GrandStGlitter

This is one of those rare Bronx neighborhoods that I would actually consider moving to – that is, if I was starting a family or looking for some reason to retire from my youthful partying days. The only downside about this residential type neighborhood is that it is pretty far from Manhattan, which is why I would only consider moving here if I didn’t want to go into Manhattan very often. In any case, I’m sure I’m not the only one who has this community selected for retirement (unless of course, the neighborhood incurs drastic changes over the next forty years or so – which is entirely possible). It would be wise to have a car way up here, and most of the houses here also come with a place to park it – a true paradise.

This neighborhood is just north of Ward’s Island and relatively close to upper Manhattan, and is mostly an industrial type of place. There are a few residential areas, but they only house about 1,500 people – which is nothing in New York population speak. Personally, I do not consider it safe to live in an industrial neighborhood (especially this one, which is riddled with poverty), industrial neighborhoods tend to become virtually deserted at nighttime after business hours. The housing in this neighborhood also leaves much to be desired; there is a reason that very poor people live here – they don’t have many options.

Generally the further away from Manhattan you move in the Bronx, the nicer the neighborhoods become. Riverdale is not an exception, and it is actually an exceptional place in terms of New York City neighborhoods because it is stocked with open spaces (but not the forbidding empty lot sort of empty space). The residents here have a certain pride about their rollicking neighborhood, and often fight against development. The neighborhood is situated on the Hudson River, making it a prime spot for future businesses. There are a lot of houses here that only the rich could afford, however, so if you are on a middle class type of budget you may find your best option to be in another borough completely.

This area is home to a huge cemetery, which may be off putting for potential residents. It seems the housing in the neighborhood is kept at a decent distance from it, however – with the housing being mostly a series of run-down looking homes, with a few newer, gabled roofed ones thrown into the mix. Much of this neighborhood resembles suburbia, though perhaps with a bit more street parking and bus routes than are normally present outside of cities. This neighborhood is not especially close to Manhattan and makes for a long commute – beware.

This is one of many low income neighborhoods in the South Bronx – it’s certainly not recommended for tourists, and I wouldn’t recommend moving here if it can be helped. The neighborhood has had its share of drug and gang problems resulting in crime and violence. This neighborhood was recently heralded as the murder capital of the city, and even more recently as the neighborhood most likely to steal your car. Of course, like in most parts of the city, crime is on the decline (though with this current recession who knows how long that downshift will last).

This is actually a part of the Riverdale neighborhood – named after the Spuyten Dyuvil Creek that runs through this section of the neighborhood. There is a park here and a bridge that connects directly to the northern most tip of Manhattan (though it is still a pretty good train ride to downtown Manhattan from here). This is one of those rare New York neighborhoods that seems to have an abundance of parking – some residency buildings have actual parking lots. It looks a bit like a college campus here, with a lot of brick high rises and an assortment of tree lined streets.

This area is more about commute than being a neighborhood – it’s a grassy sort of place where a bridge was built to keep traffic flowing from the Bronx into Queens. There are people who live in the area, however, and these people mostly reside in the sort of homes one would see in any middle class suburb, even if the homes are a bit old and close together spatially. This neighborhood is, obviously, closer to Queens than it is to Manhattan, so anyone (businessman and tourist alike) who would like to travel to Manhattan frequently should be aware that it could take some time to arrive there.

Yet another low income residential neighborhood – the Bronx is absolutely stocked with them. The area has been known to have its share of social problems, so it’s really not recommended that anyone who needn’t be involved in this neighborhood do so. The most seen building in this neighborhood is that of the five or six story tenement house, and the landscape is very hilly and often there are stairs to help pedestrians out with the climbs. Looking around the neighborhood, mostly what you see are brick low income residencies, and not much else.

This neighborhood isn’t exactly a spot for prime real estate, and it’s South Bronx location makes it unlike to be a candidate for prime real estate any time soon. This is a low income sort of neighborhood that doesn’t feature much in the way of shopping or eating that would appeal to a tourist – it’s mostly residential, and storefronts are hard to come by (unlike empty lots, of which there are more). This isn’t a prime spot for anyone to live – New York City is full of much more exciting, nicer neighborhoods.

University Heights is the sort of standard low income neighborhood that you see in the Bronx. It is a pretty population dense area, making it all the more depressing of a place. There of course isn’t much to do for tourists in low income neighborhoods – there isn’t even much for the residents to do in this sort of neighborhood. The landscape is one filled with tenement housing that reach about six or so stories in the air – it’s not the most aesthetically pleasing place. I wouldn’t recommend this neighborhood for resident or tourist, and hopefully you’re not considering it.

This neighborhood represents the absolute last stop on the 6 train, which should let you know that the train is not an easy commute into the city from here. This is a residential neighborhood populated by houses, and much of it looks very suburban. It’s probably a good idea if you absolutely must live up here to get yourself a car, as the neighborhood can represent long walks to public transportation. The park that this neighborhood is located on is actually bigger than Central Park, and it is incredibly peaceful during warmer months – and not nearly as clogged with tourists and weddings as that other park.

This is a huge planned community which stands taller than the surrounding neighborhoods (as housing projects tend to do), and which was originally intended for middle class families, much like Peter Cooper Village (which was developed by the same insurance company). This is a nice neighborhood with all of the usual amenities (schools, transportation, churches, shopping centers, a hospital), if you can get into the program and if you don’t mind a bit of a commute down into the city. There are over a hundred buildings that make up this community, and it can actually be seen from an aerial perspective, as the buildings are so much taller than the surrounding neighborhoods.

This is a low income area, and like many Bronx hoods in the area, Park Versailles is home to plenty of empty lots – a sign that people aren’t exactly dying to live here. Though this isn’t exactly an area where one will find prime real estate, there are streets around that feature decent looking attached homes and row houses. This neighborhood isn’t exactly deserving of its name, however, though I’m not sure if at one time it was a royal looking place or not. The area is highly residential, with the local businesses consisting of the standard New York business layout: groceries, pizzerias, Chinese take-out places, and a few diners.

This neighborhood is barely even in the city, if that tells you anything about the kind of commute a business person would have to make into downtown or even midtown. A tourist may not be especially interested in spending hours on the train just to visit the New York things that tourists are supposed to frequent, either. It’s a residential neighborhood that in some places resembles a suburb (and I believe these areas are up for rezoning, to keep the low-density a part of the landscape). This is not really a grand place to live if you don’t have a car – it’s far from the rest of civilization (unless of course that’s your cup of tea).

