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Is it just me or most of the Bronx, with the exception of a few neighborhoods, all look the same? I've walked around there for forty minutes to take pictures and it seems the borough really doesn't change much when you go through different neighborhoods. I know that Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn all have distinct neighborhoods and each neighborhood has their own flavor. I really didn't see this is in the Bronx. Am I wrong?
It is definitely just you.How much of The Bronx do you think you covered in walking around for 40 minutes?
For one thing,the topography changes radically from one side to the other.There are palisades overlooking the Hudson and hilly streets with boulders coming out in Riverdale, Woodlawn and University Heights.Once you get to the other side of the Bronx River ( East Bronx) the topography is very different(flat) and so is the architecture.
Big parts of Riverdale and Woodlawn look like suburban Westchester with winding hilly streets and 1920's houses.The Grand Concourse is almost a solid 6 mile long wall of art deco apartment buildings.The area around Arthur Avenue(Little Italy) looks very much like parts of Greenwich Village.Many areas of the South Bronx look more like Manhattan than the rest of The Bronx. Bedford Park is very leafy with Victorian houses. The Pelham Parkway area is filled with 1920's garden apartment complexes with big courtyards and Moorish and Tudor style architecture and art deco buildings.City Island is a little like a New England fishing town.Country Club looks like a waterfront Long Island suburb developed after WW II.
Start at the bottom of The Grand Concourse and go straight north to the end at Mosholu Parkway and then up into Woodlawn.Then start in the northwest corner of Riverdale and work your way South and East along Mosholu Parkway through Bedford Park and Norwood, through Bronx Park and then across Pelham Parkway and it's neighborhoods to City Island, Country Club ,Throg's Neck and Orchard Beach.
Have a look at Parkchester and Coop City and Hunt's Point and Mott Haven.
Then come back and tell me you think it all looks the same.
Where were you on your tour anyway ?
You are forgiven though.Most New Yorkers think they know all about The Bronx from movies or TV or driving across the Cross Bronx Expressway, but don't really have a clue.
The neighborhoods in the southern portion of the borough like Mott Haven, Melrose, Morrisania and even East Tremont/West Farms have Harlem like tenements like these:
These are the oldest neighborhoods in the Bronx, so the building styles are built like older nabes in Manhattan like Harlem.
Then practically everywhere else is the same. Places in the west-central Bronx like Highbridge, Mor.Uni heights, Fordham, Tremont and even other southern neighborhoods like w. Soundview and Hunts Point are more of these......
Big parts of Riverdale and Woodlawn look like suburban Westchester with winding hilly streets and 1920's houses.The Grand Concourse is almost a solid 6 mile long wall of art deco apartment buildings.The area around Arthur Avenue(Little Italy) looks very much like parts of Greenwich Village.Many areas of the South Bronx look more like Manhattan than the rest of The Bronx. Bedford Park is very leafy with Victorian houses. The Pelham Parkway area is filled with 1920's garden apartment complexes with big courtyards and Moorish and Tudor style architecture and art deco buildings.City Island is a little like a New England fishing town.Country Club looks like a waterfront Long Island suburb developed after WW II.
I would say the Bronx is probably the most diverse and distinct of all the boroughs in terms of different neighborhoods. Some neighborhoods are filled with seaside bungalows, some are exclusively estate homes/mansions, some are brownstones, others are 5 story Tenements, some are Towering housing projects, others are Victorian homes, some are new construction, some are art deco. The west Bronx can be perched high up on the palisades, the west Bronx can be below sea level in some parts. The North Bronx can be completely suburban, resembling Westchester enclaves, the South Bronx can resemble any dense area of Manhattan. I suggest the next time you go see the Bronx to photgraph the different neighborhoods, bring along someone who KNOWS the Bronx and can guide you. Walking 40 minutes will provide you with not very much at all. PM me if you want to know more from a local!
Sorry to bring back an old thread but what's the story of those blocks in the middle of the bronx with the single-family houses (raised-ranches) that look like the suburbs?
Sorry to bring back an old thread but what's the story of those blocks in the middle of the bronx with the single-family houses (raised-ranches) that look like the suburbs?
You are probably referring to sections of The South Bronx that were completely burned out in the 70's and rebuilt with that type of architecture.Big mistake in my book but people literally didn't know any better at the time.
Most of the redevelopment going on in the South Bronx today is more urban in character.Much nicer.
I assume you mean Charlotte Gardens? That area in Morrisania was completely destroyed and burned out by 1975. The tenement shells were demolished and a suburban style area was created. The first prefabricated houses arrived in December 1983. Charlotte Gardens has been criticised for being visually out of touch with the rest of South Bronx. The area looks nowadays nice and clean if you like suburban style areas but the bars in the windows reveals the true nature of the area.
It depends. Many neighborhoods in The Bronx are so similar you wouldn't be able to tell the differences unless you know the borough very well. This is especially true for the high crime South Bronx areas. However, some neighborhoods, like Throgs Neck, Riverdale, Country Club etc. look nothing like what people might expect from the Bronx. Riverdale especially has some sections that don't look anything like New York City at all [The mansions in Fieldston for example].
Queens also suffers from the same issue, most of the neighborhoods simply look like overcrowded suburbs. Some areas in Western Queens, like Ridgewood, Long Island City etc, are exceptions to this.
This is one of the reasons why Brooklyn is my favorite borough. Almost all the neighborhoods are very distinctive.
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