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First time poster here. I am a 20-something Asian male who is moving to NYC as I got a job at St. Barnabas hospital in the Bronx. I have been apartment hunting for the past 10 days and I have narrowed down my choices to one in Pelham Parkway (Barker Av & Thwaites Pl) and one in Norwood (W 205th St & Decatur Av). Unfortunately I can't decide between the two.
Price: tie (same)
Apt: Norwood (this apt has better amenities)
Neighborhood: PP (the area seemed more "happening", more shops & restaurants in the vicinity)
Transportation: tie (both are very close to the subway & to the buses that go near St. B)
Parking: tie (I unfortunately have a car but am considering selling it; no garage spaces available at either place, alternate side street parking only)
The only thing I am not certain of is safety. I went to both places in the evening. There were quite a few people outside and I did not feel unsafe or uncomfortable at either place. I suppose though the real question is whether I'll feel the same way coming home from work at 2 am.
I should probably add that I grew up in Seattle and that this is really my first time living in a really big city. I suppose one could say I am fairly naive but I like to keep to myself and stay out of trouble.
Anyway I really liked both places and can't make a decision. I guess I am trying to see if there is a major red flag at either place so that I can pick the other one. Help please
First time poster here. I am a 20-something Asian male who is moving to NYC as I got a job at St. Barnabas hospital in the Bronx. I have been apartment hunting for the past 10 days and I have narrowed down my choices to one in Pelham Parkway (Barker Av & Thwaites Pl) and one in Norwood (W 205th St & Decatur Av). Unfortunately I can't decide between the two.
Price: tie (same)
Apt: Norwood (this apt has better amenities)
Neighborhood: PP (the area seemed more "happening", more shops & restaurants in the vicinity)
Transportation: tie (both are very close to the subway & to the buses that go near St. B)
Parking: tie (I unfortunately have a car but am considering selling it; no garage spaces available at either place, alternate side street parking only)
The only thing I am not certain of is safety. I went to both places in the evening. There were quite a few people outside and I did not feel unsafe or uncomfortable at either place. I suppose though the real question is whether I'll feel the same way coming home from work at 2 am.
I should probably add that I grew up in Seattle and that this is really my first time living in a really big city. I suppose one could say I am fairly naive but I like to keep to myself and stay out of trouble.
Anyway I really liked both places and can't make a decision. I guess I am trying to see if there is a major red flag at either place so that I can pick the other one. Help please
If it matters, Pelham Pkwy has a decent Asian community(especially around by Jacobi). That area has a decent amount of South Asians, along with Whites(Italians, Albanians and Irish mostly) and then you have Blacks, Hispanics, Arabs. Pelham is a very diverse neighborhood.
I live at Reiss Place and Bronx Park East,just a block from Barker and Thwaites Place.It's a very safe and convenient spot.There is not really any crime at all to speak of and the shopping area on White Plains Road is one of the biggest and busiest in The Bronx.As coolchris said,it's a very diverse neighborhood with a fair number of Asians.
I don't think you are going to find a major red flag for Norwood either.It's a pretty decent area but I think Pelham Parkway is a bit better all around.
Pelham Parkway is definitely a much busier area even late at night so that might make you feel safer coming home late.There a 3 stores at the corner of White Plains Road and Thwaites Place that are open 24 hours and are busy even at 2:00 am and they are your walk home from the Pelham Parkway subway stop.A high percentage of the buildings in the immediate area(Thwaites,Riess,Barker,Olinville,Bronx Park East) are co ops or condos and I think that helps maintain the neighborhood.The subway also has both the 2 and the 5 service and there is an express bus stop right there as well, so I think the transportation options are better.
I don't own a car but there doesn't seem to be any parking problem in this immediate area.There are usually lots of spaces along Bronx Park East up until 8 or 9 pm.Lots of buildings in the neighborhood have garages underneath. Not really advising you to keep your car though.
Have you thought about how you will get back and forth to work ? It might help you decide if one location clearly has an easier commute.Test runs on busses might be more informative than looking at bus maps and routes.
