). I love having kids here & have no intention of ever leaving until the kids are grown & we retire. Btw, if you can swing a modest country home it goes a long way for giving the kids the best of both worlds.

I think spinnaker1 hits the nail on the head for this post. NYC has a lot of options, so as your life changes you can move from one neighborhood to another that suits your current taste and needs. As for 'best' in livability I think Chelsea is great - restaurants, shopping & transportation galore - plus easy access to Hudson River Park & High Line Park. As for 'best' in classic NYC style I think UWS above the nasty Trump shit in 60's/70's. Has 2 of the City's most gorgeous parks, tons of old world architecture, tree-lined streets with lots of shops and restaurants and an overall great vibe.

For those of us new to the area - BPC = ? And ANMH?

BPC = Battery Park City
AMNH = American Museum of Natural History

Re: UWS vs other "hipper" areas - we moved here in our mid-twenties, w/o kids, spent a lot of time in other neighborhoods and still decided on UWS. Though, I'm probably not naturally "cool" and have never had the time or energy to try to be. I was happy to leave drunken youth behind in college (though maybe i'm confusing WV with other areas down there...does WV have a calmer vibe?)

i don't want "hipper" but i'd like some better food. actually, for the most part the food is awful in Chelsea, although easy access to better food.

uwsmom - our fav WV restaurant for years has been http://www.theplaceny.com

Very calm, intimate, secluded and worthy of lining up a babysitter.

Spin, did you and your wife used to go to Mother? Click and Drag, Long Black Veil - probably the only club I miss. Believe me, the WV/Meatpacking is MUCH less hip than it used to be, though those who make it so would never understand.

Central and West Village are great for a family with kids.

All the parks are now redone, great zoned schools, great transportation.

Lots of affordable kid-friendly restaurants in the EV.

Lases - agreed that the City is a great place to raise kids, but I worry about my kids once they get to High School. I just don't think the High School experience here in the City is as good as it is outside. Agree that a home out of the City is great (but we choose to vacation often in the summer to ensure we don't go crazy rather than buy something - I think renting beats owning).

I've lived UES, UWS, FiDi, & Cobble Hill (in the last 10 years), and I gotta say, Cobble Hill is by far my favorite.

Is Cobble Hill in Brooklyn broadwayron?

Cobble Hill. Brooklyn represents!

yes, luchias. i really liked boerum hill in the '90s, but i don't know what it's like now, or how it would compare to cobble hill.

i was looking to rent in 1985 in Cobble Hill/Carroll Gardens, with a college friend who was not my boyfriend, but we were only looking at two bedroom apartments. one agent suggested that i purchase a cheap wedding band. said many of the lls would prefer it.

Upper Eastside then Midtown East. For some reason, the Upper Eastside and Midtown East are the cleanest, safest, nicest parts of the city. There are great restaurants that aren't too pricey and aren't pretentious, no hipsters, nice people, parks galore, the requisite amount of nail places/sushi places/starbucks on every corner. It's just comfortable.

The east side is congested with people and traffic, unless you are very far east or Yorkville, which is the urban equivalent of the boonies.

Not really neighborhoods, but favorite streets and blocks, not necessarily in any order: Riverside Park in the 70's, the mews just north of Washington Square, Elizabeth Street in Nolita, the wide streets in Carroll Garden, all of Red Hook, Rutherford Square, Inwood west of Broadway.

Any votes for Soho?

Gold Coast & West Village, Carnegie Hill (especially close to 5th Avenue), Fifth Avenue from the 60's to the 90's (what do you call the part just south of Carnegie Hill on Fifth?)

I love Red Hook so much fun--its just hard to get to, but the Fairway, Ikea and amazing gallaries make it worth the trip!

I used to love Crosby street, and Grand Street, but all of Soho is now overrun with tourists 24/7. From 5AM to 10AM maybe? Otherwise it's getting to be Times Square South.

Spin, that was beautiful.
My love affair with the WV started back in 1983, rolling out of Tortilla Flats at 3AM, brushing by the 55 gallon drums of burning wood mixed with the smell of blood and animal flesh as we made small talk with the roaming transvestite professional sex workers. Hard to imagine that it would become what it has. As for the UWS, my years living on W84(never more) and Riverside put me in total agreement.

