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Keep in mind many UES young people or whatever go downtown or elsewhere to get their kicks. Local spots are good during the week but sometimes you don't people to know your business.
The UES is basically split, with the dividing line being Lexington Ave. Between Lex and Central Park is old money, hedge fund and Wall Street bigwigs, society types, and assorted Eurotrash, with a sprinkling of everything else. It's heavily residential so by definition this is not going to be a thrill-seeker's paradise. Even the people who live there don't party there very much. It does have a "vibe" but it's one that depends on the money for mobility--these are the folks who do the Hamptons in the summer, Vail and St. Tropez in the winter, or perhaps Palm Beach.
Between Lex and the E. River it is generally less affluent (though far from poor) and more commercial, but very bourgeois: i.e, middle-class, conventional, and relatively unadventurous. But there are a lot New Yorkers and would-be New Yorkers who want that, especially if they have families. When you're raising kids, safe and bland can be good. For many years the UES was considered one of the few safe areas of Manhattan. And many newbies still like it for that reason.
Back in the day the bars on 1st Ave. in E. 60s were considered THE places to be. Places like Maxwell's Plum, if that rings a bell. But those places have closed and that energy has dissipated as other areas of the city have become safer, more attractive physically, and more exciting. So you're left with quasi-suburban life, except with subways and high-rises. Not for everybody. But it works for many.
Most neighborhoods in NYC have some character or type of vibe..but the upper east side doesnt ??
I have tried to like it but it is just boring and seems dry. I have friends I go visit in the neighborhood in the upper 60s.
Even the bars in the area were wack. Just a weird "different" crowd.
Can anyone help me understand ??
I've always liked the UWS more. I imagine the "old money" types live it up at fancy parties in their luxury apartments. But yeah in general outside of the museums on the East Side the UWS has a lot more amenities.
UES, UWS and Park Slope have all been made into too nice of urban areas that have been cleansed of having multiple characteristics to define them. That's what happens when you remove all poor, working, middle, and even upper-middle class demographics from an urban population. You have to hire doormen just to have some working class people in the neighborhood.
Because the people who live there like it that way, and have lots of money and political influence to keep it how they like it. I don't mind the UES when I go there, but it does feel a little like an alien planet. Further east, less so.
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