I moved to Sunnyside from Larchmont, NY last year and the rent in my Sunnyside studio is more expensive than the rent in my Junior 1 in Westchester was. The author has the rent wrong for a two bedroom in Sunnyside. It also has more nightlife than he noted.

I tried to read this article yesterday, but there was too much math and stastics and stuff involved. I was happy to be in the 20th best neighborhood - the list I was able to read. :-)

What's with the "somewhat surprisingly" ? or are you one of those who thinks NYC is only Manhattan and not the 5 boroughs? Park Slope has been an awesome place to live for very long time now...

I just read that article on the bus to work this morning. I knew before I turned the page that Park Slope was likely the top of the list- not sure why you describe that as "somewhat surprising?" I spent almost 5 years there before getting married to a jersey boy and moving to the 'burbs. I would have loved to stay there and raise a family there, and 6 years later, still miss it. Alas, the man was worth the trade-off.

haha- amen kitamiami.

I've lived in Park Slope for 10 years and I have to admit, it's pretty great. Low crime? Perhaps, although my husband was mugged at knifepoint right outside our door about three years ago. It can happen anywhere I suppose.

Having lived in the Slope for 15 years before leaving, I find it hard to swallow. The buildings are lovely, as is the park, but the people are dreadful. Each to his/her own.

I'm on the upper west side. Being near Central Park is an absolute must for myself and the big gnarly dog beast. Handsome Jewish families, no tourists, great museums and only 5 minutes from the hipster doofus parade downtown. Zabar's and Barney Greengrass... need I say more?

I was more surprised at Prospect Heights being in the top 10. Parts of it are nice, and the area has a lot of charm. But it is really far out (good luck getting any of your friends to come over) and it's just not safe. There is so much crime there that is kind of overlooked. I was so, so happy to leave it last fall when my lease was up.

My officemate and I were talking about the article yesterday. It apparently made many people's blood boil. Most reviewers were angry! It's riddled, above anything, with dubious reasonning and oversimplication. I don't think the writers actually did any serious research. For example, they show a picture of Long Island City with graffitis and a Citibank building and say something like, the neighborhood is for artists and bankers. Or, they grab the wide swath of East 42nd to 59th and call it simply 'Midwon East' while 40s on 3rd is a totally different world from say, 57th & Sutton.

prospect heights is not far out (it's the same stop on the Q train that the park slope people use, they just walk in the other direction), and it is not unsafe.

brooklyn made such a great showing on this list. particularly the boerum hill - cobble hill - carroll gardens area (i refuse to use BoCoCa). i live in cobble hill and i think it really is the best neighborhood in the whole city. if i could afford it i'd never move! :P

meomi, i agree, despite the statistics it seems to favor neighborhoods with great buzz. the upper west side was reduced to a description of CPW and Amsterdam Ave.

meomi - I also agree. these articles are absurd, and grossly oversimplify the where-to-live argument. in the end, the article misses the largest variable in any housing decision, the preferences of the individual. most people could look at the top 10 and say they've lived in half and would never go anywhere near the other half. there is a lot lost in these attempts to objectively quantify something so personal.

djs - I appreciate that a resident was willing to acknowledge that despite all the objective factors that would appear to make park slope livable, there is a massive factor that lots of people find completely offputting. this response illuminates the problem with these articles.

but, they create good fodder for the never-ending, and totally useless, which neighborhood is "best" (for everyone) argument. live where you want, and like it because it suits you, not because NY Mag designated it as worthy.

@amt230: Couldn't agree more. They do this every year, knowing that we all become obsessed and loyal to our own little piece of the city, and will pick up the issue to either defend our choice of neighborhood or bask in the approval of the NYC mag. It's all kind of silly. That being said, I'm #36... suck on that Washington Heights!

I have been living in Sunnyside for three years now, and plan on staying there as long as I can. While @marilynfk is right that a two bedroom costs more than $1,300, it's not much more. My BF and I can swing a three bedroom now for less than the combined rent of our two one-bedrooms - significantly less.

I'm so happy with my neighborhood, I plan to find a new job, closer to home, rather than find a new apartment closer to work!

The article is interesting, because it points out that depending on how your value the 12 factors included, almost any neighborhood can come out on top. They definitely are not positing that Park Slope is for everyone. They also include a couple of alternative lists too.