You may never hear this Bronx neighborhood referred to as North New York – because now it’s called Mott Haven. On a map, it looks as if they are two separate but small neighborhoods, but apparently maps are the only resources that still know of the neighborhood’s now defunct existence. In any case, Mott Haven is a low income neighborhood in the Bronx that has had its fair share of recent problems that include crime and drugs. More than half of the population lives below the poverty line here, which isn’t exactly the ideal kind of place for a tourist, or for a potential resident without an incredibly stringent budget.

This is another South Bronx community that you’ve probably heard tell about – not exactly the safest of neighborhoods, even if crime rates in New York City have been on the decline for years. The streets here are a bit run down and when there are store fronts many of them are drug stores and 99 cent stores rather than any kind of trendy shops or restaurants (ie, tourists stay out unless for some reason you’ve come to New York to check out the hood). It doesn’t feature the most ideal commute into downtown, either – you could end up spending at least an hour getting there.

This neighborhood is part of Tremont (a name derived from the three “mounts”: Mount Eden, Mount Hope, and Fairmount) in the west Bronx, and like many neighborhoods in this borough, it isn’t exactly a sublime place to visit. There certainly isn’t any shopping to be had, at least not any that can’t be done anywhere (think Duane Reade, 99 cent stores), and the eateries can be pretty much taken or left. This is one of those neighborhoods that no one would choose to live in of their own free will, unless their income was a bit on the limited side.

Like the majority of the neighborhood in the South Bronx, this one is a low income residential district that has had its share of crime and poverty in the recent past. The high schools here suffer from high dropout rates and violence on their campuses – not the ideal place to send your child, unless for some unfortunate reason you have no choice in the matter. Like many of the Bronx neighborhoods that suffered from the plague of arson in the seventies, much of the tenement housing has been rebuilt and distributed to low income residents. This is not exactly a nice place to visit – there isn’t much going on here.

This is another one of those Bronx neighborhoods in no short supply of empty lots and condemned and abandoned buildings – not exactly a lovely cup of tea. There are a lot of residencies here for – you guessed it! – low income residents, and the area has been associated with crime and poverty for some time now. Of course, like most New York neighborhoods, the crime rates here are on the decline, but drugs continue to be a dark cloud lurking over Morrisania. So, hey, if you don’t feel like getting robbed to pay some dude crack habit, just stay away. There’s no reason I can think of for a tourist to visit this neighborhood, and I certainly wouldn’t recommend living here, either.

This is a traditionally Italian neighborhood, with one of the largest Italian-American populations in the city. Of course, there have been recent additions to the population (New York neighborhoods being ever-changing landscapes), such as Middle Eastern and Latin American immigrants. Residents up here have a little bit of a commute into the more business dense sections of Manhattan, and they can either jump on the 5 train or catch a number of buses (it seems there really isn’t anywhere in this city that doesn’t have enough buses to go around). This neighborhood is actually known for something, and yes, you guessed it – it’s pizza. There are an incredible amount of pizzerias up here, which may be worth a little bit of a sidetrack if you happen to be relatively close to the neighborhood.

There are a plethora of low income neighborhoods in the Bronx, and this happens to be one of them. There are a lot of housing projects here, and the area has been known to suffer from some poverty and crime problems. Like most neighborhoods in the city, though, these bad news statistics are lower just about every year. This isn’t exactly a place where anyone in their right mind would love to send their children to school, either, and it’s highly unlikely that anyone who can afford to live somewhere else would stay here. That being said, there are certainly better places to live in the city if you have the option.

As you near this neighborhood you are also about to leave the city – it’s pretty far from the nightlife and the action on Wall Street. It’s a suitable enough seeming neighborhood, though, for those who are interested in settling down away from their nocturnal ways, and creating a family or just retiring from their family life. This area is not as suburban as you would think, being so far from the city, but it certainly isn’t Park Ave, either. The streets are clean here and the house fronts are welcoming and appear well maintained – though there aren’t many shops and restaurants that would interest anyone who wasn’t a resident.

This is a South Bronx neighborhood filled with public housing projects and a good deal of subsidized attached homes. Many of the former tenement units that stood in this neighborhood were destroyed by arson that took place in the sixties and seventies and then torn down by the city. This is a neighborhood that also houses a “detention center,” for juveniles - always a good sign. This neighborhood is hanging in, though, as it slowly begins to rebuild tenement buildings and sort them out for low-income residents. Obviously this is not a striking place to live or visit – it’s the sort of neighborhood that one goes to only if they have to.

There is a park her that has been closed for a few years, as the city went to work building the new Yankees Stadium across from the old one. Obviously, the Macombs Dam Park borders on the baseball stadium, near the Harlem River and the Macombs Dam Bidge. There were plenty of sports fields on the lot, even if they weren’t really kept very well maintained. The park featured basketball courts, football and soccer fields, and baseball and softball diamonds. It was understandably undermanaged, since it was used as extra parking during Yankees games – apparently the city saw no need for the constant upkeep of a park slash parking lot.

This is one of the many Bronx neighborhoods that resemble suburbia so well. I imagine this sort of neighborhood is appealing to anyone who wants to stay in the city but at the same time sort of avoid it. It also may be appealing to anyone with a lack of substantial income, which would be something shared with much of the community here. This sort of neighborhood seems ideal only for car owners – unless taking long walks and sitting on the train for an hour or so just to get to midtown is appealing to you.

This neighborhood is unique in that the hills sometimes get steep enough for stairs – a feat which for me was reminiscent of Paris, even if New York actually has little in common with the French capital. The Bronx is a fickle borough – with delightful neighborhoods often bordering on the not-so-great ones, but this one happens to be a quaint neighborhood that also features decent transportation into the city on the 1/9 subway line. The population here is incredibly diverse, with many of the recent arrivals coming from Latin America and the Caribbean, and many of the more rooted inhabitants being from Irish, Italian, Greek, and Eastern European families.

