Upper West Side Luxury Condos and Real Estate Attract Interest
Upper West Side luxury condos and real estate bring premium prices because the neighborhood is seen as one of the most desirable locations in the New York City area. It has become increasingly fashionable in recent years attracting a profusion of high end shops, swank restaurants, and trendy clubs and bars. The district lies between Central Park and the Hudson River and runs north to south from 110th St. to 59th St. Like its neighbor across Central Park, the Upper East Side, the district is affluent and primarily residential, but it has a reputation for attracting more artistic and culturally oriented people while the Upper East Side is thought to appeal more to commercial and business types.
Broadway acts as the spine of this district. It runs diagonally across it to 77th St and then runs parallel to the Avenues. A number of educational institutions and landmark structures are found here including those listed below.
- Columbia University
- Barnard College
- Bank Street College of Education
- The National Council of Churches
- Union Theological Seminary
- Manhattan School of Music
- Teachers College
- Jewish Theological Seminary of America
- Cathedral of Saint John the Divine
- Grant’s Tomb
Farmland Developed into Chic Neighborhood
Dutch settlers in the early 18th Century established farms here calling the settlement “Bloemendaal” which was later Anglicized to Bloomingdale. By the start of the 19th Century, many well to do New Yorkers began building mansions here. As the century progressed, more and more homes were built on steadily shrinking parcels and parts of the district became lower class. The creation of Central Park caused many squatters evicted from park land to relocate here, and some parts of the Upper West Side became notorious for the collection of taverns and gambling dens.
Elevated trains were built along 9th Ave. in the 1870’s. This led to a building boom that lasted into the early years of the 20th century. Because so many people had moved into the neighborhood, it became the first place in New York City to be served by a subway line which opened in 1904. The IRT Broadway line had 11 stations between 59th St. and 125th St.
The IRT Subway line and others that followed in addition to elevated rail lines encouraged increasing population density, and the area became filled with tenement housing.
Upper West Side Luxury Condos and Real Estate Redevelop District
Many of the tenement buildings began to be torn down in the 1960’s in large scale urban renewal projects. The Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts was the first of these efforts. Riverside Park was expanded by covering the tracks of the Hudson River Railroad with a promenade. Upper West Side luxury condos and real estate are now sandwiched between the narrow strip of park that runs along the Hudson River and the broader expanse of Central Park.
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