Your favorite neighborhoods

[LostInTheZone]

Boston (which did not impress me as a whole): Cambridge and the North End/Little Italy

Philly: Gayborhood/13th Street, Queen Village, University City

New York: Greenwich Village, the West Village & Morningside Heights (which, inexplicably, is on the sunset side of Manhattan)

Jersey City: Newark Avenue and Hamilton Park

Pittsburgh: what little time I've spent there, I liked the South Side and Oakland the best.

I didn't dislike any part I saw of San Francisco :D

[Steely Dan]

Boston (which did not impress me as a whole): Cambridge and the North End/Little Italy


that's interesting because i was in boston last june for 5 days and i can say that i was impressed with everything i saw, neighborhoodwise.

[LostInTheZone]

^ I liked Boston's neighborhoods, but the city seemed more like a collection of separate villages than a cohesive whole. I don't know if any place suffered worse under 20th century urban renewal.

[tdawg]

New York City: Cobble Hill and the West Village
Boston: South End
Washington, D.C.: Dupont Circle
Atlanta: Midtown and Decatur

[dktshb]

Los Angeles: Hollywood Hills, Silver Lake, Sunset Junction, Los Feliz.

[Buckeye Native 001]

Metro Los Angeles:
Old Towne Orange (where I currently work and home of my alma mater)
The Artists Village in Santa Ana
Balboa Peninsula, Newport Beach
The Jewlery District, Santee Alley, The Fashion District, Toy District (Downtown L.A.)
Downtown Long Beach
Old Town Pasadena

Cincinnati:
Mt. Adams
Mt. Auburn
Eden Park
Queensgate (GRIT)
Over-the-Rhine
The West End

Phoenix:
Encanto
Mill Avenue, Tempe
Uptown (the neighborhoods off Central between Camelback and Bethany Home Road)

[Steely Dan]

I don't know if any place suffered worse under 20th century urban renewal.

please don't ever visit chicago then. if you think boston was hit hard...... woah boy, chicago had entire neighborhoods measured in the hundreds of acres that were clear cut for "progress". boston is a paragon on "intactness" compared to the chopped up swiss cheese that is chicago.

[mello]

Houston: 5th Ward

Atlanta: Colli Park (sp.?)

[LostInTheZone]

please don't ever visit chicago then. if you think boston was hit hard...... woah boy, chicago had entire neighborhoods measured in the hundreds of acres that were clear cut for "progress". boston is a paragon on "intactness" compared to the chopped up swiss cheese that is chicago.

maybe I've just been spoiled by having Philly and NYC as my basis for comparison- for the most part, one neighborhood blends pretty smoothly into the next. But I mean, at least Chicago has the intense centralization of the Loop going for it- Boston ripped its own heart right out with that elevated highway (now a linear park- only slightly better from a planning perspective, it's still a barrier) and the Government Center- turns out that City Hall is actually one of the smaller brutalist monstrosities that went up in that clusterf*ck. With the exception of Cambridge, the neighborhoods I saw in Boston were pretty small area-wise, and had really hard-set borders.

I'm looking forward to visiting Chicago for the first time once the weather warms up a bit and I have some more free time. I don't think I'll be disappointed.

[Frisco_Zig]

maybe I've just been spoiled by having Philly and NYC as my basis for comparison-.

Wasn't much of Manhatten's mid town and Wall Street Area redeveloped?

Personally I thought Boston was a lot like San Francisco which is also a very small city with rather small neigborhoods

In Boston its hard to not love beacon hill

[Frisco_Zig]

I liked Brooklyn Heights a lot and saw many interesting ethnic neigborhoods in Brooklyn in general (from a tour bus window)

it stuck me how large and diverse Brooklyn is

[Evergrey]

State College, PA: West College area... love the older housing stock... lots of character... tends to attract the more interesting part of the student populace... and has proximity to O.W. Houts

[LostInTheZone]

Wasn't much of Manhatten's mid town and Wall Street Area redeveloped?

