The Bronx

The second smallest of the five boroughs, the Bronx has a population of about 1.3 million. The Bronx (which, like many a thing Dutch always retains the definite article), is a borough with some serious bad rap - speaking of which, this is where the musical style was invented (the pun is unintentional, if you can believe it). Many areas of the borough have long been considered "beyond repair" as far as their potential for quality housing is concerned.

Nevertheless, there are many interesting and culturally rich neighborhoods that are quite livable and even the worst ones have been improving - to a degree. Particularly stunning have been the slow but steady gentrification of the South Bronx - a decade ago perhaps one of the roughest areas of the city and beyond. Nowadays, newspapers are replete with ads for apartments and lofts in Mott Haven and the area has been often called "SoBro" (a somewhat tongue-in-cheek name, clearly referencing ultra-fashionable abbreviations such as Manhattan's SoHo and TriBeCa). The transformation started in 1997 with a rezoning law encouraging conversion of industrial spaces for residential and commercial uses.

Generally, the North-West Bronx (Community District 8, comprising Riverdale, Marble Hill, and Kingsbridge) is more affluent than the rest of the borough. The contrast gets pretty extreme in Riverdale which has plenty of large-lot single-family mansions surrounded by scenic parks.

Meanwhile, more "urban" neighborhoods in the Central, Eastern and South Bronx have become majority-Hispanic over the past decades. A sizable proportion of housing in low-income areas is in the form of high-rise housing projects, although most of the borough's housing stock consists of low-rise and mid-rise buildings.

Among the borough's attractions are the Bronx Zoo, the New York Botanical Garden, Van Cortlandt Park (the site of free summer performances by the New York City Philharmonic Orchestra), the Bronx Museum of the Arts and a host of smaller museums, galleries, historical houses and parks.

The Bronx has perhaps the best uptapped supply for affordable rental apartments - living here is considerably cheaper than living in most areas of Brooklyn, for example (not to mention Manhattan).