What's Your Neighborhood Like?

Just wondering...

Chelsea, NYC urban, eldergay, quaint
God my neighbourhood's cheap! I'm afraid rats are gonna come out and bite my new nylons!
Suburban. Middle and working class. White, Hispanic, Asian, Black mixed. Boring.
Crowded, as I live in one of the few smaller houses still here that haven't been torn down to build apartments or condos. Luckily I have a driveway plus garage as street parking is getting harder and harder to come by here. the good thing is that I am withing walking distance of 5 different grocery stores and the downtown area as well so lots of restaurants, shops and 2 malls where I don;t need to worry about parking.
Mine is a lot like R3's, except I'd classify it as convenient and organized.
I reside on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, below 86th Street...specifically 82nd Street between West End and Riverside. The area is quite upscale and affluent, dotted with exquisite brownstones and populated with highly educated, liberal individuals. A host of excellent restaurants and cultural opportunities can be found. OK, I sound a touch snooty, but it really is a marvelous area in numerous ways.
urban, traditionally working-class neighborhood that has recently regentrified. I'm the poorest one on my block. Lots of foody-boutiques and cafes are filling up the area.
Thankfully very nice. I'm lucky and I know it.
The UWS is ok if you're 100 years old. Whenever I go up there I think it's boring as hell and there's not much to do outside of the museums.
A far, green country under a swift sunrise.
Silver Lake. Fun, eclectic, gay and young.
It's filled with retirees and young couples with small children. There are a dozen public and private golf clubs in the area. The houses were built in spurts during the late 1890s, early 1950s, and late 1970s. It's very German. Your lawn is to be kept impeccable. It's common to see people doing yard work before 7am. There are no Catholic churches in our village. Three different people have told me they were discouraged from moving here because they were not Lutheran. They opted for the village North of here.
Old oil money, landmark homes, lots and lots of land, live oak trees, hanging Spanish moss, an enormously long driveway bordered on each side by those trees and moss. And inside the southern revival mansion is a very old lady looking for the amputated hand of her dead lover. But, we're thinking of moving to Jersey.
R2, Blanche, ya know we got rats in the cellah.
Baby June
Beautiful.
F.%20Rogers
Laid back, eclectic and friendly. Lots of parties always going on. Basically a boating community.
Upper East Side, bitches!!
xoxo
Some would say working class. Problem is meth heads and welfare mothers are not working
Very rural with no real town or village or crossroads; with a population density of 18 people per square mile (vs. 67,000/sq. mi. in Manhattan); more than 99% white; the upper South; church attendance is about 40% the national average; most residents cannot see another neighbor from their house; the terrain is mountains and hills and valleys crossed with streams and rivers and mostly wooded, with national and state forests; the nearest towns (and restaurants and newspapers and shops) are 20 and 30 minutes away.
It's interesting. An historic neighborhood in a midwestern city. Part of the neighborhood is a recognized "Historic District" where the Historical Preservation Commission has to approve all exterior work you do on your property. We live just north of that, and most buildings are 75 years old or more. Unfortunately, we have this crazy mix of nice older homes, mansions, and cute little apartment buildings & duplexes, and then a lot of shitty rental properties. Case in point, me: I live in an historically significant house built in 1874, it has been fully restored inside, and the outside looks great as well. The apartment building across the street is falling apart, has fascia hanging off the front, broken windows, drug dealers, and a large dumpster sitting in the front yard.
Downtown, quiet at night, lots of subway options. Negatives, tourists walking around like night of the living dead.
In Chicago. A place with lots of brick exposed lofts and old industrial buildings being repurposed into restaurants and nightclubs. It's nice and (for Chicago) safe, though it is not quite as "neighborhoody" as other hoods in Chicago like Boystown and Andersonville. Not too many gays here, but a lot of 26 year old hipsters and young marrieds with strollers. Also, dogs everywhere! (This is a plus in my book.)
I live in an apartment complex, in a little college town. It's quiet and safe, cute students wander by, and there are so many shade trees and greenbelt parks that it's shocking to discover that my neighborhood is as densely populated as a city. About a thousand people live within a couple of blocks, but it still feels green and mellow. I like it here.