Jerome Park is a reservation that mostly consists of a fairly large reservoir, and its neighborhood is generally a working class residential sort of place. There is a large community of Dominicans that live here, and a relatively high percentage of the residents here also live below the poverty line. The reservoir actually serves to furnish the city with water (as reservoirs are apt to do), so it’s not much of a play place. If you want to get on a train from this neighborhood, you’ll most likely be taking a bus to a train station, as it would be quite a walk otherwise. Adding the time it takes the bus to the time the train takes to escort one to Midtown Manhattan equals a pretty long commute.

For New York City, this is a flat, relatively desolate looking neighborhood. The books would call it a low income neighborhood, and one walk around will let you know just how much there isn’t going on over there. The neighborhood itself is set slightly apart from the rest of the borough, at least geographically – it’s out on a peninsula, but the 2, 5, and 6 trains all hit the area, and the neighborhood is also serviced by a number of buses. This area has had plenty of problems with crime and poverty in the past, and it isn’t really recommended real estate. That being said, it’s obviously not recommended tourist faire either.

This might be the hood right across the Harlem River from Washington Heights and just north of Yankee Stadium, but it isn’t all that bad looking of a neighborhood (most of the time). There are the rolling hills that continue on from the Heights, and a decent amount of foliage so that the streets are pleasantly green in the warmer months. So – it looks okay, but I don’t think I would consider living here. Parts of the neighborhood are for low-income residents, and though there are streets with plenty of shops, the Bronx is just too far from my bar and culture hangouts to make anything they have up there worth the commute.

I’m not sure this is a neighborhood so much as a street that can be referenced for clarity, being a main thoroughfare that cuts through the Bronx. That’s not to say that there isn’t enough going on down this road to qualify it as self-sufficient community – that wouldn’t be accurate. The street has two train stations for the 5 on Gun Hill, and a hospital, as well as enough brick apartment buildings to breed a community. The train ride into Midtown is a pretty long one – and just forget about going downtown, if that’s what you plan on doing everday. Move somewhere else.

This neighborhood is one of those in-between ones. It’s near some not so pleasant neighborhoods, but the streets here are less full of abandoned buildings and empty lots. The streets appear mostly well kept, and that goes for the attached homes and apartment buildings that line the streets. This neighborhood is sort of a boring residential spot that has some pretty low income areas. There aren’t a lot of store fronts to be found out here either, which is typically a bad sign in any New York neighborhood. I wouldn’t personally ever want to live here for any reason, and I imagine that there is absolutely no reason for a tourist to ever travel here either.

This neighborhood isn’t a bad one as far as Bronx neighborhoods go – the streets are clean and pleasant enough to behold (ie, there aren’t many vacant lots or abandoned buildings to be found). Another pleasing quality about this neighborhood is the fact that it still resembles the rest of the city, unlike a lot of Bronx neighborhoods which often begin to look like suburbs. Fordham Heights features high rise apartment buildings and the sort of store fronts that are found throughout New York. It isn’t a bad train ride to midtown from here, though if you’re thinking about moving here and would like to spend any time downtown at all, you may want to reconsider.

This neighborhood is a relatively peaceful one – it’s not the type of place that a twenty-something seeking a bar and nightlife sort of neighborhood would be happy, however. It’s more ideal for families or other people who are more settled down in their home lives and careers. There is a nice park in the middle of the neighborhood that is home to a lot of athletic courts, and a decent amount of trees – which of course beautiful during the warmer months (and becomes something of a snow covered pain during the winter months). The train ride into midtown Manhattan is about thirty to forty minutes from here, which isn’t too bad (it could be worse).

This is the sort of neighborhood I think of when I hear someone complaining about the hoods in South Bronx. Put it to you this way: when I was a teenager and staying with friends in the northern area of the Bronx, we weren’t allowed out late at night so that we didn’t have to take the train through “unsafe” neighborhoods in the South Bronx, such as this one. Just how unsafe it remains is anyone’s guess, but this neighborhood is not exactly a grand place to live or visit. It is close to Yankee Stadium, so chances are that tourists will at least be in the vicinity of it once in a while, but there is no other reason to really hang out here.

This neighborhood is a bit breathtaking in spots, with its canopy of trees and streets that are carved into the hills, leaving houses to sit on raised properties. The neighborhood is home of its share of prestigious private schools, but other than the rich kids who’ve been carted off to them, the neighborhood is highly residential. This isn’t the sort of New York City style neighborhood that one would picture after seeing hundreds of movies that feature the city – it looks more like a neighborhood in the red hills of Florida or southern Georgia, at least during warmer months.

This neighborhood is a far far cry from the city (meaning Manhattan), so it really isn’t recommended for anyone who is moving to the city to experience those bright city lights, or to have any kind of decent social life, or for anyone who wants to take part in Manhattan culture (or even Brooklyn culture, which is where all the artists keep migrating). Instead, this neighborhood way up in the northeast Bronx would be an ideal spot for retirees or anyone starting a family who also had no intentions of seeing Manhattan very often. There are some housing projects in this neighborhood that happen to be the biggest in the Bronx, but it also houses many single family homes.

This is a low income sort of neighborhood, and it shows from the sidewalks. Anyone walking through the streets of Fairmont would know they weren’t in Kansas anymore and certainly not anywhere near the mostly privileged streets of Manhattan. Despondent is a good word to describe the scene one sees from the streets on this neighborhood – there are plenty of empty lots and abandoned buildings, all of which are incredibly bad signs in a city that is constantly expanding (as the city has chosen not to do any expanding here). As in any working class neighborhood, there are cheap eateries to be had – though why anyone would wander up here just for a cheap bit is beyond me.

It doesn’t get much further from the lively streets of Manhattan than Eastchester Village – not, at least, if you plan on staying in the city limits. There are many Bronx neighborhoods that resemble this one, however, with sparsely treed streets and houses that actually stand apart from one another. Myself, I would own a car if I ever dared to live way up in this Bronx neighborhood. I certainly wouldn’t be alone, either, as many people in this area rely on their cars as a main source of transportation. This neighborhood is like a slice of suburbia in the New York City Bronx borough.

This neighborhood – which also goes by the names of Crotona Park East and Crotona (though this is different from Crotona Ave, which is in East Tremont) – is not exactly tourist material. It doesn’t even make the cut for a lovely place to take a walk, or even a somewhat decent place to take a walk. The streets don’t offer much in the way of aesthetic pleasure, with low income residential dwellings taking up most of the space in this neighborhood. There are a high number of public housing projects here, which unfortunately add to the ugly nature of the area.

