West 42nd St, Clinton / Hells Kitchen

The block at 12th has a ton of luxury high rises peppering it without much else. These are all really nice apartment buildings (Lindsay Lohan used to live in one of them) but the neighborhood doesn't do enough for me to justify the rent no matter how nice they are. One of the buildings is on the site of the former mounted police unit and the sign for it is still on the ground floor. The mounted unit came in around the late 19th century to monitor carriages that were speeding around Central Park which I think is hilarious. I also think it's hilarious that there are still mounted police men in Manhattan. I often wonder what they plan on doing with a perp if they catch him. Do they tie him to the back of the horse and parade him around? It's so weird to me and walking Manhattan streets cannot be fun for those horses.
The block between 11th and 10th has some fun little off-Broadway theatres and a few residential buildings along with a great dive bar. If you had to live on 42nd, I would say to look on this block. You'll get a nice, new apartment and have a few things to do, at least. I mean, there's not a lot to do, but it's better than most blocks in this neighborhood.
Once you cross 10th, you get into the serious theatre part of the city. This is where all the big time shows start and finish. The Douglas Fairbanks theatre and John Houseman theatre are both on this block as well as the Manhattan Plaza. The Manhattan Plaza is a godsend to a lot of actors (if you can get in) because it's a massive luxury apartment complex that scales the rent to what you can afford. The wait list is around 3-5 years because once people get in, they usually don't leave. But, they pull your rent down to almost nothing when you're in between projects, so it allows actors to be able to afford to stay in Manhattan. Larry David, Alicia Keys, Tennessee Williams, Christian Slater and Mickey Rourke have all lived in this building.
The next block is taken up by more luxury rentals and theatres which I think is lovely. It's theatres like Playwrights Horizons which is a fantastic theatre group and the little Schubert and has just enough room outside the apartment buildings for a few little cafes, diners and bars. I can't stand most of midtown and Hell's Kitchen, but this block is really vibrant and offers quite a lot to do though none of the food is anything to write home about. And, it is swarming with tourists.
Not even I could say no to living in Manhattan Plaza, and the further into the Broadway area 42nd goes, the cooler it is. It's not the greatest street in the city by far but it's definitely one of the better ones in the neighborhood.