Now central Village. "Stunning" view of Julius'.
Edga
[quote]Downtown, quiet at night, lots of subway options.
http://youtu.be/fw07CDid0JM
Pussy%20lips
Hell's Kitchen Fun, gay, Thai food, whores. Best place in the world to live!
I live in a hobbit-sized apartment in a house with is vacant six months a year in a beautiful, historic area. Washington actually did sleep here. And eat here, etc. Down the hill from my place is a refuge for swans which glide along on a big pond with a dam leading out to the harbor. Geese fly over the house at night, low in the sky. I'll go out and listen to them. In the summer, all I hear is crickets. Lived in cities for most of my life so I'm enjoying the peace and quiet.
R27, is your home nasty, dirty, and wet, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell?
R27 And does some fellow called Gollum come around and tell you how much he hateses the Baggins?
No, R28 but I get slugs. LOL.
Close to the Castro. Ground zero for the eldergay. Far enough away from it not to see or hear it, but close enough to walk to. Great little hood, just 5 houses and a park on my street with great views of the city.
A small, historic tourist town. I'm in the hills where it's quieter and the houses are nicer. There are small in-law units and cottages all around the nice houses for college students, so it's a mix of people doing well and just getting started. Lots of trees here and wildlife (deer). Can get to everything quickly (both walking and by car), and we have a warm community of regular folk and various artists. Not enough exciting glitz and nonstop distraction to suit an ADD babygay, but here is great once you've hit the ripe old(!) age of 30, or especially 40+, and just want a comfortable town, good people, with a decent variety of cultural options and good food.
OMG! Did everyone click on R25 and his link to YOUtube, Downtown by that old lady with the long boobs? And she has more on YOu tube, too!
mine's shitty like most. in fact, some bangers shot some dude in the hand in front of my place. they got black iron gates around the prison. potholes in the parking lot, people fuck in the elevator and leave their cum on the floor in there. some bitch was pissing in the elevator; they evicted that nasty cunt. fuckwads moving in and out all the time, shit people, welfare, food stamp types who steal to survive. the smell of skunk weed permeates the hallways at times... oh there's guns here, too. hate the fucking place, but the rent's cheap and I carry pepper spray. thinking about buying a gun even... the worst swill mankind has to offer. but inside my house is clean, with new carpeting, decorated comfortably, warm, the smell of fresh perked coffee and apple pie in the oven. a cinnamon-scented candle on the table burns. cats lay upon my bed curled up fast asleep, a TCM oldie movie with Peter Lorre plays, the bed's blankets are clean and silky soft with plush throw pillows.... my own private paradise, surrounded by bookshelves of DVD movies old and new, sixties tv shows, old movies, sci-fi, plus lots of books and mags to read. SO i lock the scum out and live in my own little space while the cretins kill themselves with their dope. such is life
East side of West Hollywood. Convenient, mix of artsy lofts, 70's style apartments, and new developments. Right on the edge of Hollywood so the crowd can be shady and/or loud. Dotted with industry types, old Russians, tranny's, 20 and 30 something's.
Huge gated condo community on a private drive, surrounded by a perfectly maintained faux park with an eclectic mix of trees and flowers. Hardly ever see any of my mostly elderly neighbors, so love the peace and quiet. Neighbors combine to feed and fix the fat abandoned cats, who scare away the pigeons, and in turn claim their favorite sleeping locales. Barely need to lock my door, as those same neighbors appear to find my life far more interesting than theirs. Reminds me of my childhood when no one owned a key, and changes of boyfriends were noted by the different cars in the driveway. Really close to a mini-Chinatown, grocery stores, casinos for $5 movies (or free critics' previews) and diet-busting meals out.
High walls, electrified fences, guards at the gatehouse. I have never seen nor met a neighbour.
Shirley%20Temple
Urban, white, working class/hipster.
Philly
One of those new cardboard cut-out neighborhoods full of white people where everything they own is on credit. You know, the ones who, if they went without one paycheck, would be out on the street.
I'm not the OP, but I'm curious if any of the DL posters are living in the suburbs...and why.
