jackhrobbins
Anybody planning on living in the West Village? I know it is a ways from Columbia, but my friend says that if you live near the 14th Street stop you can make it up to campus in about 30 minutes. I am also considering midtown West (columbus circle area) and the UWS (70s-80s). I would appreciate any comments on these three neighborhoods, in terms of what they are like. I am from southern California and Manhattan is totally foreign to me. Looks like West Village has lots of brownstone walkups, whereas the other two neighborhoods are dominated by 'full service' buildings with lobbies/doormen etc. I guess the West Village appeals to me because there seems to be more character to it, and better nightlife. Of course, there has to be a balance between that and price and commute! I have visited a few times, and will be back for the April admit event.
This is a pretty good article to acclimate you to the different NYC neighborhoods:
https://nymag.com/realestate/neighborhoods/2010/65374/I've lived near Columbus Circle and currently I live in the West 90s, and I have a couple of friends who've lived in the West Village. You're right in that the West Village has the most character to it if you mean young people infusing energy into an area (since it is near NYU). The Midtown West/Hell's Kitchen/Clinton area isn't bad, since 9th Ave is considered Restaurant Row with a ton of great restaurants and decent burgeoning bar scene. It also has a relatively high gay population, if that matters at all to you (but we're not talking like 50% of the population). Finally, I really think that the area labeled UWS is too generic to describe the entire area. If you live in the 60s or 70s, you have a good bar scene, good restaurant scene, and you'll be close to Central Park and Riverside Park (which are pretty important, since it's the closest thing to nature you'll have in Manhattan). The 80s and 90s are pretty boring, filled with families, and if you move to the area, you should probably find a wife, have some kids, and get a dog to fit in (I live up there and I don't have any of the three - at least to my knowledge - and I don't fit in). If you go up to the 110s near Columbia, you have a younger scene with a lot of Columbia kids, and it's actually not a terrible bar/restaurant scene. South Harlem is actually developing relatively nicely and the area has certainly gotten safer over the years. It is also the most affordable of all the places you are looking for. I don't have any data on me right now, but I think it would be fair to say that the difference in prices between the areas for let's say a 400 sq foot studio would be as follows:
W Village $2000 > Hell's Kitchen $1700 > 60s-90s $1500 > 100s and near Columbia $1300.
Hope this helps.
17 Jan 2011, 10:11