Personally I thought Boston was a lot like San Francisco which is also a very small city with rather small neigborhoods

In Boston its hard to not love beacon hill

If you don't love Beacon Hill, you don't belong on this website. But again, it was pretty small, and when I was there the only thing open at 10pm on Charles Street was a 7-11.

I was expecting something more like San Francisco (which has pretty good flow from one 'hood to the next) when I went to Boston and ended up disappointed, but I've only been there once for about 4 days, and Harvard was on spring break. So my opinion isn't totally set, and I'm not anti-Boston, don't get me wrong. There was a lot of good and a lot of bad, but mostly it was just not what I was expecting.

Yes, Midtown and Downtown NYC have been redeveloped, but in a pretty organic way for the most part, compared to Boston's scortched-earth government-sponsored all-at-once redevelopment. It's not the same situation.

And EG: West College is the best thing State College has going for it. The drug dealers have gotten a bit shadier lately, but it's still the first place I would send someone looking for an apartment.

[Steely Dan]

I'm looking forward to visiting Chicago for the first time once the weather warms up a bit and I have some more free time. I don't think I'll be disappointed.

well, all i can say is that if you were unimpressed with boston for its lack of neighborhood cohesion, chicago is gonna downright depress you. i'm not saying you shouldn't visit, but don't build it up to be like manhattan or san francisco, or you're just gonna gaurantee yourself a big disappointment and letdown. chicago has to be understood on its own terms- as a city bisected 6 ways from sunday by it's industrial/railroad legacy. the old derelict industrial/railroad corridors chop this city up more than any other flatland city i've ever seen. and the expressway/urban renewal retardation of the postwar era only made the problems of disconnectivity worse. if you really dislike neighborhood interruption, then you're probably gonna hate chicago.

however, i could just tell you to strictly stay in the northside lakefront corridor and i suppose you'd be happy enough with that type of consistant urbanism, just don't venture too far inland or to the other sides of the city.

[Frisco_Zig]

If you don't love Beacon Hill, you don't belong on this website. But again, it was pretty small, and when I was there the only thing open at 10pm on Charles Street was a 7-11.

I was expecting something more like San Francisco (which has pretty good flow from one 'hood to the next) when I went to Boston and ended up disappointed[QUOTE]

I kind of see what you are saying about Boston. Between the highways and road constuction and the meandering streets it was a slightly disorienting place and some of the neigborhoods like did seem to be disjointed from others

[LostInTheZone]

Steely Dan, that's about what I'm expecting from Chicago though. I understand just from looking at a map how chopped up the city is, and I know the history. The El ties everything together and that's reflected in the culture of Chicago. The difference is, Chicago covers a huge area. Boston is very small. I wasn't expecting a place with such a small land-area to be that chopped up. Boston is a great lesson to show what could have happened to San Francisco if there hadn't been a Freeway Revolt.

[Steely Dan]

^ that's cool, i was just surprised to hear someone say they were unimpressed with boston because it lacked urban cohesion. i mean, after new york, san francisco, and maybe philly (i don't know enough about philly to say), boston has got to be one of the most cohesively urban big cities in america. from an urban persepective, if boston doesn't impress you, then 99% of america won't impress you. which is cool, you're totally entitled to your opinion........ i ain't trying to start a "my opinion is better than your opinion" kinda thing, i simply would never want to experience the world through THAT narrow of a lens.

[LostInTheZone]

I should add Brighton Beach in Brooklyn. I didn't 'discover' it till the end of my time there last year, but I wish had found it sooner.

[seaskyfan]

One neighborhood I really like is Jamaica Plain in Boston. It has a great scale, a good mix of housing types, a nice park, and it's pretty diverse which is unusualy in Boston.

[LostInTheZone]

Steely: youre right, I'm not too well traveled, but about 99% of the American built environment doesn't fit with what my idea of a city should be. I'm willing to experience it on its own terms though. The thing is, my expectations for Boston might have been set a bit too high. And again, it was only a first impression, and my travel companion hates that city and that might have rubbed off on me. Boston seems like the kind of place you need to get to know to fully appreciate.

