The
Upper West Side is a primarily residential neighborhood, but
it can serve as a great home base for visitors to New York
City, and is certainly worth exploring if you have time. It
is a convenient location for exploring Central Park, as well
as the American Museum of Natural History, and the many subways
and buses make it easy to explore other areas of the city.
It is a great neighborhood for shopping, and the brownstone
lined blocks and luxury apartment buildings make the Upper
West Side well worth strolling around.
When the co-ops of the East Side were freer to restrict residents,
the Upper West Side became home to new money. Then, as "modernist"
Eastsiders tore down their pre-war palaces, Upper West Side
residents kept their old buildings, such as the famous Ansonia
and the Dakota ; renters now value the neighborhood's attractive
real estate. Meanwhile, bars and restaurants catering to Long
Island and New Jersey folk continue to sprout like weeds along
Columbus and Amsterdam avenues.
Upper West Side is primarily a residential and shopping area,
with many of its residents working in more commercial areas
in Midtown and Lower Manhattan. While these distinctions were
never hard-and-fast rules, and now mean little, it has the
reputation of being home to New York City's liberal cultural
and artistic workers, in contrast to the Upper East Side,
which is perceived to be traditionally home to more affluent
conservative commercial and business types.
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