Who lives between 8th and the Hudson River, from 57th to 42nd? (condos)

[sent]

I am looking at a map of Manhattan, specifically the area west from 8th Avenue to the Hudson River, between 57th and 42nd streets. I am familiar with the Hells Kitchen part of this area.

I am interested in a business that has traditionally focused on teens but could be focused toward adults so I was researching some demographics. However there must not be very many families with kids in this area because there are almost zero of this type of business here. For example, I ran some searches of pediatrician's offices in the 10019 and 10036 zip codes, and the closest locations I am getting are all on 57th Street and higher. The NYC public schools website pulls up only a handful of elementary and middle schools in this area. Obviously this area doesn't look anything like the Upper East Side where there are lots of families and kids.

At the same time, I see many of those restaurants on 9th Avenue look busy so there must be residents eating at these places keeping them going. 10th Avenue has some businesses on it too, but it doesn't seem as active as 9th. Obviously 8th Avenue is busy. While I was walking on 10th Ave, I looked up and saw lots of construction near 42nd and I see lots of residential towers around as well as smaller buildings on all the sides streets. I don't see many huge office buildings like midtown. Port Authority and Penn Station are around here, so lots of people are going through this area. Many subways and crosstown buses come close to this area so it isn't too hard to access.

Who are the residents of this area? Where are the kids?
Who is coming here now and buying the condos being built here? (I know 8th Avenue was an entirely different area before it got cleaned up.)
Does this area get overlooked by families because of the easy access out to NJ where it's cheaper?

[rlrl]

long time residents lived in the area, a lot of zoning regs that prohibited the building of high rises to preserve the low rise residential character of the area. it was not considered a desirable area, especially in the 40's, but that has been changing for about a decade. it was an area i usually avoided when i was younger. the opening of worldwide plaza (8th Ave between 49th-50th) in 1989 was the first sign of revitalization of the area, i didn't notice a big change, however until the late 90's

[K 22]

Originally Posted by rlrl

long time residents lived in the area, a lot of zoning regs that prohibited the building of high rises to preserve the low rise residential character of the area. it was not considered a desirable area, especially in the 40's, but that has been changing for about a decade. it was an area i usually avoided when i was younger. the opening of worldwide plaza (8th Ave between 49th-50th) in 1989 was the first sign of revitalization of the area, i didn't notice a big change, however until the late 90's

This is so true. This was back when before Times Square turned into Disneyworld it is now. 9th and 10th Avenues were especially sketchy.