New York Magazine has come out with another of their inimitable lists, the latest being – “The Most Livable Neighborhoods in New York.”
While I always read the New York magazine lists – “Best Bargains,” “Hippest Restaurants” or “Cheapest Lawyers Who Will Still Keep You Out of Jail,” I always take it with a grain of salt since it can be highly subjective (after all, I waited on line for about 2 hours at Artichoke pizza on 14th street to have a huge “am I missing something?” dining experience).
However, this list has incorporated some semi-scientific data into their calculations and resulting listing ranks. They compiled data that the Bloomberg administration gathers regarding life in New York (every element of life in the city—from potholes to infant-mortality rates is recorded), used sites like Yelp to provide a reasonably objective perspective on the popularity of neighborhood bars and restaurants, StreetEasy.com and Zillow.com to assess the costs of apartment space per square foot. “Even, ethnic diversity is now broken down in much finer gradients than black and white: You want to know how many Albanian-Americans there are in Sheepshead Bay? The answer is 734.”
They broke down this information into the following categories, weighted in order of importance:
Housing Cost: 25 percent
Transit: 13 percent
Shopping and Services: 9 percent
Safety: 8 percent
Restaurants: 8 percent
Schools: 6 percent
Diversity: 6 percent
Creative Capital: 6 percent
Housing Quality: 5 percent
Green Space: 5 percent
Health and Environment: 5 percent
Nightlife: 4 percent
The list gives an excellent evaluation. Obviously, every New York renter’s priorities are different (Nightlife and Schools seem to run in opposition to each other) but you’ll get a comprehensive overview of 50 neighborhoods. A pretty well-rounded choice of neighborhoods, as well, although a little heavy on Brooklyn but it was nice to see Staten Island wasn’t overlooked.
For those who want to cut to the chase – here are New York Magazines top 50 Most Livable Neighborhoods:
1. Park Slope
15th St. to Flatbush Ave., Prospect Park West to Fourth Ave.
2. Lower East Side
Canal St. to Houston St., East River to Bowery
3. Sunnyside
Greenpoint Ave. and First Calvary Cemetery to Northern Blvd. (along the census tract), 44th St. and Locust to Van Dam St.
4. Cobble Hill & Boerum Hill
Union St. to Wyckoff St/Warren St., Fourth Ave. to the harbor
5. Greenpoint
N. 14th St./Nassau Ave./McGuiness Blvd. to Newtown Creek, Newtown Creek to East River
6. Brooklyn Heights
Atlantic Ave. to Old Fulton St., East River to Court St./Cadman Plaza
7. Carroll Gardens & Gowanus
15th St. to Union St., Fourth Ave. to Interstate 278 (BQE)
8. Murray Hill
34th St. to 40th St., East River to Madison Ave.
9. Prospect Heights
Eastern Pkwy. to Atlantic Ave., Franklin Ave. to Flatbush Ave.
10. East Village
Houston St. to 14th St., East River to Fourth Ave.
11. Astoria
36th Ave. to Twentieth Ave./Con Ed Power Plant/19th Ave., Ditmars Blvd./BQE /Northern Blvd. to East River
12. Bay Ridge
65th St. to Interstate 278 (BQE), Belt Pwy. to Shore Rd.
13. Woodside
Calamus Ave./Maurice Ave./Maspeth Ave. to Northern Blvd., BQE to 44th St. and Locust
14. Tribeca
Vesey St. to Canal St., Broadway to Hudson River
15. Jackson Heights
Roosevelt Ave. to Grand Central Parkway, Junction Blvd./Jackson Mill Rd./94th St. to BQE
16. Long Island City
Newtown Creek to 36th St., Northern Blvd./Queens Blvd./Van Dam St. to East River
17. Midtown East
40th St. to 59th St., East River to Fifth Ave.
18. Fort Greene & Clinton Hill
Atlantic Ave. to Nassau Ave./Flushing Ave., Pratt Institute/Classon Ave. to Flatbush Ave.
19. Dumbo & Downtown Brooklyn
Dumbo: Sands St. to East River, Brooklyn Bridge (through to the Brooklyn Navy Yard) to Manhattan Bridge
Downtown Brooklyn: Wyckoff St./Warren St. to Sands St., Flatbush Ave. to Court St./Cadman Plaza
20. Williamsburg
Flushing Ave. to North 14th St./Nassau Ave./McGuinness Blvd./Meeker Ave., Newtown Creek to Kent Ave.