The experience of being utterly, completely lost downtown, for almost 45 minutes, trying to find the red line to get back to Cambridge before the subway shut down at midnight, surrounded by closed stores, concrete government buildings, and next to zero pedestrians to ask for directions, left a pretty bad taste in my mouth too. I usually take pride in my sense of direction but Boston smacked me right down.

[seaskyfan]

Boston is tough to find your way around in. If you can't see one of a few landmarks (State House Dome, Hancock Tower, Prudential) it can be tough to get your bearings.

[Crawford]

^ that's cool, i was just surprised to hear someone say they were unimpressed with boston because it lacked urban cohesion. i mean, after new york, san francisco, and maybe philly (i don't know enough about philly to say), boston has got to be one of the most cohesively urban big cities in america. from an urban persepective, if boston doesn't impress you, then 99% of america won't impress you. which is cool, you're totally entitled to your opinion........ i ain't trying to start a "my opinion is better than your opinion" kinda thing, i simply would never want to experience the world through THAT narrow of a lens.

Chicago is different from Boston in its disjointed feel. In Chicago one can observe different neighborhoods along a major artery for miles. This is easiest on the North Side but it can be done in other parts of the city.

In Boston this same type of exploration is impossible. Commercial districts aren't linear and urban renewal and institutional expansion cut neighborhoods off from one another. The only major walkable arteries would be Mass Ave in Cambridge and Comm Ave in Boston, but both are basically instutional/yuppie ghettos and don't give the same type of city-specific exposure one gets on miles of Lincoln, Clark or Milwaukee in Chicago.

[Joey D]

Wilmington: Little Italy, Hilltop, Trolley Square

Philadelphia: Passyunk, Manayunk, Bella Vista, Gayborhood, Fishtown, Northern Liberties (you can keep old city)

New York: West Village, East Village, Greenwich Village, Tribeca, SoHo, Fort Green Bkyn, Midtown East (outside CBD)

Miami: Little Havana, Kendall (seperate) maybe SoBe

Baltimore: Fells Point, Mt. Vernon, Harbor

San Juan: Old San Juan

[dktshb]

Wilmington: Little Italy, Hilltop, Trolley Square

Philadelphia: Passyunk, Manayunk, Bella Vista, Gayborhood, Fishtown, Northern Liberties (you can keep old city)

New York: West Village, East Village, Greenwich Village, Tribeca, SoHo, Fort Green Bkyn, Midtown East (outside CBD)

Miami: Little Havana, Kendall (seperate) maybe SoBe

Baltimore: Fells Point, Mt. Vernon, Harbor

San Juan: Old San Juan

Old San Juan is one of my favorite hoods out there. :tup:

[SuburbanNation]

^ I liked Boston's neighborhoods, but the city seemed more like a collection of separate villages than a cohesive whole. I don't know if any place suffered worse under 20th century urban renewal.

i'd guess St. Louis did....the NY times headline "St. Louis Rips Itself Apart" speaks to that. ...they didnt call the expanse west of downtown "Hiroshima Flats" for nothing.

[crisp444]

The best urban neighborhoods that I know well or fairly well:

Madrid: Retiro, Chamberí, Salamanca, Centro
Miami (and surroundings): Miami Beach, Coral Gables, Brickell
Boston (and surroundings): northern/eastern Brookline, Back Bay, Beacon Hill, Harvard Square (Cambridge)
New York: Eastside Manhattan between E23 and E96, Greenwich Village, UWS, Brooklyn Heights, Park Slope, Forest Hills

[brickell]

Most of these places I've only visited as a tourist, so take it how you will.