I guess it's a tough call but I looked at virtually every neighborhood in The Bronx and chose the very little neighborhood in PP that you are considering.I don't regret it.
Thanks guys for your inputs. Actually I read a few of your earlier posts, bluedog2, and you had pretty much convinced me to move to PP! Until this apt in Norwood came along.
bluedog2 you raise a very good point. I plan to drive initially, but I'd like to eventually ditch the car and take the bus to/from work everyday. If I were to live in PP, I'd take Bx12 or Bx22 and walk ~0.6 mi from Fordham Rd down Hoffman St to the hospital. I actually did this walk yesterday - and I felt like I could do this everyday - but this was during daytime.
If I were to live in Norwood I'd take Bx41 (which I noticed had won the Schleppie award last year for being the most unreliable bus in NYC) and walk ~0.3 mi from Webster Ave down 183rd St to the hospital. I have not done this walk yet but I plan to do so this weekend.
Any inputs about doing these walks at night? Is this asking for trouble in these neighborhoods? Again I don't have much experience living in a big city. Thanks all.
you would probably be OK until 183 where it gets rough, but i would imagine Hoffman would be more pleasant to walk than Webster which is SEVERELY urban and sketchy
The good thing about the Bx 12 is that it operates very,very frequently round the clock.You never wait more than a few mins.It has to be much faster too because if you get on at Boston Rd/Pelham Parkway as you would it immediately goes into Bronx Park and comes out on the other side where you would get off in about 3 mins probably ,non stop.
I would get off the bus at Arthur Avenue and walk that route( down Arthur Avenue).Lots of restaurants,Italian markets,bars,etc.It is a very lively strip late into the evening and there are a lot of Fordham students living in the section between Fordham Road and St Barnabas.
I walk from the neighborhood to near St Barnabas frequently because I like the shops and restaurants. Sometimes I go through The Botanical Garden or Zoo,sometimes I just walk along the Bronx Park/Fordham Rd transverse.It's not a bad walk in decent weather.
The neighborhoods are so different; that part of Norwood can be extremely noisy and certainly more noisy than the one by PP. Walking from PP along the Botanical Garden and the Zoo, is a much more pleasurable experience than walking depressing and trash-filled Wesbter. The apt by Bronx Park wins. Take it from someone who knows both neighborhoods well.
Thanks guys for your inputs. Actually I read a few of your earlier posts, bluedog2, and you had pretty much convinced me to move to PP! Until this apt in Norwood came along.
bluedog2 you raise a very good point. I plan to drive initially, but I'd like to eventually ditch the car and take the bus to/from work everyday. If I were to live in PP, I'd take Bx12 or Bx22 and walk ~0.6 mi from Fordham Rd down Hoffman St to the hospital. I actually did this walk yesterday - and I felt like I could do this everyday - but this was during daytime.
If I were to live in Norwood I'd take Bx41 (which I noticed had won the Schleppie award last year for being the most unreliable bus in NYC) and walk ~0.3 mi from Webster Ave down 183rd St to the hospital. I have not done this walk yet but I plan to do so this weekend.
Any inputs about doing these walks at night? Is this asking for trouble in these neighborhoods? Again I don't have much experience living in a big city. Thanks all.
I would not walk down Webster Avenue late at night...not the safest thing. Pelham Parkway will be the safer commute.
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OP here, just wanted to provide some update. I was going to go with PP but then one place within walking distance from the hospital opened up, so in the end I chose that place. Thanks everyone who chimed in.
OP here, just wanted to provide some update. I was going to go with PP but then one place within walking distance from the hospital opened up, so in the end I chose that place. Thanks everyone who chimed in.
Great ! That means you will be really close to all the restaurants and Italian specialty shops in Little Italy too.Hope you like cannoli.Egidio's,on 187th and Hughes has the best !
Always great to be able to walk to work in NYC.
Last edited by bluedog2; 06-19-2011 at 06:01 PM..
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even at night
Great ! That means you will be really close to all the restaurants and Italian specialty shops in Little Italy too.Hope you like cannoli.Egidio's,on 187th and Hughes has the best !
