3 Ave, Kips Bay

East 30th does have some really lovely parts. It mixes in just about every type of person. NYU medical is right on the river at 30th so there are a lot of students, business professionals, rich people who live in the old townhouses, and of course, plenty of tourists. There isn't really much here in the way of nightlife, but if you work nearby, it wouldn't be an awful place to live.
I don't know what it is with midtown and rugs, but East 30th has about a million rug stores and textile places. I guess if you want a rug and don't want to spend an obscene amount of money at ABC Carpet, then East 30th might be a good bet.
There's a place called the ThirtyThirty Hotel at the corner of Madison that has a bit of history. It used to be a residence for only women. Jacqueline Susann lived here and they shot a scene from the movie Valley of the Dolls in the downstairs space. It used to house a big club called Danceteria where Madonna was first discovered and Sade was a waitress. I think it's kind of crummy now, but then again, no one really goes to midtown. The Murray Hill animal hospital is right across the street and NYU Medical Center is only a few blocks east. So, if anything in your home is sick or injured, East 30th is a good bet for a street.
The block between Park and Lex is one of the few blocks in midtown that retained some of the old, beautiful homes from the 19th century. They are pretty stunning and you almost wish for a split second that you lived there. . . then you remember what neighborhood it is and just press on with your day. The apartment buildings between 3rd and Lex are of the same vein but just in the apartment arena. They are all old and really lovely. There are a few little hotel / inns on this block that are also quite old. I've never stayed in them seeing as I live in the city but they're pretty cute from the outside.
There are a couple of bars on the very eastern blocks of 30th that are pretty cool and they are huge NYU Medical hangouts. If you want to go trolling for soon -to - be doctors, this is the spot. There's also a horrific apartment building at 2nd and 30th that I'm assuming a lot of them live in. It was designed by IM Pei and it looks like something out of a concrete nightmare.

East 29th is just ok; but, it's getting too close to mid-town for my liking. At least it's midtown east, though.

Not much as far as restaurants or nightlife but there are a few standout things:
There's a church on the corner of 29th and 5th Avenue that has a pretty interesting history. Apparently, there was some big stage actor in the late 19th century that was going to have a funeral at a big church on 5th. The pastor recommended "the little church around the corner" in lieu of his because he didn't want something as unsightly as an actor's funeral at his parish. The "little church around the corner" ended up holding funerals for Edwin Booth and O. Henry and has since actually changed it's name to it's former nickname. Also, it used to be a safe haven for African Americans during the Underground Railroad business, so I suppose you could say this church is quite liberal and pretty cool as far as churches go.

Across the street is the Carlton Hotel -- it's nice and old and doesn't get nearly the attention that places like the Waldorf get -- which in my opinion, isn't all that. Across Madison is an interesting building that has a lot of gargoyles all over it. There are mostly a lot of cafe's and buildings that used to be cool things like Danceteria that aren't cool things anymore. But, if you want coffee and you happen to stay at the Carlton, you don't have to look very far or hard.

On 29th between 2nd and 3rd is a really cool carriage house that was built at the end of the 18th century. It is one of the very few buildings left in Manhattan from the 1700's so I recommend everyone go and take a look at it before NYU knocks that down too.

Further east of 2nd is getting into sketchy Bellevue territory. I talk about the hospital on other posts so I won't be a broken record. I will say that the actual morgue for the hospital is on 29th street proper and I would not want to live within spitting distance of that. It gives me the willies.