West Village

LOCATION

The West Village is everything West of Sixth Avenue, from Houston to 14th street. Essentially, the West Village is the original Greenwich Village. The need for the modifier ("West") is a relatively new thing resulting from the emergence of the Eastern counterpart, the East Village.

There is a certain degree of ambiguity as to whether the West Village includes the area around 5th avenue and University Place (aka the Central Village). Our panel of experts maintains that it doesn't.

APARTMENTS & REAL ESTATE

The West Village has been preserved pretty well, which is a plus if you like the character of the old buildings, but a minus if you're looking for an affordable and modern apartment. Simply put, there are very few modern buildings and almost none of them qualifies as "high rise".

To be fair, some reasons for that do not have much to do with with preservation - they are much simpler. Because of geological quirks, the "rock" foundation, easily reachable in Midtown and Downtown, is actually very deep here. As a result, building too high would either be prohibitively expensive or outright dangerous.

The end result is a neighborhood dominated by 19th and early 20th century brownstone and low-rise apartment buildings.

Selected Rental Buildings:

• 140 Waverly Place (140 Waverly Place, West Village) - A 23-unit 6-story prewar elevator rental building
• 230 Thompson street (230 Thompson street, West Village) - Walk-up building
• 31-33 Bedford street (31-33 Bedford street, West Village) - Walk-up building.
• Morton Square (600 Washington Street, West Village) - A new 7-story building offering luxury studios, alcove studios, one- and two-bedroom apartments. Part of ....
• West Coast 110-114 Horatio Street (110 Horatio Street, West Village) - A 6-story pre-war apartment building connected to the newly constructed 8-story one.

See all West Village Rental Apartment Buildings

Selected No-Fee Rental Listings:

• new! $4,300 Studio at The Archive posted 05/14/08.
• new! $3,100 2-Bedroom at 37 A Bedford street (available June 1, 2008) posted 05/14/08.
• new! $1,770 Studio at 19-21 Grove Street (available May 14, 2008) posted 05/14/08.
• new! $2,395 Studio at 106 Greenwich Avenue (available May 14, 2008) posted 05/14/08.
• new! $4,455 1-Bedroom at Morton Square (available June 5, 2008) posted 05/13/08.

See all West Village No Fee Rental Apartments (50 total)

Condo Buildings:

• 163 Charles (163 Charles street, West Village)
• 165 Charles Street (165 Charles Street, West Village) - The building has been designed to accommodate a range of apartment configurations. With the exception of ....
• 33-37 Grove street (33-37 Grove street, West Village) - Pre-war, elevator building.

See all West Village Condo Apartment Buildings

Co-op Buildings:

See some of the area's West Village Co-op Apartment Buildings

POPULATION AND DEMOGRAPHICS

Population stands at about 72,000. The West Village used to be visibly gay, although in the last few years young families started to overtake as the neighborhood's most visible constituency.

As far as the social makeup is concerned, the majority could easily qualify as affluent if not outright rich. Real estate prices here are among the highest in Manhattan, not to mention other boroughs.

The area has been traditionally considered a natural place to live for intellectuals of all kinds (the literary type in particular) but we are yet to meet one full-time writer who can afford living there. Stockbrokers would probably have a much better shot.

SAFETY

Generally, the West Village is safe. It is one of the most tolerant neighborhoods in New York and beyond. The West Village doesn't have any public housing which takes away many of the associated problems. Thus, on the surface, it is totally safe.

On the other hand, we find certain parts of the West Village to be a magnet for people you might not necessarily want to hang out with. Specifically, that refers to the late-night scene on and around Christopher street, especially its Westernmost part.

NAME ORIGINS

Greenwich Village used to be a village. Back in the days when Wall Street actually had a wall. The "west" modifier was added later to distinguish the neighborhood from its eastern neighbors.

SYNOPSIS

The West Village may or may not be your cup of tea... The best way to find out is to visit a few times (including a night visit) and walk around. Luckily, there are countless charming blocks and narrow (by New York standards) streets to explore.

LATEST HEADLINES, NEWS & REVIEWS

• 04/Feb/2006: Equity Residential Buys a West Village Building