You saved up and finally have enough money to live in New York City (NYC). Congratulations on being one step away on achieving the dream of living in one of the biggest and busiest cities in the world.
You planned everything for a long time, including how big you want your place to be, the amenities you want your NYC home to have, the distance of the nearest branch of your favorite restaurant, and so much more.
However, before going through your list of must-have facilities when renting your new place, make sure to also research on which sites are considered as the best and safest neighborhoods in Manhattan save you the headache of constantly worrying about you and your family’s safety once you settle in your new place.
What Is The Best Area To Live In Manhattan New York City?
The dream of living in New York includes our yearning to experience urban life.
A place where you can walk around NYC’s busy streets, well-known shops, green markets, and city parks.
Luckily, New York has a great selection of neighborhoods where you can experience the city life while living in a safe part.
The following are some of the neighborhoods considered to have the best accessibility to all kinds of day and nightlife areas, and great apartment prices, all while having low crime rates:
Tribeca
New York’s Tribeca was hailed as the top 5 richest zip code in the United States by Bloomberg, but other than rich neighbors.
Tribeca also offers so much accessibility and safety to its residents that it became one of the best neighborhoods in Manhattan for a new home.
Another great reason to live in this upscale downtown area of Manhattan is to get a chance to spot some of your favorite celebrities. After all, with Tribeca’s popularity, many public figures reside in this part of the neighborhood. If you’re lucky enough, you might pass by one of them on one of your commutes.
Additionally, Tribeca’s neighborhood as one of the least number of crime rates, making it an ideal place to buy a home and settle down.
Battery Park City
Living at the heart of NYC’s busiest borough, people do not expect to experience a suburban quiet life.
But that environment is possible and available at Battery Park City.
It’s the best neighborhood in New York, especially for those who are looking for abundant outdoor space, playgrounds, accessibility to quality school to send your children, and friendly neighbors which mostly consist of families too. The area’s crime rate is also low, considering its high population density.
Flatiron District
Flatiron District is home to one of the most iconic buildings of New York, the Flatiron building.
If you’re looking to live your New York City life while living in an affordable and safe area, then Flatiron District is a great option.
Despite the low apartment rates, the spot is within walking distance from popular shops, restaurants, entertainment districts, and other facilities, commonly found on other more upscale and expensive neighborhoods of NYC.
Upper West Side
Considering Upper West Side sits near the busiest locations of Manhattan.
The area has the low crime rate and accessibility to one of NYC’s most famous and largest parks which is the central park.
It makes the Upper West Side a strong contender in terms of safety and beauty of the environment. Quite understandable why a lot of people move to NYC’s upper west side.
Washington Heights
Holding the title as the top 2 safest neighborhood in Manhattan from 2019 to 2020 — Washington Heights holds the record of 11 crimes per 1,000 residents. With an expansive area for greenery, you can expect to have a place where you can bike, stroll and jog, away from the usual smoke and noise pollution.
Upper East Side
This part of NYC, have almost the same accessibility and distance to most areas around its vicinity.
While its crime rate is slightly higher compared to the upper west side — the Upper Eastside has a record of 12 crimes per 1,000 residents in 2019-2020.
There are lots of people moving to Upper East Side, because of its comparatively lower median rent to the Upper Westside area.
If you’re looking on an area that’s more affordable, you can consider nearby Brooklyn, an alternative for those looking to relocate from the city. You can check our article comparing Brooklyn and Manhattan to learn the similarities and advantages on living in the two boroughs.
What Are The Safest Areas In NYC To Hang-out?
Now that you have prospect areas of the best places to look at when choosing your new home in New York, the next thing you should know is the best New York City neighborhoods you can visit for hanging out.
I know you already have a long list of tourist spots to see, but to give you more options to hang out with your friends and family, we compiled some of the best neighborhoods in NYC to visit where you can have fun.
These areas are also considered one of the safest neighborhoods in NYC. You don’t know the environment of these places might captivate you, so you can also consider hunting for your new apartment in these places.
Greenwich Village
Take a breather from NYC’s towering skyscrapers when you visit the Greenwich Village.
While lacking in modern buildings commonly found across NYC, Greenwich Village is still considered one of the best neighborhoods to visit.
Its well-maintained old townhouses and neighborhoods, with some structures as old as the 19th century. They are eye candies for those who want to score a cute picture for their next social media posts.
Chelsea
If you’re a lover of art, museum, and vintage buildings, you will surely feel at home at Chelsea.
One of the best neighborhood NYC has to offers.
It’s an extensive list of spots you can visit to retrace some of New York’s oldest history.
Lots of beautiful scenery, its a place where you can let loose at bars, or enjoy museum hopping to quench your love for art.
Murray Hill
Due to the great presence of Asian shop variety and residents of the area, Muray Hill has been dubbed as the Curry Hill or Little India of Manhattan.
While this spot is not on top of NYC’s best neighborhoods for nightlife and entertainment, the quaint atmosphere and affordable prices of housing and meals on this place make Murray Hill a great neighborhood to chill and live while being near the busier parts of NYC.
What Is The Safest Part Of New York City?
New York is divided into five different boroughs. Each has its own dangerous and safest neighborhoods. If you’re looking for a borough with the safest neighborhoods in NYC, Tribeca is the best place to consider.
According to the official government website of NYC’s crime map, it stated that this NYC borough, despite its big land area, this borough had been dubbed to have the safest places to live in New York City in 2020.
It’s clear that this reputation will remain for the coming years because of its low population density, and how the place have adequate distance from the heart of New York’s busiest spots.
Most Dangerous Neighborhoods in NYC
Now that we know the best place to look for your new home when considering safety above all else, it is equally important to know what part of NYC you should be extra careful when visiting.
Through referencing the NYC crime map to check for crime rates NYC had across the city for the past year, we can see that the domain within the Manhattan South Precinct’s.
The precinct compromise of the theater district, garment district, Koreatown, and midtown south, are the places which can be considered as the least safe neighborhoods of NYC — with a crime rate of 49 to 133 crime per 1000 residents during the beginning of January 2019 through the end of January 2020, it’s best to be extra careful when you’re around this places.
No need to completely avoid this neighborhood but It’s best to take extra precautions when going through these places; However, bear in mind that being alert of your surroundings for your safety is a practice you must always exercise whichever place you choose to live or walk around, may it be in New York or somewhere else.
Conclusion
Going through these precautions may sound laborious. However, living in NYC, where the city never sleeps, meant that crimes also have more opportunities to happen.
That’s why you have to be more proactive when making decisions to ensure that your home and your favorite hang-out areas are places where you can peacefully relax without worrying about your safety.
Do you have future plans on moving to New York? Do you prefer to move to Manhattan, you may want to check our list of best Moving Companies In NYC.