21. Central Greenwich Village
Houston St. to 14th St., Fourth Ave. to Sixth Ave.
22. Flushing, Queens
Horace Harding Expressway to Willets Pt. Blvd., Francis Lewis Blvd./Utopia Pkwy. to Whitestone Expressway and Van Wyck
23. Battery Park & Financial District
Battery Park City: Southern tip of Manhattan to Vesey St., Broadway to Hudson River
Financial District: Chambers St. to southern tip of Manhattan, East River to Broadway
24. West Village
Houston St. to 14th St., Sixth Ave. to Hudson River
25. Flatiron & Gramercy
14th St. to 34th St., East River to Broadway
26. Chelsea
14th St. to 29th St., Broadway to Hudson River
27. Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn
Sheepshead Bay to Ave. P/Kings Highway, Nostrand Ave./Gerritsen Ave./Knapp St./Shell Bank Ave. to Ocean Pkwy.
28. Soho
Canal St. to Houston St., Lafayette St. to Hudson River
29 Nolita & Little Italy
Canal St. to Houston St., Bowery to Lafayette St.
30. Brighton Beach, Brooklyn
Atlantic Ocean at the Riegelmann Boardwalk to Neptune Ave., Manhattan Beach at Corbin Place to Ocean Pwy.
31. Inwood
Dyckman St. to northern tip of Manhattan, Harlem River to Hudson River
32. Corona Park, Queens
Long Island Expressway to Northern Blvd., Van Wyck to Junction Blvd.
33. Red Hook, Brooklyn
Red Hook peninsula between Buttermilk Channel, Gowanus Bay, and Gowanus Canal to Hamilton Ave
34. Midtown West
29th St. to 59th St., Madison Ave. to Hudson River
35. Upper East Side
59th St. to 96th St., East River to Fifth Ave.
36. Upper West Side
59th St. (excluding Columbus Circle) to 110th St., Central Park West to Hudson River
37. Washington Heights
155th St. to Dyckman St., Harlem River to Hudson River
38. Riverdale, the Bronx
Harlem River to Yonkers, Van Cortlandt Park / Broadway to Hudson River
39. Sunset Park, Brooklyn
65th St. to 36th St. (along the south end of Greenwood Cemetery), Ninth Ave and Borough Park to Upper New York Bay
40. New Dorp, Staten Island
Cedar Grove Ave.to Staten Rapid Transit Railroad, Elm Tree Ave. to Oak Ave.
41. West Brighton, Staten Island
Forest Ave. to Richmong Ter., Bard Ave. to Clove Rd.
42. Chinatown
Chambers St. to Canal St., East River to Centre St.
43. St. George, Staten Island
Victory Blvd. to Richmond Ter., Bay St. to Westervelt Ave.
44. Belmont, the Bronx
E. 183rd St. to Fordham Rd., Southern Blvd. to Webster Ave.
Cheap rent ($675 on average), terrific Italian food, lots of Fordham students, but also high crime, tenement housing, and poor transit.
45. Co-op City, the Bronx
Relatively low crime rates and a diverse and distinctly middle-class population, but it’s more than an hour’s commute into Manhattan.
46. Morningside Heights
110th St. to 155th St., St. Nicholas Ave. to the Hudson River
47. Roosevelt Island
Although technically part of Manhattan, Roosevelt Island is an Island between Manhattan and Queens – running parallel to the East Side between East 59th Street to East 80th Street.
48. Bedford Park, the Bronx
Hall of Fame Terrace/Aqueduct Ave./Jerome Ave./Fordham Rd. to Woodlawn Cemetery/Moshulu Golf Course/Gun Hill Rd./ Jerome Ave., Webster Ave. and Bronx Park to Golden Ave. and Harlem River
49. Parkchester, the Bronx
Cross Bronx Expwy – Westchester Ave. to East Tremont Ave., Castle Hill to Bronx River Pkwy.
50. Harlem
Central Harlem: 110th St. to Harlem River, 5th Ave. to St. Nicholas Ave.
East Harlem: 96th St. to Harlem River, East River to 5th Ave.
