Manhattan - Most upside

Upper East Side Manhattan between 59th and 96th near the east river (east of 2nd avenue). When the 2nd avenue train is built, this area will be priced without the discounted for being so far away from the subway. In addition, there are great schools, quiet neigbhorhoods and amazing shopping/restaurants. LES is overpriced already, and upper upper Manhattan will aways be too far away.

For what it's worth, Phase 1 of the 2nd Ave subway (which is only the northern most part of the line and only 1 of 4 distinct phases) is not scheduled to be completed until 2013. Since these projects never seem to be finished on time, I would guess that the full economic benefit of the line will not be realized until after that point - and possibly even longer since that is only the first of 4 phases.

I'm guessing downtown/financial district does well as transportation and outdoor space is plentiful - just a guess.

Harlem. Absolutely Harlem, Morningside Hgts, Inwood, Washington Hgts AND Hamilton Heights.

It's interesting but after months of searching new condo developments, the small to mid-size condos around Manhattan are now turning to "virtual doorman." The virtual doorman system saves the property management $$$. It's a stupid voicebox which will allow people to see who their prospective guests are (i.e. video camera) and will allow postal workers to enter the building. There will be a private package room next to the mailbox area that will hold the tenant's packages. A special key will be dropped inside their mailbox for them to open the locker to grab their packages. All packages will be signed electronically by the virtual doorman system.

This is the only way the common costs will be lower than the actual "real" person guarding your apt. At the end of the day, $$$ versus safety... that's a debate that most people do not have an answer for yet. Let's see how it plays out as more private small developors are doing.

it's not "$$$ versus safety" it's $$$ versus convenience.

the last two posts are not addressing the question. to the post about harlem : what makes you say this?

Madison in the high 20s to mid 30s. Its becoming more of a liveable palce to live close to Madison park - flatiron.

How does a virtual doorman accept the packages when they are delivered? For example...if my friend drops off a gift for me...who takes it?

What friends? Your imaginary girlfriend from canada will never drop off a gift. NERD!!

shhhhhh... it's call myspace girlfriend... click.. click... click.. mmmm... add..click.. click...click... e-card... click..click...click... beeeeeeppppppp... delete

As to the question regarding how a virtual doorman (actually called Cyberdoorman) can accept a package drop off from a friend:

Very easily. CD has pre-existing relationships with all major carriers (USPS, UPS, Federal Express, and lots others…) When one of these carriers wants to deliver (or even a local messenger shows up), they will hit the buzzer for your unit. If you're home, ring them up. If not, the buzz then rings directly through to the CD office (manned 24/7/365). CD answers the buzzer, and they can buzz open the front lobby door from their remote location. In the lobby there are seperate drop areas for all carriers, dry cleaners, etc. (even a large refrigerated compartment for Fresh Direct deliveries and the like!). CD will open the appropriate area for that carrier, and the carrier or messenger will drop their package. If a receipt is requested, CD can print one online and it will print out at our site for the carrier to take with them. The system works because the lobby has an ‘air lock system’ consisting of two sets of doors – the first set will admit the carriers/dry cleaner/fresh direct people in to their specific closet/storage area, but the second set beyond the first stays locked.

In addition, if a relative or friend comes to visit and they don’t happen to have a key, CD will contact you on your cell and/or work phones, and if you allow, can admit your relative/friend through both sets of lobby doors and also open your private unit's front door remotely to allow access to your apartment without a key (if you so choose). If your friend is just dropping something off and you're neither home nor reachable via phone, they'll just get buzzed in to the front 'airlock' area, and CD will open your dropoff box for the delivery.

It’s a very slick system with lots of options that can be customized by each building according to their specific needs.