For fun, you can play with an interactive feature where you can adjust the different variables to suit your preferences.

http://nymag.com/realestate/neighborhoods/2010/

While I agree it is impossible to ever quantify personal preferences, I think that this is a good starting point for some of the really important, non-personal things like cost, transportation and so forth. They did mention in the article that many of the attributes were really close so depending on the weighting the order could change significantly.

I'm pretending to be objective on this, but if there were an article like this for DC, I would be right in the fray. :)

Prospect Heights in the top ten! Holla!

If I had the money I'd live in West Village. If I had the money and kids I would live in Tribeca. If a day comes when I can't live in Manhattan anymore I will move to Los Angeles. Brooklyn is not an option for me, because I loathe the Subway. And I find Brooklyn generally a bit depressing, in a suburban kind of way.

This was actually kind of helpful. Confirmed the neighborhoods I want to live in are the right ones for me. I just started apartment hunting in NYC a week ago, and boy is it stressful.

Bashing Park Slope seems to be a NYC pastime. Typical is the comment above calling the people 'dreadful'. Really? All 45,000 Park Slope residents are dreadful?

I live in Park Slope and I love it. I agree with Molunat that it's more suburban than Manhattan-- not everyone likes that but I do. I have great neighbors and I love the architecture, parks, shops, and restaurants. I don’t have kids but enjoy the fact that there are so many kids running around.

The NY Mag option to rate your own neighborhood priorities reflects the fact that there is no one 'best' neighorhood. I'm happy that NYC offers many shoes for many people.

now now jacksonlalonde ,
do we have to get hostile here? Let my fort tryon and express train Washington Heights alone.

I used to live in Park Slope. I moved pretty much right across the street and now I'm in Prospect Heights. I love it. It certainly isn't any further out than Park Slope, where my apartment got broken into.

eh, park slope is okay, if you need to compromise. oh, and 8th street and 7th avenue in the slope is the only place my car has ever been broken into in my 12 years of parking all over the city.

Rashamy perhaps you were duped into believing real estate agents "fake Prospect Heights"= Crown Heights. The "real" Prospect Heights is bounded by Eastern Parkway, Atlantic Avenue, Flatbush Avenue and Washington Ave. ( Incidentally Crown Heights gets a bad rap as do many places where black and brown people live). Anywhich way I think you are misinformed about PH being way out. How is being on the 2/3 at Eastern Parkway, Grand Army Plaza or Bergen St way out? How about the Q at 7th Avenue or the C to Clinton Washington St? Definitely not more way out than any of the stops in "real" Park Slope. It takes me 15 minutes to get to 14th Street and 10 minutes to Wall Street.

I love Prospect Heights and have been happy living here for the past 5 years. The only downside of Prospect Heights being in the top ten is that more clueless and bland people seeking "The Next Neighborhood" will move into the neighborhood and ruin what makes it such a great place to live. Stories by NYMag, the Post, Daily News about my hood are making me nervous...

I am so happy to live in Manhattan. Brooklyn is great but not for me. Thankfully I was smart 13 years ago. Manhattan has these small local areas with no hippsters, no over organic or green, just regular friendly people. And by the way never been scared and never had my car broken into. And getting a cab is so easy.

Just moved from Gramercy to Prospect Heights and my love goes out to all the folks in PH. I love this neighborhood and I love Brooklyn.

@jacksonlalonde: I wasn't sure about you after the comments about the Midwest-in-NY Small Cool entry, but for "hipster doofus parade" I'll overlook just about anything. Ha! (I know, you were sitting up nights concerned about my opinion.)

@molunat: you find Brooklyn depressing but would move to L.A. and spend X hours a day in horrifying traffic? Really does take all kinds!

@krisse: not all of us organic-loving "green"ies are so terrible!

Shanalulu did not say they are so terrible, just personally tired of too much coolness, hipness, organic and greeness.

I find it amazing and a little silly that people get so easily worked up about this. Different neighborhoods are special to different people because we all have different interests. It's as simple as that.

My sister feels safe and content in Harlem, and enjoys being in close proximity to lots of different attractions and resources.

I am completely happy living in Southernmost Park Slope (according to article boundaries) and I always feel safe. I'm fine with traveling a little farther to resources because I'm so pleased with where I live.

Who cares? Live where you want to live and enjoy it. Statistics are not a means to dictate happiness.