The Bronx is full of residential, suburban-seeming neighborhoods like this one, the only catch being perhaps that this neighborhood plays host to waterfront property. There are a few other things that make this a standout neighborhood, though – many think of Country Club as upscale, prestigious, and incredibly well maintained (making its name a very fitting one). There are many homes on these tree lined streets that also feature a view of the bay, and the salt water smell drifts in on breezes to the neighborhood. Don’t be fooled by the name, though – this is not some sparkling new neighborhood just built in the middle of nowhere. It’s still a New York City neighborhood, which automatically affords it a certain amount of old fashioned charm – the houses are not identical or anything like that.

This neighborhood is a distance away from any train stations (though there are a couple of bus lines available for residents without cars), but it may be worth it for New Yorkers who like their city with a little bit of (partially man-made) nature on the side. This neighborhood is home to several subsections, one of which includes Harding Park, an area that plays host to the Little Puerto Rico section of the neighborhood. Also in Clason Point is Pugsley Creek Park, which separates the neighborhood from the bordering Castle Hill Neck. The Bronx River makes its way through the neighborhood as well; Clason Point is an excellent place to live for those who appreciate small bodies of water, but not for those who need the hustle and bustle of their local streets to feel at home. This is a largely suburban neighborhood.

This is not exactly New York City’s most appealing neighborhood – and at the moment I can’t think of many neighborhoods that are less appealing. Mostly made up of the residential dwellings of the working class, there isn’t anything a tourist could find to do out here that is worth doing. There are no places to shop (unless you’ve come to New York to frequent bodegas and dollar stores), and there aren’t many places to grab a bite to eat, either. This area is not known to be highly safe, either, and I wouldn’t recommend this neighborhood for either visiting or dwelling on a long term basis.

This is a working class neighborhood, which can generally be recognized in the city by a lack of big name businesses, like say Starbucks. Working class neighborhoods like this one also tend to be very residential – meaning they do not cater to tourists in the least (unless a tourist is for some reason dying to hang out at the corner bodega eating a hot pastrami sandwich). There are single-family homes here, but there are also a few tenement buildings, as well as the Castle Hill housing development, which includes several high-rise buildings. There is a level of community here that is nice to see, but its proximity to the South Bronx (known as a violent neighborhood) has real estate agents terming Castle Hill the “Southeast Bronx” in efforts to move apartments.

This Bronx neighborhood (which borders on the Bronx Park, home of the Bronx Zoo and New York Botanical Garden) is home to plenty of high rise apartment buildings, as well as numerous attached homes. Perhaps the strangest thing to see about this neighborhood in respect to the rest of the city are the spaces between these homes and buildings (which is a little seen feat in Manhattan, or even Brooklyn). This neighborhood has a homey kind of feel, at least in places like Allerton Ave, where there are actual hedges that border the homes there.

Bronxdale doesn’t exactly look like the loveliest neighborhood, and with neighborhoods you can usually feel free to judge them by their covers. There are a lot of empty lots around the neighborhood, and the careless (as in, non-artistic) graffiti and run down streets do not make for the most welcoming sight. The fact that housing is relatively cheap here is not a very good sign for the neighborhood, either, though it makes for decent housing for students of the nearby campuses (one of which is Columbia, which isn’t too far from the area). This neighborhood is extremely residential (though not in a warm, welcoming residential sort of way), meaning that there aren’t a lot of shopping commodities to be had. Tourists – just don’t even think about it.

This park houses the New York Botanical Garden as well as the Bronx Zoo, and to make the layout even better, a river runs through it – the Bronx River. The best thing about this park, for me anyway, are the bike paths, which really can’t be beat, not even by Central Park, where there is just too much street traffic for me. Something about parks and a great number of cars just don’t mix. In any case, this park is gorgeous, though it can be full of tourists visiting the Garden and Zoo, especially during the summer months, which may hinder your bike ride a bit.

This neighborhood’s main draw is probably the neighboring Bronx Zoological Gardens – though the neighborhood doesn’t have much to do with those. This is a low-income neighborhood, which becomes apparent as you walk through it and don’t see too many storefronts, but instead see many tenement buildings and vacant lots (always the sign of a non-developing neighborhood, which in terms of New York real estate is death). There is history here for Italian Americans, who consider this neighborhood to be the sort of Little Italy of the Bronx – the sort of place evoked in the movie a Bronx tale: not too nice a neighborhood, but one that carries enough nostalgia to overlook such neighborhood lacks as grass.

This neighborhood was never overtaken by the problems that plagued the south Bronx, and it remains a stable community that is clean and safe – and as a plus, it borders on the New York Botanical Gardens. The commute into Manhattan is not too bad – about thirty minutes to Midtown (though you may want to reconsider this location if you have to be downtown in the Financial District everyday). The neighborhood is a great one for residents (who don’t want to do too much traveling, or who aren’t young enough to want to be around twenty-somethings as often as possible) – it is scenic with beautiful parks, and the transportation and housing don’t field many complaints, either.

Baychester looks like the neighborhood your grandmother lives in: lined with old trees and old fashioned electrical poles (made from wood rather than cement), and two story houses with window dressings. This is a working class neighborhood (which may or may not appeal to your grandmother), and the residents here are mostly African American. The streets are appealing, though – they are tidy and well-kept, and the buildings are well maintained (an aspect that not every neighborhood in the city can claim). Many of the homes are brick with white shutters, like something out of a movie that take place in New England.

This neighborhood is a historic one – a place that many Irish immigrants have made their home, which should be apparent from one glance around these streets. There is a plethora of Irish pubs here, and this is where the Sunnyside St. Patrick’s Day Parade ends up – which is a testament to the neighborhood’s home-away-from-home nationalistic roots. However, it should be noted that perhaps there aren’t as many Irish residents living here as there once were (so don’t expect a Little Belfast or much living breathing turn-of-the-century nostalgia). This is a great place to live – it offers relatively good nightlife options, and the neighborhood has one of the lowest crime rates in the city.

A good rule of thumb is that any neighborhood built under an elevated train is not going to be the most fabulous – rich people just don’t want to listen to a train going by their apartments at all hours of the night, and they have the option to avoid such irritations. That being said, what you can expect from Woodhaven isn’t all that bad – it’s a New York blue-collar, working-class immigrant sort of neighborhood. There is a mixture of backgrounds here, though the majority of residents are Hispanic, many are also white and Asian. Of all Queens neighborhoods, this one has the most trees (hence the name) – and that’s saying a lot, as Queens is stocked up on trees. This neighborhood is none too close to the city, something to bear in mind if you need to get there often.