Miami: Coconut Grove, South Beach
NYC: Brooklyn Heights, Coney Island/Brighton, West Village
Boston: North End
Orlando: Winter Park, College Park
Philadephia: Rittenhouse Square (moreso the area south and west of the park)

[TheMeltyMan]

Montreal - Plateau, Verdun, Mile-End
Philly - Northern Liberties, Downtown, Germantown
Pittsburgh - Squirrel Hill, East Liberty
Boston - North End, Allston, Beacon Hill
NYC - Upper both sides, Hell's Kitchen, Brooklyn Heights
Los Angeles - Santa Monica, Culver City

[sharkfood]

Philadelphia: Fitler Square; the little narrow streets like Fawn and Quince in the "Gayborhood"

Boston: Beacon Hill

San Francisco: Telegraph Hill, but also Macondray Lane

New York: Brooklyn Heights; a few of the off the grid streets in Manhattan like Riverview Terrace; Greenpoint for its end of the world feel

Baltimore: Fells Point, Canton

Washington DC: Georgetown, especially the top of the Exorcist stairs

[crisp444]

NYC - Hell's Kitchen


Just curious -- why?

[passdoubt]

Philadelphia: Cedar Park and Spruce Hill in West Philly
New York: South Slope and Fort Greene in Brooklyn
Baltimore: Fells Point
DC: Columbia Heights
Richmond: The Fan
New Orleans: Faubourg Marigny

[Crawford]

Just curious -- why?

Why not? The neighborhood name might sound forboding, but this is nowadays a very desirable area. It's good enough for P. Diddy, who lives in a newish condo in the neighborhood.

[crisp444]

I'm not trying to say it's not a cool neighborhood - I really don't know it well. The only thing I remember about it is that the streetscape is not as visually appealing (they have less landscaping and nice ground-level retail) as many other areas of Manhattan. Maybe that's changed a lot since the last time I was there.

[tackledspoon]

New York: Lower East Side, East Village, West Village, Park Slope, Bay Ridge
Newark: Ironbound
Pittsburgh: North Oakland, Southside
This thread reminds me of how much I need to get out and see the world.

[tackledspoon]

I'm not trying to say it's not a cool neighborhood - I really don't know it well. The only thing I remember about it is that the streetscape is not as visually appealing (they have less landscaping and nice ground-level retail) as many other areas of Manhattan. Maybe that's changed a lot since the last time I was there.

I don't go up to Hell's Kitchen a whole lot, but from what I've seen, that's a somewhat accurate assessment. There are strips (9th ave, in particular) that have plenty of retail, but the side streets are pretty barren and 10th and 11th avenues are becoming more condominum canyons that I feel don't really encourage street activity (eesh, this might get me beaten on these forums).
That said, it also has some great old housing stock and the diners and sports bars in that area are top-notch. I go up on Sundays during football season, get myself a ham, egg and cheese sandwich and then swing by a bar to watch the games with my cousins.

[sf_eddo]

San Francisco: Lower Haight, Hayes Valley, Liberty Hill, Duboce Triangle, Dolores Park

Los Angeles: Silverlake, Echo Park, Hollywood, Santa Monica (Main Street)

New York: Lower East Side, Gramercy Park, Nolita

Chicago: Wicker Park, Ukrainian Village, East Village (West Town in general)

San Diego: North Park

London: Camden, Hampstead

Paris: Marais, Latin Quarter, La Bastille

[simms3]

little jacksoville fl has suffered more in relation to its sze. we are clearly the oldest fl metro, so we have good, unique and distinct neighborhoods, but the inner core including downtown was razed for surface parking. We used to have a dense inner core with street cars and the like, now we don't and have to build anew, and the fact that downtown is terminated has disrupted the flow from san marco (south side intown neighborhoods) to north side of river neighborhoods when really it could have been a continued urban mass. My favorite neighborhoods are upper east side and midtown in new york, and i also like downtown and would live there shoud i move there. but the rest of my favorite neighborhoods are in florida...avondale, riverside, and san marco in jax, the town of delray beach along atlantic, west palm beach, coral gables near the biltmore, coconut grove, las olas, and old naples. all these neighborhoods are virtually the same: wealthy, nice, tropical version of nice neighborhoods up north with commercial districts, etc, and they all include water, golf, and tennis. The two exceptions being riverside and avondale near where i live, i like them because, while they are nice and on the waterfront, they are older, more established, and more urban.

