Would You Rather?
When it comes to neighborhoods: Do you prefer trendy and touristy or quiet and far-removed?
Turns out, New Yorkers don't hate crowds and tourists as much as we thought.
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New York City is a major destination any time of the year, but especially so during the summer. And New Yorkers usually can't help but get irritated when tourists clog our streets, parks, restaurants, stores, etc. For better or for worse, some neighborhoods just get more visitors than others (often it's because there are some cool amenities there). We asked five New Yorkers: Would you rather live in a well-known, trendy neighborhood that gets flooded with tourists, or a far-flung, up-and-coming area that’s off the tourist grid?
- Ease over peace I’d like to get out and get to places easily, so I’d wouldn’t mind staying in hip, trendy neighborhood even if it gets crowded with tourists for just the summer. —Morgan, Clinton Hill
- Part of the fun…right? Hmm. That’s difficult because I like a mix of both. I love being around people, though not necessarily tons of tourists. But yeah, I’d stay in a cool neighborhood even if it meant too many tourists, rather than being somewhere far and inconvenient. It’s all part of being in the city, isn’t it? —Aubrey, Hamilton Heights (pictured above)
- No place is safe What’s the point? Anywhere you move to in the city that’s supposed to be up-and-coming and affordable is not going to stay that way anyway. It’ll be touristy in no time. I like Harlem for it’s affordability and because it’s truly diverse and interesting. But what do you know, every weekend there are the tourist buses looking for gospel music in the churches. Whatever, I’ll stay here, it’s convenient, and quiet most of the time. —Arnelle, Hamilton Heights
- The price we pay I’d go for the trendy and the tourists. I don’t want to be far from anything, I like things to be local and easily accessible. You know, liquor stores, restaurants. I’ll put up with tourist nonsense for the sake of being able to get home easily at the end of the day and get to places quickly when I have to. It’s a small price to pay. —Nathan, Upper West Side (picured above)
- Closing time I like quiet places anyway, regardless of if they’re touristy or trendy or not trendy. I’ll give you an example: The Financial District is crawling with tourists by day, dead quiet by night. I wouldn’t want to be there. I like Inwood though. It’s not as touristy at all, and it’s quiet and has lots of stores and restaurants and nature. But it’s a bit hard on the subway on the weekends. It’s far. But I prefer far and quiet, I think. At the end of the day, even the long commute home feels like putting distance between me and rest of the city. A good ending, you know? —Burt, Inwood
Verdict: 4-1, trendy and touristy wins the day!
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