Across the bay from the Bronx is the Queens neighborhood of Whitestone, which is also somewhat close to LaGuardia Airport (close enough for viewing pleasure of the air taxis, but not close enough to suffer from much noise pollution). There is a lot of prime real estate here, if you are into that sort of thing, though cheaper apartments are being built as we speak. The area may appear nice and peaceful, but it’s ideal to have a car up here, as the nearest train station involves a fifteen minute bus ride just to get to it.

This neighborhood is an interesting mix of storefronts, single-family homes (with yards!), and greenery (when it’s not winter, at least) – a collection that you don’t usually see in New York City neighborhoods, and certainly not all at once (certainly not in Manhattan, anyway). The landscape is pretty flat, as Utopia likes to keep its buildings to one story, and it is a pretty middle class spot that is home to many Conservative and Orthodox Jews. Also calling the place home are residents of Chinese, Korean, Russian, Indian, and Hispanic backgrounds. The general feeling is that the neighborhood actually lives up to its name: it’s a peaceful place for residents to come home to, but you may not agree if your idea of a Utopia includes more bars and more nightlife.

This Queens neighborhood is just a short commute into midtown, making it ideal for anyone who works in midtown but can’t afford the ridiculous rents in that area. It is an extremely diverse place: home to a plethora of nationalities, including Mexican, Nepali, Romanian, Turkish, Greek, Japanese, Korean, Eastern European Jews, Irish, Indian, Hungarian, Filipino, Ecuadorian, Dominican, Albanian, Armenian, Chinese, Bangladeshi, and Colombian. Tourists of a certain shade may be interested to know that this is where the city hosts the only Saint Patrick’s Day Parade that allows a gay and lesbian Irish community to participate in the festivities. This is probably one of Queen’s most interesting neighborhoods, from a residential point of view anyway – as it is unlikely that tourists would be too interested in visiting.

This is a great place for music buffs to visit – especially those of a jazz inclination, as many jazz greats have called this neighborhood home, and the remnants of the jazz-infused decade of the forties is still apparent here. The neighborhood has known problems with crime in the past (it was a big deal in the eighties), but during recent years many people starting moving into the neighborhood (as rents went up elsewhere in the city), leaving it a bit overpopulated. Still, the neighborhood struggles on to preserve its own history – perhaps tourists shouldn’t visit here after dark, especially if they don’t really know where they’re going. For people who are thinking of moving in, another thing to be aware of is the fact that the neighborhood is a good train ride into the city.

This neighborhood, which borders directly on John F. Kennedy International Airport (as opposed to Springfield Gardens South, which allows a bit of space between residents and the massive airport), isn’t the nicest neighborhood around. Not only is it a difficult distance from the city (leaving residents to be lucky if they have a car, instead of the NYC stereotype of just the opposite), but the neighborhood doesn’t offer a whole lot in the way of commodities, and is not ideal for tourist interaction at all. The area is mostly populated by one-story family homes, and there are many Caribbean immigrants who currently call this neighborhood home.

The neighborhoods that surround John F. Kennedy International Airport (the city’s largest hub for transportation by flight) aren’t exactly prime real estate. This probably has lot to do with the constant noise from the jets overhead, leaving the surrounding neighborhoods rather bereft looking as not too many rich people or businesses are dying to move in. There has been a bit of change over the years, of course, as many homes have been reworked to be made more accessible for larger families. This area looks much like a very old sort of suburbia (at least compared to the stereotypical New York neighborhood), with a lot of small one-story homes.

This neighborhood is actually home to JFK International Airport – for example, if you look up restaurants in the area, many of the recommendations will actually be located inside of an airport terminal (such as Todd’s English Bonfire in Terminal 2). The area originated as a place for low-cost housing developments to be built early in the twentieth century, but today is home to an incredibly diverse population that includes Italian Americans, African Americans, Indians, Guyanese, and Latin Americans. The area is not exactly incredibly nice, either, but there are some storefronts in the Liberty Ave area (though this is actually in Richmond Hill, South Ozone Park’s neighbor).

This neighborhood – also known as Southside – is south of downtown Jamaica, and is populated by a mostly African American community. There are some immigrants from Latin America and the West Indies moving in however, though this slow trickle of change hasn’t had much of an explosive effect (in other words, racial tensions have been worse in other neighborhoods). This is a working-class neighborhood that mostly offers houses big enough for families, though there are some smaller apartment buildings, and a number of public housing projects. This neighborhood is very close to the JFK airport – so close that the AirTran actually stops in the area. This isn’t exactly an enticing tourist spot, and the residential life isn’t too appealing either.

This is another one of those Queens neighborhoods that is a bit far from civilization (civilization being Manhattan, of course). However, if you are not a banker or a publicity rep, then you may find yourself comfortable way out here in Rosedale – and if you are looking for employment opportunities in Long Island, you’ll find that it is just next door. You may want to be the owner of a car if for some reason you actually want to live way out here – otherwise it’s likely you’ll be taking the bus or the Long Island Rail Road. The lay of the land reads much like suburbia way out here on the outskirts of an overcrowded city.

This is the neighborhood to come if you’re looking to purchase a high-rise condo, though why anyone would want one here is beyond me – the Hamptons seem like the better choice for swankier living. But still, Seaside has its own quaint sort of appeal, though it is a bit strange to see high rise condos like something out of a Fort Lauderdale beachside retirement community in New York City. The neighborhood is strangely desolate compared to the rest of the city, and it isn’t exactly a happening spot for young people (another reason to buy your swanky condo elsewhere).

This area is currently home to a variety of immigrant communities, including those of Eastern Europe, Latin America, Arabia, and Southern Europe. (Fun fact: Harry Houdini is buried in a cemetery in this neighborhood – the Machpelah Cemetary – as he was a resident of the community.) The area is densely populated, but many of the row houses are pleasant to behold, and many feature actual white picket fences. The neighborhood has looked the same since the early 20th century, but has held up well in comparison to other New York neighborhoods which sometimes take on a worn down sort of look.