^ I liked Boston's neighborhoods, but the city seemed more like a collection of separate villages than a cohesive whole. I don't know if any place suffered worse under 20th century urban renewal.

[spoonman]

San Diego: University Heights, Hillcrest, Banker's Hill
Los Angeles: Los Feliz, Silverlake

[niwell]

Boston (and surroundings): northern/eastern Brookline, Back Bay, Beacon Hill, Harvard Square (Cambridge)


I only got to see Brookline at night a couple times when I was in Boston, but it seemed excellent. I walked much of the length of Harvard st. and it was quite vibrant. Next time I go back to Boston I have to see it during the day.

For some of my favourite areas, more listed for cities I know the best:

Ottawa: Centretown, Lowertown, Hintonburg, The Glebe, Old Ottawa South, Westboro and New Edinburgh (yeah, this is lots!)

Calgary: Pretty much only the Beltline, Mission and Hillhurst/Sunnyside (otherwise known as Kensington). Bridgeland seems to be gaining potential though.

Montreal: Mile-End, The Plateau

Toronto: Not too sure of many neighbourhood names in TO, but the strips along Bloor W. and Queen W. seem great. I also enjoyed the Beaches, Cabbagetown and Parkdale.

[crisp444]

^^ In my opinion, the northern and eastern parts of Brookline are some of the most pleasant residential low-scale urban neighborhoods in the United States... if you search for my Brookline thread I did in the autumn, you will see why. :)

[STERNyc]

Some of my favorite NYC hoods...


1. Chelsea Area. By-day: great for walks; great modern architecture, Riverside Park, and the high-line. There also great shopping, on the outskirts there’s bargain specialty goods and of course there’s Chelsea Market and the galleries. By night, the city’s best nightlife, there’s the top clubs that I’ll go to every once in a while, but my favorite dive’s are also in the area, there’s a number of cheap but decent comedy clubs, as well as every loft-party I’ve ever been to, also the fact that the Fashion Institute of Technology is in the area and young girls are at times at a two to one ratio, doesn’t hurt either.

2. Greenwich Village (East and West). By-day: great walking adventures, great old-New York architecture, best place in the city to browse and buy music and shop for what you can’t find elsewhere in the city, also the shop-owners are probably the nicest in the city. In addition to finding my new music here I find my new books here (Strand, best in the city, I check the small ones too) and new movies (Art Cinema). The village has some of the best and the cheapest food in the city and the nightlife is fun, it’s good, not great.

3. Lower East Side. This used to be my favorite hood in the city; it’s at number three for that reason, in all actuality it should no longer even be on my list. It used to have interesting shops and gallery’s, it used to have the best ethnic food, it used to have the bargain district, and it used to have more interesting streetscapes. The nightlife is still existent if not still excellent but it doesn’t feel the same, at all.

4. The Upper East Side. The only reason this is on my list is because I used to live here and will hopefully be living on either the Upper East or Upper West Side’s shortly. The reason I love the Upper East Side is because it’s the perfect place to live, its quiet, plenty of services that are open late, plethora of supermarkets and great restaurants, parks scattered throughout. Also the nightlife is good in the UES, I have probably seen more celebrities at Elaine’s or Mustang’s than in any other place in the city, and it has just as many bars and a great variety along second avenue.

[fflint]

My latest favorite neighborhood: Wicker Park (and adjacent areas) in Chicago. Wow, wow, wow.

[sf_eddo]

My latest favorite neighborhood: Wicker Park (and adjacent areas) in Chicago. Wow, wow, wow.

Yeah, I agree!!!! West Town!

[Swinefeld]

Philly: Northern Liberties

Baltimore: Fells Point and Bolton Hill

DC: Georgetown

Boston: Back Bay

NYC: SoHo and Greenwich Village

[tdawg]

Hell's Kitchen is the hot new Gayborhood (well, not really that new) and it's chock full of great restaurants and bars. 11th Avenue and to some extent 10th are still somewhat barren but upper 8th and 9th are blowing up.