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I found a pretty nice and fairly priced apartment in the low 150s and Frederick Douglas Blvd area but I'm mostly concerned about the safety. I'm more familiar with the Lenox area of Harlem and the Marcus Garvey Park area so this is very different to me and I'm curious about the overall safety.
Myself and a roommate are both female college students in our early 20s and we attend school and work in lower Manhattan so we expect a couple of days where we will be returning late. A broker told me that the building itself has a lot of college students (presumably from City or Columbia) and we saw some yuppy-types entering the building which was a honestly a little comforting but I'm still not sure.
I'm open to any opinions or thoughts of the crime level and safety.
Ghetto culture, the 'hood, and probably will not change so much any time soon. This is the case for much of Central Harlem beyond small enclaves around 125th and below.
I would be more worried about the quality of life than the violent crime - which does inform the quality of life in really significant ways even lacking a direct incident.
Yes ... the area is being pushed by real estate interests, as are ACP (ugh) and environs.
I found a pretty nice and fairly priced apartment in the low 150s and Frederick Douglas Blvd area but I'm mostly concerned about the safety. I'm more familiar with the Lenox area of Harlem and the Marcus Garvey Park area so this is very different to me and I'm curious about the overall safety.
Myself and a roommate are both female college students in our early 20s and we attend school and work in lower Manhattan so we expect a couple of days where we will be returning late. A broker told me that the building itself has a lot of college students (presumably from City or Columbia) and we saw some yuppy-types entering the building which was a honestly a little comforting but I'm still not sure.
I'm open to any opinions or thoughts of the crime level and safety.
That area is not bad. You have NY Sports Club and Starbucks a few blocks away. East of Bradhurst is kind of shady sometimes, but you'll be safe as you don't come home drunk at 3am stumbling down the block..
Most of the yuppies, artists, etc. moving to the area are more between Edgecombe and Broadway between 140th and 150th. You have a good number of nice bars and coffee shops over there and the side streets are very pretty. Close to the subway. There is a four block stretch of rental buildings on Saint Nicholas between 141st and 145th that are attracting a lot of the young professional, grad student type. 2-Bedrooms are typically under $2,000 and are gut renovated with stainless steel, etc.
But the area you mention is litterally a 10 min walk from there.
Not notoriously dangerous or anything, but it will be a low QOL, as others have said. Little retail of note and few amenities nearby, lots of characters hanging about, dirty and noisy and generally grubby. It also feels a bit isolated to me from the rest of the nicer things Harlem does have to offer. Only way in and out from there is the 3 train and the 8th ave bus --fine if your're going straight downtown. But if you want to go crosstown anywhere you have to cab it or walk, and walking can be a pain because the park (Jackie Robinson) stands in the way of an easy trip further west.
Last edited by citylove101; 06-02-2014 at 08:43 AM..
That area is not bad. You have NY Sports Club and Starbucks a few blocks away. East of Bradhurst is kind of shady sometimes, but you'll be safe as you don't come home drunk at 3am stumbling down the block..
Most of the yuppies, artists, etc. moving to the area are more between Edgecombe and Broadway between 140th and 150th. You have a good number of nice bars and coffee shops over there and the side streets are very pretty. Close to the subway. There is a four block stretch of rental buildings on Saint Nicholas between 141st and 145th that are attracting a lot of the young professional, grad student type. 2-Bedrooms are typically under $2,000 and are gut renovated with stainless steel, etc.
But the area you mention is litterally a 10 min walk from there.
Even though the 2 areas (the one the OP is referring to, and Hamilton Heights referred to in this post) are with walking distance the 2 areas are night and day to each other. 145th and FDB are OK because of Sports Club, Starbucks and Pathmark. Go north of that and it is not OK. Not gentrified yet, don't be the first to try to gentrify it.
Not notoriously dangerous or anything, but it will be a low QOL, as others have said. Little retail of note and few amenities nearby, lots of characters hanging about, dirty and noisy and generally grubby. It also feels a bit isolated to me from the rest of the nicer things Harlem does have to offer. Only way in and out from there is the 3 train and the 8th ave bus --fine if your're going straight downtown. But if you want to go crosstown anywhere you have to cab it or walk, and walking can be a pain because the park (Jackie Robinson) stands in the way of an easy trip further west.
It is notoriously dangerous over there, and in addition low QOL.
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