{"id":1546,"date":"2014-02-24T00:20:44","date_gmt":"2014-02-24T05:20:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.renthop.com\/news\/?p=1546"},"modified":"2023-07-24T14:10:24","modified_gmt":"2023-07-24T18:10:24","slug":"four-questions-to-ask-when-picking-a-neighborhood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.renthop.com\/blog\/four-questions-to-ask-when-picking-a-neighborhood\/","title":{"rendered":"Four Questions to Ask When Picking a Neighborhood"},"content":{"rendered":"

What neighborhood do you want to live in?<\/a> It\u2019s one of the first questions you\u2019ll ask when you\u2019re looking for an apartment, and certainly one of the first that a real estate agent will ask. New York City<\/a> has so many diverse neighborhoods that it can be hard to pick between them. If you\u2019re new to the city it\u2019s even harder; you won\u2019t have direct experience, and unless your friends or relatives live there you have very few resources that you know you can trust. There are four questions to ask when picking a neighborhood around the city.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
That’s a lot of neighborhoods!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Source: <\/span>Beyond my Ken<\/a><\/p>\n

You need to narrow down your search at least a little bit. Below is our list of the four most important questions to ask, along with some resources to help you.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

(1)\u00a0 How Big is Your Net?<\/h2>\n

Some \u201cneighborhoods\u201d are extremely large areas; others are quite small. The Upper West Side<\/a> is enormous \u2013 almost 1.9 square miles and some 150,000 residents. SoHo<\/a> is much smaller \u2013 about 0.34 square miles and some 13,000 residents. The Upper West Side has at least four sub-neighborhoods (Manhattan Valley, Lincoln Square, Ansonia, Morningside Heights).<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The Ansonia, in the UWS.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Morningside<\/a>
Morningside Heights, also in the UWS, but very different.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sources: Ansonia<\/a>, Morningside Heights<\/p>\n

This matters a lot. First, smaller neighborhoods have fewer apartments from which to choose. If your heart is set on living in TriBeCa<\/a>, recognize that there won’t be many choices and that competition for them will be strong. Second, larger neighborhoods have diverse sub-neighborhoods. This means you might be able to find the best of all worlds \u2013 a small area that is different from, but complementary to, the neighborhood generally. (Imagine a quiet residential street just a few blocks off a busy avenue.) Be careful when you\u2019re looking at apartment listings, though; Morningside Heights and Lincoln Square are both in the Upper West Side, but are very different from each other.<\/p>\n

(2)\u00a0 What Neighborhood Characteristics are the Most Important?<\/h2>\n

Some things are generally true about New York. First, it\u2019s pretty safe (especially Manhattan); crime rates here are at are near the lowest among the top 25 U.S. cities by population<\/a>. You should check crime statistics for any neighborhood you\u2019re considering, though. (Here’s a great resource<\/a> for that.) Second, there are lots of people. New York is far and away the most populated city in the US, and even though some neighborhoods are less-crowded than others, you\u2019ll find few sparsely-populated neighborhoods.<\/p>\n

Almost everything else you can think of varies widely.\u00a0 Here\u2019s a short, non-exhaustive list of things you might think about:<\/p>\n

Personality.<\/em> What kind of people live there?\u00a0 How homogenous is the neighborhood? The personalities of New York\u2019s neighborhoods is a blog post all its own.<\/p>\n

\"Some<\/a>
Some awesome color in Chelsea, viewed from the High Line.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Source: KGS Imaging<\/a><\/p>\n

Building Features<\/h3>\n

Buildings with certain types of features are more common in some neighborhoods than others. For example, if you\u2019re dead-set on living in a luxury high-rise with doorman and elevator, you\u2019ll find that there are more choices in the Financial District and Midtown than in Murray Hill or Harlem. If you want a pre-war walkup, you won’t find much in Battery Park City.<\/p>\n

Social Outlets<\/h3>\n

Do you want to live somewhere with lots of bars, restaurants, movie theaters and shopping? Or would you prefer a quieter area?<\/p>\n

When you’ve figured out what’s important to you, the follow-up question is \u201cwhat tradeoffs are you willing to make to have those things?\u201d You may need to make some tough choices.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Learn more:<\/p>\n