This is a middle class neighborhood that is much what anyone would expect from a visit to the central-southern area of the borough of Queens. There are some commercial spots where residents can get their fill of McDonald’s and the Salvation Army and whatnot, such as on Jamaica Ave and Atlantic Ave. This is not a neighborhood of typical tourist fare, but it does have an interesting history dating back to Revolutionary War battles – so history buffs might find the golf course near where the battlefield was somewhat interesting (okay, maybe not). There is a restaurant out here with some interesting history as well, that of the Triangle Hofbrau, where stars from the twenties and thirties used to hang out (read: Mae West).

This neighborhood isn’t a bad commute to the city, and though it used to resemble a suburb, it is too close to the city to have stayed that way. It now looks like much of the rest of the city – with streets lined with shops, and living spaces located on top of them. There are plenty of train lines that pass through the neighborhood, and buses if you are one of those rare New Yorkers who doesn’t do much walking. Though there is more going on in this neighborhood than in previous years, it still isn’t exactly a tourist hub. Tourists are likely to not only never visit this neighborhood, but will probably never even hear tell of it (which may be a plus for tourist-dreading residents).

This middle class neighborhood is comfortably close (or uncomfortably, if you happen to be young and longing to be in the city) to Long Island. It features some shopping areas, though nothing too incredibly trendy, that can be found around Jamaica Ave, Hillside Ave, Hempstead Ave, and Springfield Blvd. There isn’t much for subway transportation out here, but residents can catch the Long Island Railroad into Penn Station for a Manhattan commute, and there are bus lines aplenty in the area. There are enough schools out here to imply that this is a place where many people move to raise their families, perhaps to get away from the chaos in the city without actually leaving the city.

This neighborhood is a far cry from New York City (even if it is still located in Queens), because it looks more like a suburb brimming with little apartment complexes which feature actual parking lots, which are rarely seen in such spacious abundance, and also because it is literally pretty far from the city. This is a residential area and essentially just a housing development which was built on a former golf course (which it still resembles). Fun fact: the name is a Native American word that formerly referred to eastern Long Island, which the neighborhood borders. From here, it’s more than thirty minutes on the 7 train to get into the city – which isn’t that bad when you consider the distance you are overtaking.

The further one gets from the city, the less the neighborhoods are recognizable as the stereotypical New York-style neighborhood (one that features streets jam packed with businesses and residential buildings). This neighborhood is an example of a neighborhood that an outsider wouldn’t necessarily recognize as being in New York – there are a lot of single-family homes (as well as attached homes) and there are actual spaces between the buildings, the main source of the disconnection between this and the usual city neighborhoods. It looks a bit like a dirtier, more run down version of a suburb. If you need to get to Manhattan from here, beware: your journey will most likely involve both a bus and a train, unless you have a car (and then you should beware of having a car once you get to Manhattan).

This neighborhood isn’t exactly on a beach, unless you think that inlets (or creeks) are prime spots for sunning and swimming. Instead, it is just north of Hamilton Beach, which actually features a bit of a beach. Howard Beach is over to the west as well, a neighborhood that also actually features a beach. In any case, Old Howard Beach looks much like the surrounding neighborhoods – beach or no – featuring single family homes that have actual yards (which only a New Yorker would find spacious). Compared to most neighborhoods in the city, the streets offer an incredible amount of parking, but this may just be because many of the homes have driveways for such a use.

This neighborhood reminds me of a college campus – there are plenty of high-rise square brick apartment buildings and plenty of greenery (during warmer seasons), which includes trees that don’t look as if they were planted there a few months earlier. The neighborhood seems peaceful and clean, which is a much-appreciated aspect of any New York City neighborhood. There seems to be more parking in this Queens neighborhood than is generally found in the city, as well – but that doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of cars in the streets already.

Like the neighboring Corona, North Corona isn’t much to behold. It’s extremely close to Shea Stadium, which may or may not be a good thing – good if you love the Mets, bad if you moved way out in Queens to not be constantly surrounded by tourists, which you will be during the baseball season (at least, if you take the train you will be, as the fans pack into the cars in hoards). 103rd Street in the neighborhood offers the standard shopping district for the poor – 99 cents stores, Chinese restaurants with Spanish names, pizza parlors. This isn’t exactly the city’s most appealing neighborhood – it’s not too close to Manhattan, and there just isn’t anything to do here for tourists.

This is a quaint neighborhood with some lovely towering homes (though they aren’t too flashy – this isn’t a tropical island), located near the beach on Rockaway Peninsula. There isn’t much in the way of flashy city lights or incredible shopping or site seeing way out here, but it does offer a different view of the city than the one that most tourists expect (which may or may not be a good thing, depending on the kind of tourist you are). Residents who live out here are advised to have a car – it’s a long way to the city on a train, especially if it’s something you need to do by way of employment.

This neighborhood is in the greater neighborhood of Flushing, Queens – one of the larger neighborhoods in the borough. This neighborhood within a neighborhood is a residential spot where Irish and Italian immigrants have moved in, and where Korean and Salvadoran immigrants are now relocating – making it an interestingly diverse place. However, it is not exactly a safe neighborhood, as there is a huge problem with gang violence there. If you somehow can get around this fact, or perhaps you never leave your home past 6 pm anyway, then you will find plenty of high rise apartment buildings to house your belongings.

This is a middle class neighborhood in, obviously, the middle of the borough of Queens. This is a great place for families, as there is an abundance of single-family homes in the neighborhood, and it is a quiet and safe place to raise children. The neighborhood is also home to many small apartment spaces, and some attached homes (which, if you don’t know, are just units that are attached to another one on at least one side, like a townhouse). There is only one train that comes to the area – the M – but there are several buses to make life a bit easier (that is, for residents without cars).

This is a very small Queens neighborhood, but it isn’t a bad spot to be a resident, especially if you are young and want to be close to areas like Williamsburg and what the real estate agents have termed “East Williamsburg” in Brooklyn (meaning the area of Bushwick where artsy types and party animals are moving in for the cheap rent). Just because it is close to so many happening Brooklyn neighborhoods doesn’t mean that Maspeth itself isn’t quiet, though – it is. Much of this neighborhood’s land is actually taken up by cemeteries, which some may find slightly disturbing. They are, however, usually separated from residential buildings.

