Favorite neighborhood in NYC? (Union: college, living, restaurants)

[Guerita]

What's your favorite neighborhood in NYC, either for work, play, architecture, food or whatever? And why?

[middle-of-nowhere]

food -- chinatown! =) nuff said.
hang out -- union square. i don't know... i just feel very comfortable around that area. a close 2nd would be central park (not a neighborhood, but you get the idea).
architecture/live -- brooklyn heights, park slope, cobble hill. very nice brownstones, more relaxed than manhattan, with good restaurants.

[Viralmd]

I LOVED living on the upper West side. A GREAT place to live. Then I relocated for work and had to leave. Coming back for yet another relocation I opted to live on the East side in the midtown area because then I could walk to work. It's OK here, but I still miss the West side.

[pureistheword]

for living, I think Brooklyn Heights might be the nicest.
for hanging out in the city, I agree Union Square is one of the nicer spots

[SuperIncumbent]

Architecture- Tudor City or Forest Hills Gardens.

[Atlanticblue]

Originally Posted by Guerita

What's your favorite neighborhood in NYC, either for work, play, architecture, food or whatever? And why?

for food - I choose China town

for work - of course Manhattan

for shopping - 5th avenue

for fresh air and green color - Central park & Botanic garden

that is all I know about NYC

[straightshooter]

i'll never understand people who rave about chinatown. that joint is disgusting. ask any fireman who's worked that company about the restaurants in chinatown. you'll never go there again.

work: midtown (convenient trains, good variety, lots of other people, easy to bang the new girl who's trying to act corporate but is way too sloppy at happy hour)

architecture: BK heights or park slope (love the old brownstones. too bad that they're multi-million $ joints now thanks to the onslaught of outsiders)

food: bay ridge (yes, my joint. maybe the old neighborhood (b-hurst) used to compete, but no longer. we definitely hold the title now.)

play: UES, Union Sq., East Village (i hate to admit this. although the outsiders have ruined the island, business caters toward making their experience fun. and, the sports bars in the UES with every sports package imaginable, the dark, dirt-cheap union sq. joints, and the live music places in the E village are damn fun)

[jjbradleynyc]

Food: East Village has tons of variety--about anything you want to eat.

Work: Downtown has that vibe of focus and work energy. Get it done and make lots of cash doing it.

Play or Hang Out: Williamsburg, Brooklyn feels like a grown-ups college campus with an edge. Laid back, exciting, strange, and inviting all at the same time.

Architecture: Soho is beautiful on a grey, foggy, or rainy day.

To Live: The West Village!! Ideal brownstones on tree-lined curvy streets evoke the feeling of a quaint village. Yet 2 blocks away you are in the middle of the most exciting city on earth!

Shopping: Union Square has easy access, large stores, small stores, and outstanding central location. When the farmers' market is there, you can't beat it.