New York Guide
The Upper West Side and Morningside Heights
While the Upper East Side has always been a patrician stronghold, the Upper West Side, only minutes away on the other side of the park, has grown into its position as a somewhat younger, hipper, but nonetheless affluent counterpart. Later to develop, it has seen its share of struggling actors, writers, and opera singers come and go over the years. In the 1990s, the Upper West Side was the neighborhood of choice for upwardly mobile dot-commers, and though the frenzy has calmed down, young professionals and their stroller-bound children still make up a sizable part of the population.
This isn't to say it lacks glamour; the lower stretches of Central Park West and Riverside Drive are quite fashionable, while the network of performing spaces at Lincoln Center makes the neighborhood New York's de facto palace of culture. As you move north, though, the neighborhood diversifies and loses some of its luster, culminating in Morningside Heights, home to Columbia University at the edge of Harlem, as well as the monolithic Cathedral of St John the Divine.