This neighborhood is sort of a recycled one – it sits on top of landfilled land. The landscape consists mostly of seven-story red-brick apartment buildings built there during the sixties. This is not a neighborhood for anyone who needs to make it into Manhattan on a regular basis (but if you are going to move here anyway, you may want to consider buying a car – the hazards may be outweighed by sheer train travel time). This area is a part of Howard Beach in Queens, but is very close to being in Brooklyn. It’s a residential area that offers some Jewish culture for the local population, and it’s not exactly a desirable place for tourists, as they might find themselves incredibly bored way out here with no sites to see.

This neighborhood looks more like a suburb than most New York City neighborhoods, perhaps because it is so far from Manhattan (it is also uncomfortably close to the John F. Kennedy International Airport). The neighborhood, however, is populated by the middle- and upper-middle class, many of whom are African American and West Indian immigrants. There are some lovely streets here – though nothing special if you happen to be from a suburban area – this is exactly what your neighborhood probably looks like, barring some small inconsistencies. This is a great area for those who are starting a family, though it is a bit far from the city it houses a lot of single family homes, which are difficult to find in many New York neighborhoods.

Kew Gardens is a unique Queens neighborhood in that it strangely lacks the bustle of inner city life and instead offers a sort of peaceful tranquility. This is not a place to move if you are looking to live some kind of New York City high rolling life – it just won’t happen here (unless you are content to travel outside of your neighborhood each and every time you want a night on the town), and I’m sure the residents here wouldn’t appreciate a partier moving into their gates, either. The most striking difference between this and other New York City neighborhoods is the plethora of green (during the warmer months), a presence of grass that you just don’t normally see in the city.

This incredibly quiet neighborhood (even on weekends) would be ideal for a family or someone who was looking to retire away from the bustle of Manhattan without ever actually leaving the city completely. Good luck finding real estate here, though, as the neighborhood is only about a square mile total, and the area is also home to a populous Orthodox Jewish community. Many families actually move here because of the Jewish community, which is home to amenities like schools, synagogues, and kosher foods. Another pitfall for families wanting to move here is that instead of row houses (which there are some) and single-family homes, the area offers mostly studio and two bedroom apartments, which are obviously not ideal for a family.

The city’s largest airport does have a surrounding neighborhood, though who would want to live by such a major international travel monstrosity is beyond me. The neighborhood isn’t the loveliest of places – it’s a bit run down, and there isn’t much in the way of commerce besides the staples of New York City culture (the corner grocery store, the Laundromat, etc.). Besides that, the neighborhood is a quite a distance into the city, so it isn’t recommended that tourists stay way out here. The airport does typically offer a good bargain for those who want to take a cab into Manhattan, but those who are traveling to even the neighboring borough of Brooklyn may end up paying much more than those on their way into the city.

According to the people who live here, the name of their neighborhood is actually singular – even if the rest of the world (and many of the actual inhabitants) know it as “Jamaica Hills.” This neighborhood is a peaceful enclave for numerous immigrants of different backgrounds – the people-scape is quite a mixed one. There is a nice park here: Captain Tilly Park, which features the standard New York park fare of tree clusters, walkways, and a fairly good sized pond. The area is highly residential – meaning tourists won’t be able to stop at Starbucks or Chilis if for some reason they are staying out here. But for residents, the neighborhood is a nice one, thought real estate prices have been on the rise there for some time.

This is a wealthy enclave of the Jamaica, Queens area. It’s near the St. Johns University, but far from Manhattan (and it’s probably recommended that residents way out here own cars, though you can catch the F train into the city). There are a lot of Jewish- and Asian-Americans that live in the area, and this is mainly a residential area that is family friendly. The landscape features New York style apartment buildings, as well as a lot of single family homes, and it’s a pretty place to be during warmer months, when the trees have leaves and the grass returns from dormancy.

This is one of the most famous neighborhoods of the borough of Queens (the only other one probably being Flushing); it used to be a predominately African-American community, but now there are many West Indian immigrants (as well as Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, Indians, Arabs, and Russians), all of which make this neighborhood extremely diverse. This is where the JFK Airport is located, so chances are that just about anyone who has ever lived or visited in the city has been to this neighborhood. It’s a pretty far distance into the city from here – at least an hour on the train (but probably more).

This neighborhood isn’t too close to the city, but it’s not too far either (I can think of plenty of neighborhoods that would make for a longer commute into Manhattan). The train ride into the city takes about twenty minutes or so (that is, once you actually get on a train). There are a lot of immigrants from Asia and South America who call this area home, and there are also some really nice amenities, like the garden community apartments. The neighborhood’s historic district is home to those garden co-ops in question, a place about which books have been written.

This Queens neighborhood is just across the East River from midtown Manhattan – a perfect commute for those who work in the area (which, I assume, is quite a large number of people). This is a neighborhood of a region in Queens that is referred to as Long Island City (I point this out because I found it a bit confusing when I first relocated to New York). It’s highly residential, and not exactly a draw for young crowds or tourists – but it’s a nice quiet neighborhood to come home to after a long day at work or a night of partying (though that may involve an interesting commute).

Waterfront property usually means that there is an affluent community nearby (though this is not always the case for New York City), and this neighborhood is no exception. This little community is near Hamilton Beach, and it is populated by many rich Italian-Americans (the likes of both John Gotti and Joe Massino have called Howard Beach their home; the area is notorious for being affiliated with organized crime members). Also making the area their home are Irish-, German-, and Jewish-American families. The neighborhood looks much like the sort of suburbia you find outside of New York City, which is appropriate because out here you almost are outside of the city.

If you want to leave this Queens neighborhood, you have few options. You can either jump on the Q2 bus, or you can leave via the Long Island Railroad (your only other option of course being to have your own car…or bicycle). The neighborhood is generally populated with single family homes, making it an option for families, though a family wouldn’t want to be without a car way out here. It’s a pretty middle class place, and of course very residential (as in, you won’t find too many trendy places to eat or shop – the tourist amenities are sparse).

Though this neighborhood is home to St. Johns University, it is also close to the New York City city limits (ie, don’t move way out here if you want to see the Manhattan skyline on a daily basis, especially if you work there – the commute would just not be any fun). This is a tiny residential enclave in Queens, between both Flushing and Jamaica. This is one of the huge Orthodox Jewish communities (it seems like there are quite a few in the city). Union Turnpike is the neighborhood’s main commercial strip, though this is nothing that would entice a tourist (I don’t even think anyone would visit from Flushing or Jamaica).

