The block-long Hunters Point Historic District, on 45th Avenue between 21st and 23rd Streets

Stats
What you’ll pay: $650,000 and up for a new apartment ($900,000 for a wood-frame house)
What you’ll get: A 1,000-square-foot two-bedroom, two-bath condo in a doorman building five stories or taller
Distance to midtown: One stop on the 7 train

Very little about this area actually feels like Long Island—and that’s how the people who live here like it. In the past decade the booming section of the Queens West waterfront has morphed from gritty industrial landscape into full-fledged hipster ’hood. Now, as the new branches of Duane Reade and upscale grocer Amish Market currently under construction attest, essential amenities for families are following. The convenience factor rivals that of northwestern Brooklyn; Manhattan is just one stop away on the 7 train, and its skyline adds a breathtaking backdrop to the daily routine. But those aren’t the only reasons LIC loyalists prefer the view from their side of the East River.

Stepping out of the subway station and onto Vernon Boulevard, you’ll find several blocks of locally owned shops and eateries. The clutch of pizzerias, specialty food markets and restaurants reflects the area’s Italian-American heritage, while several slick real-estate offices —hyping the thousands of new apartments that have hit the market since 2005 or are now under construction—point to the future. On Saturday afternoons, fresh-faced young parents wearing babies in slings mingle with old-timers, shopping carts in tow, and boys zipping by on skateboards.