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Morningside Heights
Columbia University basically is Morningside Heights. The hub is Broadway between 110th Street and 116th Street. Another busy area is 125th Street between St. Nicholas and Morningside Avenues. The streets are fairly short, particularly the quiet residential blocks between Morningside Park and Riverside Drive. And there’s lots of foot traffic. Along Broadway, while most people look college-aged, you can find parents pushing strollers and thirtysomethings carrying laptops, and a Jewish community, too. It’s all very New Yorky, but also college-campusy.—Aline Mendelsohn
Score: 13
Upper West Side (72nd Street to 86th Street)
The Fairway could count as its own New York neighborhood—you’ve got more characters in there than the rest of the UWS combined. The streets with subway stops are the busiest: 72nd (especially), 79th and 86th, plus Broadway, Amsterdam and Columbus. Most people are window-shopping, eating in cafés and restaurants, or enjoying big bar scene in the 80s, on Amsterdam and Columbus. So there’s life. And plenty of New York vets who lend it all a Manhattan feel. But why does it all seem so bland?—Alison Rohrs
Score: 12
Upper West Side (96th Street to 110th Street)
The oversuccess that’s strangling 86th Street to 96th Street creeps up here, with more chain stores and banks joining the indie restaurants. But head to Amsterdam and Columbus for Latin flavor, and you’ll be reminded what community is: street talking, homemade eats, community centers and very few Chase banks.—Michael Freidson
Score: 12
Upper West Side (86th Street to 96th Street)
Here, you don’t just see signs of oversuccess. You see signs of oversuccess on actual signs—postings in front of now-closed businesses that read we lost our lease: after 40 years in the neighborhood, our rent got too high. It’s a depressing trend: For every charming local business (like Barzini’s, a mini-Fairway), there are three more Washington Mutuals. Pretty soon, this ’hood will live up to its once-unfounded rep as the most boring in the borough.—Michael Freidson
Score: 11
Chelsea
The sidewalk cafés are usually well populated, and each long block has at least one dog walker (and at least a few good-looking gay guys). And of course, art galleries and clubs make West Chelsea a go-to spot. But businesses are taking over, including Google’s new HQ, developments are moving in, and the chain stores are already here. Doggy day care, too. Soulwise, it’s over—Chelsea is the ultimate victim of its own success.—Clare Lambe
Score: 11
