Bowery is a cool mix of super trendy and still a little bit gritty. The apartments are pretty insanely expensive and the neighborhood definitely has a bustle. There are a lot of great restaurants, bars and shops in Bowery, but there are also still things from its crack den days like Mars Bar and random drug trannys. It's not really unsafe, though. . . just, um, interesting. The demographic is more of the young professional that likes to go out set and the young arty people that actually make money off their art. There's nothing quaint about the area -- there really aren't trees and parks and stuff. But, when the Whole Foods went in on Houston, you would have thought it was Disneyland. Everyone got mildly excited to say the least. It's a cool neighborhood but it's definitely not laid back. Oh, and it's close to transportation and walking distance to most fun things.
