More laid-back, and allegedly more intellectual, than its East-Side cousin, the Upper West Side is a largely residential area, filled with tall apartment buildings and stately brownstones. This area, which begins at Columbus Circle and ends at Morningside Heights, is home to the Lincoln Center, the American Museum of Natural History, and Columbia University. However, one of its greatest attributes may be its borders: sandwiched between the iconic Central Park and leisurely Riverside Park, greenery is never more than a few blocks away. Though a hip place during the '70s and '80s, when rents were actually affordable, the Upper West Side is much more moneyed now, filled with affluent families and strollers. Busy Broadway forms the commercial hub, with businesses catering to New Yorker's everyday needs. This, along with Amsterdam and Columbus avenues, is good place to find tasty, affordable eats.

Famous Harlem, whose importance as a historically African-American neighborhood cannot be matched, begins north of Morningside Heights. The Apollo Theater, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, and the Cloisters can all be found here. Despite its dangerous reputation, Harlem has become much safer... and much more popular with tourists. Gentrification, spurred on by a race for its beautiful brownstones, has brought change, for better or for worse.

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