This is a neighborhood on the Rockaway Peninsula, between Arvene and Rockaway Park Seaside. The A train goes way out here, but it’s a far ride back into Manhattan, even if residents do bask in the benefits of being on the seaside. This Queens neighborhood may be a bit far from even the rest of its own borough, but it still resembles what you’d expect from a residential neighborhood there. The neighborhood buzzes the most around Beach Channel Drive (fun fact: this street is where the first transatlantic flight took off). Visitors can get a good look at Jamaica Bay from the street.

There is a commercial area here where tourists can stock up on clothes and good eats – just don’t expect to be able to drive up and conveniently find a parking space. There happens to be an Asian eatery in the neighborhood that will deliver bubble tea – a resource that is found everywhere in NYC, in a plethora of styles, but not often delivered. This neighborhood is almost surrounded by parks, and there is plenty of affluence to go around in the surrounding neighborhood. It’s close to Shea Stadium, as well as a lot of recreational amenities like the Kissena Park Golf Course.

This middleclass Queens neighborhood is host two one- and two-family homes, and has looked the way it does now for quite some time. The community is tight-knit, and boards and volunteer programs here work to keep the feeling of community safety alive. This is a clean place (no dirt streets, no graffiti) that features homes with well-kept yards, and it seems like a place where residents move in, but hardly ever want to leave. That means that if you’re looking to rent a home, this neighborhood is not a good bet. Buying a home for a family, however, may be a great option.

Even though this neighborhood is far from the city (making for a long, boring commute), it is picturesque enough to still be an attractive place to live. The neighborhood is home to Forest Hills Gardens (a planned garden community for swank residents), as well as the regular apartments, condos and co-ops that are found just about everywhere in the city. In addition, there are also single family homes in the neighborhood, some of which date back to the pre-World War II era. If you’re looking for restaurants and bars, the streets to hit in the neighborhood are Austin Street and Queens Boulevard (which tends to be the more cost efficient of the two).

This is one of the richer areas of Queens, and - as you can probably guess – it’s got a relatively low population. Historically, Jewish families have long lived in the area, but many affluent Asian American families are trickling into Fresh Meadow. If you are thinking of living out here, it would be wise to get a car (then again, if you are considering moving out here you probably already have one) because there is no subway station in the area. Without a car, residents and visitors have to take a bus to get to the neighborhood.

The park is one of Queens’ gems – it’s absolutely huge, and trust me, after being surrounded in concrete for any amount of time anything green becomes immensely appealing. Tourists flock here because this is the location of both Shea Stadium and the USTA National Tennis Center. It’s kid-friendly, not only because of the baseball stadium, but because the New York Hall of Science is here, as well as a swimming pool and an ice skating rink. The park also houses some aspects of arts – the Queens Theater as well as an art museum, making the area a perfectly well rounded cultural hub.

This is a highly residential area, and what always strikes me out here is just how much walking you actually have to do to get around (unless of course you plan on bussing around). New Yorkers are prone to walking anyway, but out here the trains don’t visit every cul-de-sac out here, so if you move out here the odds are high that you will be walking a lot, even for a New Yorker (unless you have a car, which it seems many people out here actually do). This is a very safe, residential place were many families live.

This is the neighborhood on the eastern most part of the Rockaway Peninsula, and being so far from the rest of the city (it’s across the bay from Brooklyn, and it pretty much doesn’t get any further away from Manhattan that Far Rockaway) and so close to the beach, the neighborhood has a commuter and beach town (albeit without any tropical feel) sort of personality. Add then the element of urbanity, and what you have is this neighborhood. This neighborhood borders on the New York City limits, so beware if you’re planning on staying or living here but need to get into Manhattan daily – it might not be pretty, and it is sure to be a time consuming journey back and forth. Tourists do show up here to take historical tours.

The population here is generally a mix of middle and working class families, and the landscape is a mix of co-ops, apartment buildings, and actual houses. The population is ethnically diverse; immigrants have flocked into the small space from the continents of both Asia and South America. This is not exactly a peaches-and-cream sort of neighborhood, thought it’s been much improved in recent decades – there are still some run-down areas, and some problems with illegal housing. Crime rates could be worse – but it’s recommended not to travel through the area alone, especially if you are a woman, as there have been plenty of rapes reported in the neighborhood.

This is a highly populated area in Queens, at least when compared to the neighboring Flushing. This neighborhood is populated with pub-type bars, but these aren’t anything that anyone would travel out of their way to go to. This is mainly a residential neighborhood – for commuters, seeing as there isn’t much in the way of employment way out here. It’s one of those rare neighborhoods, though, where stand-alone houses can be found (as opposed to rowhouses and high rises). If for some reason you find yourself way out here, local favorite restaurants include Daro’s Pizza, Sheehan’s, and East Manor.

This is a mostly middle class neighborhood, though there are some low-income spots. This is an uber-residential area, great for families or anyone who wants to live on a peaceful street in the big city. It’s not very close to Manhattan (which is a highly prized quality in any of the neighborhoods of the other boroughs), but this is a Queens neighborhood that has plenty of claims to fame – Langston Hughes and Malcolm X were both residents at one time. Though his area has long been a haven for the Afro-Caribbean population, more and more Latino immigrants making the middle class transition are moving in here.

This Queens neighborhood is a far cry from Manhattan, and that’s putting it lightly. This is not a place for anyone who is coming to the city for a vacation, as you’ll find little to no accommodation (not to mention all of the things people typically go on vacation to experience: food, shopping, etc.). This is a place for families or retirees who consider traveling to Manhattan an annual experience. Or at least, an experience that shouldn’t have to happen very often. There is a reputable sushi place way out here, though, if you find yourself stopping here on the way to the Hamptons or some such thing – it’s called Tomi Sushi, and though I have never made the trip specifically to go there, I know people who have.

This Astoria, Queens neighborhood has long been known for its Greek population, but currently there is an incredibly diverse European population residing in the area. This is a safe place, and the elevated train will get you to midtown in a matter of twenty minutes or so, so it’s perfect for young people who don’t want to pay much rent but don’t want to be too far from the big city life, or from their corporate jobs. There are restaurants and happenings here that reflect the neighborhood’s diversity – such as the Beer Garden and the Bohemian Hall, and the streets tend to be lined with row houses and neatly trimmed hedges.