Upper West Side Excitement

At this point it's pretty obvious that I'm excited about moving to the Upper West Side (UWS). So to prepare, Nate and I have been scouting out neighborhoods, walking the streets to see where we want to live. the UWS is actually a very long set of blocks that stretch along Central Park. It starts roughly around Columbus Circle (60th street) and runs up to the mid 90s (around 96th). South of that is midtown, where you'll find Times Square on the west side, and north of it is Morningside Heights, which is where Columbia University is located (and Nate works). It's the ideal neighborhood for several reasons - it's right between where we work (I work in midtown on the east side, so to get to work I would go to Times Square then across to Grand Central). Nate just goes north to Columbia. It will save both of us over an hour of time commuting each day.



In getting to know the area, we've walked the park. Because the Upper West Side is relatively narrow - 5 blocks wide - wherever you live, you are close to Central Park (as close or closer than we are now to Prospect Park in Brooklyn). It makes it really easy to get out and go for a walk outside when the weather is nice, which is also a plus. It also means we don't have to give up proximity to a park when moving to Manhattan.



I love Columbus Circle as well. Our favorite jazz nightclub, Dizzy's, is located in the Time Warner building here. It's just a really fun hub of excitement to me, and it's at the southwest corner of the park. A few blocks north of here is Lincoln Center. On Thursday we went here for a performance by the New York Philharmonic - Mahler's 4th Symphony, one of Nate's favorite pieces.



Before dinner we went to a place nearby with good reviews and it's now our new favorite Mexican place - Rosa Mexicano. Pomegranate frozen margaritas, made-at-your-table guacamole, delicious tacos, and the best of all, Nate's tequila-cream mushroom filet mignon (out of this world good, get it!). It's now our favorite. And me of course with the new camera had to take one of the guac:



We had a great time at dinner, and the concert was amazing (thanks Groupon!) We are also using Groupon for discounts and deals in order to see more of the city. We love it. And seeing the New York Philharmonic is something we'd never done, even in all my family's trips to the city growing up! So it was fantastic to see them, something hopefully we can do again in the future. On Saturday we did more sightseeing in the UWS - starting at 72nd street which still has the old station hub outside:



We've scoured quite a bit of the area and right now our top choice is something close to the park in the lower 80s. It's ideal for us, and not as busy as the lower to mid 70s area, but close enough to get to it. The 80s are well situated as well, with access to 5 subway lines (1,A,C,B,D). We've already checked out a fun coffee shop in the area called French Roast that we might have to return to for their yummy cappuccinos! Can't wait till we live here :) More updates soon!



map credit: mustseeny