Manhattan

Manhattan is the smallest of the five boroughs in terms of land area and only the third most populous borough, well behind Brooklyn and Queens. Nevertheless, Manhattan is the original (pre-1898) New York City and still clearly the most important of the five boroughs in terms of social, financial and political power it wields in the city and beyond.

The borough of Manhattan can be roughly divided into four big areas: Downtown, Midtown, Uptown, and Upper Manhattan.

Manhattan: Downtown

Architecturally, Downtown offers almost every type of housing you'll find in New York, although not necessarily in proportions representative of the city as a whole. One can choose to live in converted offices and bank headquarters (especially in the Financial District), former warehouses and industrial lofts (SoHo and TriBeCa), charming row houses (the West Village and the Central Village), modern skyscrapers (the Financial District and Battery Park City), luxury townhouses, 1980's multi-apartment buildings, early 20th century tenement housing and even mid-20th century housing projects (especially on the Eastern fringes of the East Village and the Lower East Side).

Downtown buildings:

• Downtown Manhattan rental buildings
• Downtown Manhattan condo buildings

Manhattan: Midtown

Overall, compared to Downtown, Midtown is more "reserved", touristy (especially around the Times Square area), somewhat older (although not everywhere) and architecturally homogeneous - thanks in part to Manhattan's geology, which allows to build very tall buildings in the island's Midtown core, and in part to the history of its development. Many of the city's hotels are located in Midtown.

The dominant residential architecture form here is multi-apartment buildings: they can be found pretty much everywhere. Most buildings were constructed after the WWII but some are "pre-war" (an epithet that often entails paying a premium thanks to more generous layouts of their apartments). Other building styles vary from row houses (especially in Gramercy Park and Midtown East), to more exotic options such as lofts (Chelsea, Garment District and Flatiron District).

Many of the new rental developments of the 1990's and 2000's were built in Midtown West - that is to say, in Chelsea and Hell's Kitchen (Clinton). This was due to the availability of plots suitable for redevelopment. This trend (more new buidlings on the western side) is likely to continue.

Midtown buildings:

• Midtown Manhattan rental buildings
• Midtown Manhattan condo buildings

Manhattan - Uptown

Just north of the Upper West Side, is the "island-neighborhood" (not in strict geographic terms but in ambiance), surrounding Columbia University (all the way up to 125th).

Uptown streets and apartments are/were often larger than those of Downtown, the services more plentiful and don't forget the primary attraction - Central Park! But in an absurd twist of modern Manhattan history, this actually isn't so true anymore. Some of the best apartment deals, are now found on the Eastern fringes of the Upper East Side rather than in hip Downtown neighborhoods.

Uptown buildings:

• Uptown Manhattan rental buildings
• Uptown Manhattan condo buildings

Upper Manhattan - Harlem and Northern Manhattan

So, what's located above 110th? Besides aforementioned Columbia University area, pretty much everywhere else above 110th and below 154th is a neighborhood called Harlem. Actually, Harlem is too big to be coherently described as one neighborhood, so it's usually split into the Central Harlem, the East Harlem (or El Barrio, which actually starts at East 96th street) and the West Harlem / City College area, which is sometimes considered part of Morningside Heights (Columbia University's island-neighborhood).

Higher still, above Harlem, lies the neighborhood of Washington Heights and yet above that, at the very tip of northern Manhattan, you will find Inwood.

The reason these areas are still omitted from tourist maps is that they are much less of a tourist attraction than everything else in Manhattan. For all the gentrification that's been going on for the last 10-15 years, the statistically lower average income of their residents translates into fewer restaurants, bars, and a more rundown feel to some of the area (again, save for the effects of recent gentrification which may eventually succeed at changing all that).

In fact, 125th street has often been hailed as a success story and you're considering living in Harlem, you must stroll it all the way at least once.

Casual visitors should probably avoid the far east side of Harlem above 103rd and pretty much any other neighborhood where there are too many tall nondescript buildings (hint: they are housing projects).

Upper Manhattan buildings:

• Upper Manhattan rental buildings
• Upper Manhattan condo buildings