LOL @ maly.

almost forgot...love the sailboat idea...count me in as crew..............skipper

Heh, yeah, Brooklyn. I don't think where a person lives says much about them, but where they WANT to live does. Like, I can find some good & bad in most neighborhoods, but Cobble Hill has so many more advantages for me than most other places (I think I've covered most of NYC in the last 10 years- I walk around a lot). And, I didn't really take price into consideration... hell, at the same price, I'd rather live in CH than the West Village or Soho. Like, if I won the lottery (which, technically isn't possible, since I don't play), I'd probably buy a place in Cobble Hill. (I currently own now, but my place is small.) So, even if price wasn't a consideration, I'd still pick Cobble Hill- I like it that much.

pete, I can't even stand walking around in Soho let alone live there with all the tourists lolly-gagging through the sidewalks. The only thing worse I'd say would be living in Times Square. Tribeca is just as cool w/o the Nikon toting, black-socks with sneakers, fanny-packers to dodge.

jazzman, I'm a total freak about drinking & driving having had 2 friends killed in H.S. I'll take my chances here in NYC that when kids'll be kids at least they don't have to get behind a wheel. Besides that, bordem can be a huge source of trouble for teenagers. I think if you do your job as an involved parent your kids are safe here has anywhere else in the country.

The thing that's SO Great about NYC is all this different neighborhoods on one small island and everyone loves their's the best! Very cool

I agree Mjh1962, NYC is so cool that way. broadwayron how long of a commute is Cobble Hill to the City?

broadwayron, amen. What is still stunning to me is that some people will jump down your throat for saying such a thing - like you've convinced yourself that the "compromise" is actually what you wanted in the first place. Happiness seems to offend at times.

Spinnaker, my story was like yours and I can tell you what happens next. When I met my husband I lived in a tiny but wonderful rent-controlled 1-br on Grove Street (rent: $200) He lived on East 10th by St. Marks Church. Listened to Jazz at Bradley's and ate burgers at Buffalo Roadhouse. Then we got married, had kids, moved to 2br on West End AVenue. Sent kids to school. When kids started killing each other, moved to a 3 br closer to school. New York is a great place to bring up kids if you can afford it - the playground has many more kids, more diversity of kids, and better equipment than any backyard. The ability to wander into a museum for an hour or so and not make a big deal of it is fabulous. The fact that they don't drive when they are teens keeps their parents sane. We were a nice family in a nice family apartment in a nice family neighborhood, but since the family is gone, why stay? We always said then the kids left, we'd move back to the Village. But now that they are gone, the Village has moved to Williamsburg. So we're looking there. Little bars with good music. Little quirky restaurants -- places you wouldn't want or need if you had kids at home. Designy stores and little boutiques. We see other grey-hairs at the open houses - just hope it isn't ALL post-hipsters like us who move there.

broadwayron how long of a commute is Cobble Hill to the City?

The fastest route for me is the 4/5 from Court St Boro Hall, but I usually take the F if I am reading a good book. I walk out my door at 7:07 and get to the 14th street stop (6th ave) at 7:25 - 7:28. That includes my walk to the train. Door to door (which is all that matters to me), I can get to any part of Manhattan I want to be in usually less than 30 minutes. I rarely go above 59th st, though (actually, I don't normally go above 23rd st). Also, getting to Williamsburg is a breeze on the G- it was a nightmare getting home from there when I lived on the UES or UWS.

"designy stores and little boutiques"

trinityparent, are you tired of bank branches, drug stores and starbucks?

thousands of drug stores, most with one or two cashiers. i'd walk a couple of blocks gladly instead of standing in line for twenty minutes (although it's usually enough time to read People).

And to actually answer the question, Nolita (specifically Elizabeth St, as someone mentioned). I loved my time there. One of the few areas in Manhattan with the character trinityparent describes (little quirky restaurants, boutiques, bars. etc.). I don't know how long it'll last as such but it's a real find, in my opinion. Was very close to buying there twice, but the apartments didn't quite cut it, which underscores the real lack of inventory here (it's a tiny neighborhood though, so no surprise). Eventually, I realized Williamsburg offered much of the same, with a much, much greater supply of housing, for significantly less money, and most likely a longer timeline (with Cinema Nolita moving and now closing, I'm a bit worried).

Nolita is fantastic for the no-kid crowd - lived on Mulberry for 3 years, great times. UWS for families, hands down.

mjh1962 - Red Hook is a lot easier to get to if you live here. And I agree - it's my favorite neighborhood. Great parks, an amazing pool, great restaurants (especially if you include Carroll Gardens South and Columbia Street Waterfront District), easy to get anywhere (as long as you have a car or a bike), Fairway, and yes, Ikea. It's not for everyone, but I love living here, and people who don't live here like to visit.
Tina
(Brooklyn broker)

I looked a loft at 30 Crosby Street, and the area was beautiful and very cool (as was the building) save the hoards of fat middle-American tourists waddling about. What a pity.

I love the looks of SoHo, though but I think I'll stick with Tribeca.