R40 I suppose you could say I live in the burbs but it's actually a small city of it's own outside the big city. We have our own police department, mayor and city council and collect sales taxes from businesses in our city limits so we are a very wealthy little city. Due to our own police, we can leave our doors unlocked during the day. There's a large cops to residents ratio. It's peaceful, safe and I like the eclectic feel to it.
R16
Yes, the suburbs. I was born and raised there. Won't stay here forever. Came back to look after my dad. Surrounded by water, on top of a hill, don't really know the neigbhors but it's a very picturesque area. Must have: a car with four-wheel drive.
OP, (R27) the guy in the hobbit apartment
Like that would protect you Shirley Temple! Don't you know anything by now?
Hipsters and working Vietnamese, South Asians, and Mexicans. The Hipsters are typically enrolled in school but playing in bands or doing internet businesses to pay for their lifestyle. My upstairs neighbors have a machine to fix bicycle wheel alignments that I find annoying. Last year there was a "bicycle bandit" robbing pizza delivery men and the police came around to question them. A guy won a million dollars in the lottery and died less than a month later. The police just exhumed him because it was discovered on a tip that he had measurable cyanide in his system. The family think the wife did it, and she thinks they did it. The police think it might have been accidental.
Suburban, quiet and safe. White, upper middle to upper class. Riddled with kids of all ages.
Closeted%20married%20Indian%20gay%20guy.%20
Is it that Indian guy whose been in the news R44?
North of downtown Houston, next to the Heights (but even older), full of tiny bungalows on tiny lots dating back to 1900 and before; the farmhouse that existed pre-subdivision still stands, but barely. Very densely populated with mostly Mexican immigrants and their (thuggish) American offspring; gentrifying at a snail's pace. Since the 1950s surrounded on two sides by busy freeways that retarded improvements, before adventurous gays started moving in about ten years ago. Newly paved streets and easy access to the light rail. Adjacent to a city park where the local kids hang out and smoke weed. I can't deny that I love taking a deep breath as I walk through.
A friend of mine lived in Houston for a while, and he said "the Mexicans in Houston make the ones in Los Angeles look like aristocrats."
Interestingly, my neighborhood (Highland Park in LA) was just named the number one new, hip neighborhood in the US. It's taken awhile - I feel like I was a pioneer here, but we are slowly catching up. In the last couple of years, we've seen a nice influx of restaurants, stores and bars. It's nice not to have to travel too far to get those things. Other than that, the neighborhood is still fiercely and wonderfully Latino, and with that, some of the problems remain. In July, it seemed like someone was getting shot every day. Not fun. Now I worry about the influx of hipsters and such. They're everywhere now. It's hard to find a happy medium, but it seems like that's where the neighborhood is at for the moment.
Thanks to those who responded re: suburbs. I'm studying urban planning/politics and the suburbs are one of our key areas of study. I know they have their defenders and detractors...was just curious what people thought.
R40
I live downtown in large city surrounded by and even bigger city with an even bigger metro community. I live in a highrise on the beach and the immediate surroundings are very nice. All types of people pass by from shopping carts (this is california) to lamborghinis. I am surrounded by other liberals and our city does excellent work in building homes for the low income people. That's one of the reasons I live here. Today it's 83 degrees and that's another reason I live here. You'll never find a finer city, well, maybe San Francisco and Santa Monica or WEHO. People like to rag on the area, but it's as close to heaven on earth as mankind will ever know. Our town has a minimum wage almost twice the national minimum and for those who have to work for that amount, we provided subsidized housing.
I%20love%20coastal%20California.
Can I ask where R51? Or generally where. (I'm in the Midwest but fell in love with Carmel/Monterey/San Jose/Santa Cruz a few years ago on a visit...curious if you are there)
it's the LA area.
I live in a neighborhood that went up during WWII. I'm about halfway between a large state university and air force base in a city in the Southwest. The neighborhood is in transition. The last of the original owners are dying off and there are more single people moving in. A fair amount of the houses are rentals to university students of people from the base. There are a fair amount of large shade trees, many nearing the end of their life cycle. The area is suprisingly gay. Neighbors on both side of me are gay as are 3 neighbors across the street. We don't officially have a gay neighborhood, but mine is as close as you get. I'm walking distance to a decent grocery store, funky shops and restaurants and an indie movie theater. I'm 5 minutes to work, a couple of malls and 2 freeways. Houses are small and solid. Many have been renovated. The area continues to improve. I guess it was not great a number of years ago. You can get a place for around 150K.
