3BR with commute to Mt Sinai...Harlem? (Duane: apartments, renting)

[gingercat]

We've been living on the Upper West Side in the mid-90s for a while, and are getting ready to start a family. Since I also work from home, we are hoping to upgrade to a 3BR apartment.

The open 3BR unit in my building is $4500(!!!). While I can find somewhat better rents in the Financial District or Lower East Side, the commute to Mt Sinai would be a PITA for my husband, as would the outer boroughs, and I still find the rents appalling.

He generally taxis it or takes the bus, not a fan of the subway (though I take it a lot).

I've been thinking of targeting some sections of Harlem, but am not really sure where to look (aside from the obvious Morningside Heights answer I see a lot). The listings I see for apartments offer an amount of space and renovation that we could never afford in the lower parts of Manhattan.

I know this question is asked ad nauseum, but unfortunately I haven't found the answer I need in the threads I've searched.

To summarize our situation, we're a 30-something couple looking to start a family. We aren't big into nightlife--a good grocery store and a great neighborhood restaurant or two is of far more interest than trendy bars or designer shopping. Park access is a nice touch for the dog and intended children.

Safety is of course a high concern, though we already try to avoid walking out at night after 10 or so and in the morning before 6:00.

Definitely looking for a place to settle in for the next several years.

So...the June 2011 update of the question: what areas of Harlem can the more knowledgeable among us recommend for the search?

[Harlem resident]

We are having the same problem. Where to move ?

In Harlem, the affordable places are affordable for a reason - they are not the best areas. We are currently living on lower Convent, which is a kind of compromise. Near the subways, not totally dreadful, not yet an over-over-priced area.

[nycjap]

I live in Harlem and i am not AA. I moved here a little less than a year ago (I bought a place, not renting).

I looked at a number of places around the city in a variety of neighborhoods, including other addresses within Harlem, before settling on the place where I live now.

My advice would be to do a little leg work, perhaps with a broker who knows the neighborhood, but ultimately, you should know that what is right for you is a totally subjective determination.

I'm up by 145th Street, which is actually great for my commute as 145th is an express stop on the 6th Avenue/8th Avenue lines. I can be at work in about 30 minutes if I hit the trains right. It used to take me nearly as long to get across town from where I used to live in Hell's Kitchen before I moved, so as far as commutes go, it's pretty sweet.

I'm fully willing to admit that It's still a somewhat odd feeling when I step outside my door each morning, but I don't think I've ever felt unsafe or more uneasy than I do in any other part of NYC. 145th is a major cross street and there's almost always plenty of traffic, both vehicular and pedestrian, at most hours of the day or night.

In addition to the subway, I have the convenience of a supermarket (Pathmark), a Starbuck's, a Duane Reade and a Chase Bank within yards of my front door. My apartment does not face the street and generally, my apartment is quiet, even when I have the windows open.

Are there other neighborhoods where I might've been happier to live? Sure, but I don't think I could've found what I have now in those neighborhoods for less than $400-500K. Suffice it to say that I paid less than that.

My impression, from having lived here, and from having explored Harlem a bit, both during my house-hunt and before, is that Harlem is a pretty big area, and it has and continues to change. There are micro-neighborhoods within Harlem and some I would not care to live in, but others are just really breathtakingly beautiful (I'm somewhere in the middle). There are tree-lined blocks of brownstones in the 130s that rival any in Park Slope or the UWS for beauty and charm, but then, within a couple of blocks, there are still block that are rather stark and rundown.

So you really have to do your own legwork to find these pockets of a gentler Harlem. Read some of the discussions here about how a lot of people, presumably AA, who decry the "gentrification" and the erosion of the Harlem of old. I think in the end, it will become something in the middle. Not what it was, but not entirely gentrified either, but it's going to be a slow process.

Would I recommend to someone else to live in Harlem? Absolutely.