| One truly fantastic place to live in the borough of Manhattan is none other than the Upper West Side. Upper West Side real estate continues to take the city of New York by storm, thanks to its pleasing array of luxurious Upper West Side condos, Upper West Side coops, Upper West Side brownstones, and Lincoln Square condos.
Upper West Side real estate comprises several neighborhoods of the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is situated between the world-renowned Central Park and the Hudson River above West 59th Street. Upper West Side real estate is continually distinguished as the more intellectual and creative counterpart to Manhattan’s Upper East Side, which is not only one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in New York City, but in the entire nation.
Manhattan is arguably the most well known borough of New York City, and home to an astounding population of 1.6 million people. It is also notably one of the highest-income places to live in the United States. While 1.6 million residents occupy Manhattan and Upper West Side condos and other Upper West Side real estate, the remaining 6.5 million reside in the other four New York City boroughs, which include Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island. This entire population manages to squeeze into just 830 kilometers land space, easily making the city the most densely populated in the nation.
Even with this high population, it still does not stop more and more people from moving into Upper West Side condos, Upper West Side coops, Upper West Side brownstones, Lincoln Square condos, and other New York City real estate on a daily basis. The real estate climate in this city is forever strong, thanks to the plethora of cultural and recreational activities available, as well as the strong business climate, thousands of world renowned restaurants, shops, and so much more.
If you find yourself looking into Upper West Side real estate, you will undoubtedly find that this part of the city offers some of the most diverse, beautiful and highly elite properties in the world.
Moving On Up…to the West Side
Similar to the Upper East Side of Manhattan, Upper West Side real estate is primarily comprised of a residential and shopping area. Many Upper West Side residents are employed in more commercial areas such as Midtown Manhattan and Lower Manhattan.
The Upper West Side is well known for its liberal culture and artistic population, highly in contrast to the Upper East Side, which is commonly perceived as home to more conservative commercial and business types.
Upper West Side real estate attracts homebuyers with an upscale taste on a median income. Upper West Side condos and other Upper West Side real estate properties are bounded on the south by 59th Street, Central Park to the east, and the Hudson River to the west. Upper West Side real estate has a less obvious northern boundary. Historically, the neighborhood has been cited as 110th Street, which fixes the neighborhood alongside Central Park. The neighborhood is now commonly considered to be 125th Street, encompassing Morningside Heights.
Morningside Heights is just south of Harlem, and is notably the site of the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, Columbia University, Barnard College, Union Theological Seminary, Manhattan School of Music, Teachers College, Columbia University, and Jewish Theological Seminary. It is also home to Grant’s Tomb and the Riverside Church.
Starting west to east, the avenues of the Upper West Side are Riverside Drive (12th Avenue), West End Avenue (11th Avenue), Broadway, Amsterdam Avenue (10th Avenue), Columbus Avenue (9th Avenue) and Central Park West (8th Avenue). There is a 66-block stretch of Broadway that forms the spine of the Upper West Side neighborhood and moves diagonally across the avenues at the bottom of the neighborhood and above 72nd Street. It moves parallel to the avenues and enters the neighborhood at its point in time with Central Park West at Columbus Circle; crosses Columbus Ave at Lincoln Square condos; crosses Amsterdam Avenue at Verdi Square; and proceeds to merge with West End at Straus Square, also known as Bloomingdale Square at 107th Street.
History of Upper West Side
Upper West Side real estate was originally named the Bloomingdale District – a district that applied to the west side of Manhattan from about 23rd Street up to the Hollow Way (modern 125th Street). It contained several farms and country homes of New York’s most affluent families. Bloomingdale Road, which began north of where Broadway and the Bowery Lane join (today’s Union Square), was the main artery of the area. The road ended at around what is modern-day 116th Street in Harlem’s Morningside Heights neighborhood. The road further north of Bloomingdale Road was known as Kingsbridge Road. This road passed through areas such as Harsenville, Strycker’s Bay, and Bloomingdale Village.
By the eighteenth and early nineteenth century, Upper West Side real estate consisted of some of colonial New York’s most elaborate houses. These Upper West Side brownstones were well spaced along Bloomingdale Road.