#7: I'm not #4, but here's the deal with Harlem. It's a huge area, so some points apply more in some parts of Harlem than in others.
A. Well-served by subway lines. The A & D, for example, stop at 125th Street, then the next stop is 59th Street / Columbus Circle.
B. Classic, vintage, pre-war, whatever you want to call it, architecture, which many people look for in a "real" NYC neighborhood.
C. Neighborhoody scale (like the West Village), so you know your neighbors, and few destinations that attract transients (unlike the West Village).
D. Very low crime compared with most of Manhattan (see statistics at http://www.nytimes.com/pages/realestate/communities/index.html by using the neighborhood pulldowns. US crime index = 100; 200 is double US average, 50 is half US average).
E. Good parks access.
F. Growing base of young individuals and families moving in for more space.
G. Fairly easy street parking and fairly cheap off-street parking.
H. Easy access to less-crowded river crossings (GWB and Triboro) for Hamptons, Poconos & Catskills getaways.
I. Fairway with free parking.

to #13: according to your link the crime in Harlem is lower than in any other part of Manhattan, including UES... sorry dude, I am not buying that

The most upside in 5-7 years will be the places that actually fall the least, not go up the most.

Historically by neighborhood, the prime Village has always been the last place where prices buckle, and the first place where prices snap back fastest after a downturn.

#14, that thought has occurred to me (#13), but those are the stats. Maybe the UES and other wealthy neighborhoods are especially juicy targets for burglars and muggers, maybe people in Yorkville have no sense of community and don't look out for their neighbors (don't want to get involved), maybe empty apartments during summer weekends and holidays are just waiting to be burglarized, maybe it's all insurance fraud, maybe people in Harlem don't report crimes to the police, maybe the precinct covers up crime . . . who knows? Or maybe you (and most others) believe in "brand names" in the absence of a real reason. As you might have guessed, though, I live in Harlem . . . and have for six years, and have never heard of any crime in my neighborhood in that time. So burglars, we have some unfilled positions in Harlem for you.

Statistics can always be twisted to whatever point you would like to make. Even if there is less crime... and you don't feel safe... does it matter what the stats say?

I live in Morningside Heights on Riverside Drive and it's great. I've lived in NYC for over 18 years in a variety of 'hoods' - East Village, Hell's Kitchen, etc - and MSH is the best thus far for a family. Since there are way more families staying in NYC - check out NY times article last week in metro section - and MSH is prime family area, I suggest giving it a look. It's far from perfect- for example, there are some restaurants but not thousands - but it's a 5 -10 minute subway ride to midtown, etc.

i looked for an apartment in morningside heights and can not find anything

thats because its hot!!!

keep looking, raise your budget!

#17, your first point is a good one. Although I don't know who's twisting the data that the NY Times posts on all neighborhoods -- are they out to 'get' the West Village, or glorify Harlem?

Your second point less so. If your unsafe feeling is irrational, it's good to become grounded in reality. For example, many people are afraid of flying, pray during takeoff, etc., even though passenger-for-passenger virtually nobody dies in commercial aircraft accidents. Yet those same people give no thought at all to riding in a car, and risking the lives of their loved ones in cars, even though we all know at least one person who has died in a car accident, and many more who have had serious car accidents.

What I suggest you do is talk to your friends who live on the UES (or any given neighborhood) and ask two questions, firmly framed:
1. In the past three years, withing x blocks of your home, in your home, or in your car parked in that area, have you personally been the victim of any crime.
2. Same framing, but ask if there is a person directly known by that person who has been a victim of any crime?
[Anything beyond that is hearsay, gossip, subject to a game of "telephone" in which the facts get altered, exagerrated, or smoothed over.]

Lastly, there are many who continue to perceive of NYC as unsafe, even while their suburban or rural areas have become hotbeds of crime and alienation. Nothing will ever convince them otherwise. Good!

New York will be down, Honk Kong, Pe king and Nan King will be up.

To # 13 (I am #14) I am not trying to say that Harlem is not safe, it's just you have to be reasonable in interpretation of these stats. Also I agree with you that if you are looking for a good investment you have to go to the are where you can still buy something for the reasonable price, and certainly Harlem, MSH, Manhattanville, LES, would be more of the "up and coming" areas than more established, hence more pricey areas.

chinatown

Hudson Heights, Two Bridges, Hudson Yards, Fulton/Wall St

Greenwich Village will always out perform all other parts of the city..buy now if you can afford it.

What the hell is Two Bridges, anyway? A term I'd never heard until it popped up here on SE. What is it, the Hasidic dominated Coops on Grand Street? Did LOHO Realty make that one up?