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Weekend bus service, express and local, is not as plentiful as that during the weekday, especially during rush hours when it is actually pretty easy to get to/from Riverdale by bus. Your other rush hour, and a bit beyond, but not weekend, is the Hudson Railink bus. To get to Riverdale & W236th, you would take Metro-North from Grand Central to Spuyten Duyvil station, and then the Hudson Railink route M to Riverdale & 236th.
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All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages.
~William Shakespeare (As You Like It Act II, Scene VII)
Yes, you do have a few good options to get to most of Riverdale. The stair streets can come in handy during the day, however, when the area is not as desolate. 238th has a problem in that the area in which it is located is not heavily populated in Kingsbridge. As rlrl stated upthread, there are some single-family houses in the vicinity, but at Irwin, the area is near a large parking lot, some Manhattan College buildings, some sort of automotive repair facility (where there was a murder a few years ago, but it was not a random crime, IIRC), and then Gaelic Park and the train yard beyond. That makes for an area that is dead-ended with little foot traffic, such that it could be an area of higher crime.
A couple of blocks south, the area is completely different, comprised of tidy single-family and duplex houses with a couple of co-op buildings, but the far end is sort of a dead-end off Broadway, and the lack of through streets in the vicinity of the stair street would not make for an ideal route to/from the subway at night.
I also would not wander too far from Broadway at night, either, and would stick to W231st as the main route to come across toward Riverdale because the other blocks on Broadway. If you were to walk east toward Bailey Avenue, I would not do so at night, with the exception of 231st as it is a bus route, and has businesses like Piper's Kilt that are open later. However, I would not walk along Bailey, Albany Crescent, or Putnam Avenue as these streets can be very quiet. Due to the Deegan bisecting the area, it can also be blocks before there is a cross street, which can make for lonely, long blocks that are not the most inspiring of security at night.
Then again, I have seen some odd people in the overnight hours around the Walgreens at 231st & Broadway, which is a 24-hour location, and does have security personnel. They're not in front of the Walgreens, but around the corner on W231st and toward the dead-ended street just to the south of Walgreens, where other businesses are closed. I would just be aware of those around, and the route taken if walking away from Walgreens in the middle of the night.
__________________
All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages.
~William Shakespeare (As You Like It Act II, Scene VII)
The Kingsbridge neighborhood is actually a decent looking place. I see some very nice single family homes on the residential streets and the apartment buildings look pretty well maintained (though there are some very tall (20 story?) apartment buildings that seem out of place for this neighborhood). But I get the impression that Riverdale is a good bit safer.
It's all the same police precinct, and Kingsbridge is pretty safe, just with a couple of areas where one should be more aware at night. There is not the same level of crime as across the Deegan in Kingsbridge Heights, but there are areas where you would not want to Mae yourself a potential target, not that there is imminent danger on a daily basis.
__________________
All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages.
~William Shakespeare (As You Like It Act II, Scene VII)
I've been scoping out Riverdale with the google streetview. Nice looking area. In particular the area around W. 235th and Johnson Ave. looks interesting with lots of stores, restaurants, delis, etc., and I assume maybe a few good watering holes. Looks like a trek to the subway though. From the map the best looking route looks like it would be to take W. 235th st. to Riverdale Ave. then down to W. 231st then over to the subway at W. 231st and Broadway. Is there a better route that's not evident from the map? And how is the neighborhood along W. 231st? I think that neighborhood is called Kingsbridge.
If I can swing the move to NYC (from the DC area) in a year or two I'll be pretty much retired so I wouldn't be using the subway every day. Just occasionally to get oot and aboot the city. So I want a neighborhood where most everything I need is within walking distance. Riverdale seems like one neighborhood that would fill the bill. Also I'm taking a good look at Kingsbridge and am liking what I see. Lots of stores, delis, etc., along Broadway. I'm fond of Irish bars too and there seems to be a few of them. Big park (Van Cortland). And great subway service. I never thought I would consider living in the Bronx (was thinking more Brooklyn) but after spending time on the google street-view and reading some of the threads on this forum I've found some spots where I think I'd be pretty comfortable.
If I can swing the move to NYC (from the DC area) in a year or two I'll be pretty much retired so I wouldn't be using the subway every day. Just occasionally to get oot and aboot the city. So I want a neighborhood where most everything I need is within walking distance. Riverdale seems like one neighborhood that would fill the bill. Also I'm taking a good look at Kingsbridge and am liking what I see. Lots of stores, delis, etc., along Broadway. I'm fond of Irish bars too and there seems to be a few of them. Big park (Van Cortland). And great subway service. I never thought I would consider living in the Bronx (was thinking more Brooklyn) but after spending time on the google street-view and reading some of the threads on this forum I've found some spots where I think I'd be pretty comfortable.
You might also want to consider Woodlawn,which also has most everything you'd need in walking distance and many Irish bars.Biggest difference is that Woodlawn is still an Irish neighborhood and the bars are much livelier.
Yes, I've been checking out Woodlawn. It too is in the ballpark of what I'm looking for. It's a little further out than Riverdale/Kingsbridge though.
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