In the first half of the nineteenth century, Upper West Side real estate continued to grow, increasingly filled with smaller, more suburban Upper West Side coops and other villas. By mid-century, parts of the Upper West Side had become distinctly lower class. This was partially due to the Hudson River Railroad line right-of-way that was granted in the late 1830s, and the creation of Central Park, which led many squatters to move their shacks westward into the Upper West Side neighborhood.
As Upper West Side real estate development continued, the old name of Bloomingdale Road was slowly dissolving, and the new name of Broadway was progressively applied to the area further north to include what had been lower Bloomingdale Road. By the end of the nineteenth century, the name Broadway completely took over Bloomingdale Road.
The development of Central Park continued throughout the 1860s and 70s. At this time, the elevated train’s rapid transit was extended up Ninth Avenue and was using lands originally held by the Bloomingdale Asylum. Upper West Side real estate development sharply took offer in the years of 1885 to 1910, partially due to the arrival of IRT subway stations at 72nd, 79th, 86th, and 96th Street after 1904.
During the tumultuous 1960s, the west side of New York was regarded as a “rough” neighborhood of tenement housing. Parts of the neighborhood were actually used for the movie musical West Side Story during this time. However, this period of “roughness” would soon secede with the urban renewal that would take over Upper West Side real estate. This renewal swept through the city with the construction of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the Lincoln Tower apartments, and Lincoln Square condos in 1962 to 1968.
By the 1970s and 80s, Upper West Side real estate continued its transformation with the influx of several college graduates who moved to the area, enthralled by the neighborhood’s large apartments and affordable housing.
Today, the Upper West Side real estate is flourishing with posh, pre-war buildings along the boulevards of Broadway, West End Avenue, Riverside Drive, and Central Park West, as well as quiet streets lined with Upper West Side brownstones and Upper West Side condos. Much of the neighborhood is protected by landmark status, and the neighborhood’s beautifully restored townhouses and high-priced Upper West Side coops are coveted by famous actors, young professionals, and young families.
Arts and Culture Abound in the Upper West Side
Upper West Side real estate is widely known for being within extremely close proximity to some of the nation’s most famous performing arts venues, including the world-renowned Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts that sits between 61st and 66th Streets on Broadway; the New York State Theater, New York City Ballet, the New York City Opera, the Metropolitan Opera House, Avery Fisher Hall, the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, the Vivian Beaumont Theater, Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Library and Museum of the Performing Arts, the School of American Ballet, and the widely regarded Julliard School of Music.
Also, the Walter Reade Theater is the home of the Lincoln Center Film Society, and includes a central plaza that features a number of summer outdoor performances and dance nights. During the early winter, New York’s Big Apple Circus pitches its tents in the plaza, and street performers are quite common in the Upper West Side.
Many cultural attractions further enhance the value of Upper West Side real estate, including the American Museum of Natural History and Rose Center for Earth and Space, the New York Historical Society, and the Children’s Museum of Manhattan.
In addition to the numerous performing arts venues and museums, Upper West Side real estate is also famous for its fancy boutique and restaurant strip on Columbus Avenue; the bars, bodegas, and boutiques along Amsterdam Avenue; and huge architectural jewels, which include John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s Dakota, The Langham, the twin-towered San Remo and the Kenilworth.
Upper West Side condos and other types of Upper West Side real estate are also well known for being situated within some of the most superb dining areas in all of New York. Two exceptional dining choices in the Upper West Side include the ever romantic Café des Artistes and the splendidly wonderful Tavern on the Green. Additionally, there are tons of variety cafes and restaurants dotted along Columbus Avenue.
Whether you are selling or buying your Upper West Side condo, Upper West Side coop, Upper West Side brownstone or Lincoln Square condos, one thing is for sure – the Upper West Side real estate transaction at hand is sure to be highly beneficial to both parties involved. For more information on Upper West Side real estate, contact the expert New York City Realtors of Sellers Realty Group at 212-482-0000 for Manhattan or 718-937-7900 for Brooklyn and Queens to make an appointment today.
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