West 26th St, Chelsea

West 26th is pretty ugly throughout most of its run. It still holds some nice, Chelsea aspects but it's too far north and takes on Hell's Kitchen and Midtowns vibe and look much more than other parts of Chelsea. It's not awful, but I wouldn't be jazzed to live on this street.
There's a really cool, old building right at 12th and 26th called the Starett- Lehigh. It used to be a factory and now it's very expensive lofts with businesses such as Martha Stewart, Palm Pictures and Club Monaco on the ground floor. There are a lot of massive windows on this building. It's very industrial in the coolest way. I prefer the more old school buildings, but this one isn't bad.
Just after 11th, there are a ton of galleries and the Highline which sort of adds to the industrial kind of feel of this part of Chelsea. The Highline became really overgrown for all of those years it was abandoned and even though it was manicured for its big opening, it still has a ragamuffin kind of aesthetic to it that goes along with the old factory buildings around here. The departure in aesthetic is pretty apparent as you cross 9th and 10th. All of the building on this street are housing co-ops. I'm not sure if they're government projects any longer but they definitely look like it. I don't care how nice the conversion is, I wouldn't want to live in a building that looks like a project. I watched a lot of horrow films growing up and they just creep me out. They look like prisons to me. Right in the midst of all these buildings (right at 9th) is the Upright Citizens Brigade comedy theatre. Weirdly placed and very small, this theatre is very famous in the city and outside. There are a number of people from Saturday Night Live, 30 Rock and The Daily Show that still perform here every week. It's always a good time, but the line outside in the winter is something conceived of in hell. You're waiting in a virtual wind tunnel and they won't let anyone in until five minutes before the show. I always go into the Gristedes market next door on particularly brutal nights that we have been waiting. I'm sure a lot of people do and that probably drives them crazy.
The block across 8th features more atrocious buildings and almost no neighborhood vibe but there is a great little Italian place called Daniella right on the corner. I don't like very many restaurants in Chelsea, but this one I definitely recommend. I also recommend that you get off the block as soon as you're done eating because it's ugly and boring. And, it's really depressing around here at night. The depressing sort of continues as you get toward 7th and 6th Avenues. The buildings are all ugly and this part of Chelsea just resembles midtown in aesthetic and energy way too much for me to find much delight in it. The block between 7th and 6th features a mish mosh of shops that are very much like what you would find in midtown. There's a fencing store, a dancewear store, a billiard supply store . . basically anything I can't imagine staying in business. There are a few cool apartment buildings like the Landmark at 6th avenue. But, they're mostly cool in the massive luxury unit way; they're not cool in the awesome, old New York way.
There are a couple of old, cool buildings between Broadway and 6th. They look like fish out of water in this part of town but I'm glad they're still around. Hotel Caledonia is where O. Henry lived for a period and always kept an office. He collapsed there just before his death. Next door is the Lamb's Club, a very exclusive actors club with members such as the Barrymore's, Cecil Demille, and Gene Autry. This was supposed to be leveled at some point and I'm hoping that it hasn't been already. It'd be such a shame.
I think this is too far up in Chelsea for my liking. The street around the Hudson is ok, but the rest is just too midtown. It's very busy and there's no energy around this part of town unless you count noise and trash as energy. There are so many lovely streets in Chelsea, but they're definitely not around here.

Yesterday was the Fourth of July, and I had a "hankering" for some good old down home barbecue. On a street without much else going on (a pirate themed restaurant called 'The Black Pearl' was across the street) we decided to try Hill Country, between 6th ave and Broadway. It was a cafeteria style restaurant, and it looked finger lickin' good. I say looked because the line was too long and we weren't able to eat, but the prices were reasonable and the restaurant seemed very popular. There was even a live country band downstairs. Like a real honky tonk!

The rest of the street was just warehouses and kind of bare, more interesting streets lied beyond. West 26th Street is close to the following metro stations: A, C, E, L at 34th Street, Penn Station, 1,2,3 at 28th Street, an the B,D,F,N, J, R, N, W at 34th Street & Herald Square, 6 at 28th. It is also accessible to many buses. Foot traffic is heavy, and it is a good neighborhood for all people!