Long Beach, obviously. Not too many high rises elsewhere, except Santa Monica and that was already mentioned as somewhere else.
Holland Park - it's Holland Park!
Edina
Lovely home in one of the better postal codes. And I have a Mercedes, a sauna, and room for a pony.
Violet
R50, I would choose the suburbs over a metro any day. Why? There's too much noise in a big city. Not just to my ears, but for all my senses. If you're especially sensitive or get overwhelmed easily, it's better to live in a quieter area, or at least a ways from the hubbub. And I feel this increasingly as I age. There are too many people... everywhere. It's hard to describe with the senses, so the closest way is emotionally. It feels vaguely uncomfortable, or really uncomfortable, depending on the situation. Crowds everywhere. I feel like I have to get away from it, and it zaps my energy. I went to visit family for the holidays where I grew up, and everything has gotten so big, and there are so many options they make my head spin. I can't deal with it all. It makes shopping, or even just looking for a restaurant, difficult. I like my amenities, but want it to be simpler, with just a few choices.
Pretty nice actually. I live on Federal Hill in Providence, RI. Housing is all Victorian era - from mid 19th century to very beginning of the 20th century. Neighborhood has a hipster vibe to it. But also urban as all hell, the mix of people is interesting too.
LuciferTheLightBringer
Mormon all around. Youngish families with lots of kids running around. Near awesome skiing though. Partner works at AFB thus the neighborhood is best case for current assignment. Moved here from very gay Columbus area...some culture shock for sure but we have infant son and all have been welcoming.
18%20months%20to%20go%20
R60 are you straight or gay? I find it hard to believe that two men with a baby would be welcomed by that cult.
Gay. We were surprised too. We even received Christmas gifts from our neighbors.
R60
Copies of "The Book of Mormon" autographed by Mitt Romney do not qualify as gifts!
Don't eat the Christmas gifts. And, guess what, they haven't figured out you're gay yet.
When they do they will still be nice to your face, but they will put a fake lien on your house, file lawsuits in court and steal the mail informing you of it from your mailbox, and other friendly shit.
Oh I should mention - the Federal Hill I live in, is 13th Ward, 8th Representative District, 5th Senate District. 13/8/5 is one of the more gay spots of the city. Yet Sen. Paul V. Jabour (D-5) doesn't seem to know it.
LuciferTheLightBringer
Sorry, Lucifer, hell is not urban. Hell is a gated community.
Hey r49 -- while there were a couple of shootings last July, there was only one murder -- that poor transient from somewhere else. You should have chose a place closer to Oxy if you wanted a gunfire-free Highland Park. The farther you can get from Figueroa, the better, and the murders are by stabbing. I saw that story on HP being the new up and coming neighborhood -- I've seen that article recycled several times over the years. From my last drive down York and Figueroa, all I saw was that the neighborhood is still a hole with a few upscale shops jammed in between the sleazy ones. It won't really be up and coming until all the mainstream supermarkets return (all abandoned the area in the early 80s) and the mainstream stops viewing the Mexicans there as a waste of space. This would include the Westside flippers who've invaded the area, seeking blood to suck. When the hipsters get as annoying as they became in Echo Park, the Mexicans will begin pulling them into alleys and beating them up. Then the hipsters will target another poor neighborhood to "improve." As for being a "pioneer," really think about what you say -- because you don't hold the patent on "civilization." And, I'll even bet you went to public school.
The%20Former%20Northeast%20LA%20Troll
I live 2 miles from the beach in Florida, it's very beautiful. There are many shops and restaurants nearby.
It's better to live a bit inland from the beach so your car and appliances don't get corroded. Even a quarter mile away is enough
Prospect Park
Large Midwest city, regentrified area that was abandoned in the 1970s during white flight to the suburbs, now populated by urban professionals. Nice older homes. Everything in walking distance, great bike and walking trails. Work is a 10-15 drive depending on traffic. It's a nice, livable city.