Upper West Side

Primarily a residential area and home to one of the largest Jewish communities in the world, the Upper West Side has undergone years of gentrification to become one of the most sought-after and expensive neighborhoods in Manhattan.

The run-down buildings and time-worn shops of the past have given way to an array of designer clothing stores, specialty shops, and small trendy eateries interspersed among the elegantly renovated pre-war brownstones.

Populated by successful entertainment professionals and young creative types, the Upper West Side is usually buzzing with activity as residents and visitors alike peruse department stores like Loehmann’s and Williams Sonoma or jog through Sheep’s Meadow in Central Park, while school kids and Columbia University students congregate on the stately front steps of the Natural History Museum or book it back and forth between museums, galleries, and libraries.

At night, high-end artists and roving packs of after-work business people flood the wide range of ethnic restaurants, staples like Gray’s Papaya and Zabar’s, and loud sports bars along Amsterdam Avenue to sample some of the Upper West Side’s best food and drink.