Your dream neighborhood has it all–tasty restaurants, good bars, a pristine location, endless fun to be had, and an overall aesthetically pleasing vibe–but finding these neighborhoods sometimes proves to be like finding a needle in a haystack, especially when many of these neighborhoods come with a hefty price tag.
Luckily, StreetEasy set out to fix this issue and analyzed their search data to determine which neighborhoods had the most searches year-to-date in 2022 for Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens, compiling a list of the city’s dreamiest neighborhoods in relation to their cost.
Needless to say, the results don’t come as a surprise to us!
Manhattan: West Village
Manhattan’s most searched neighborhood is the West Village–which has been in the number one spot for the past five years–followed by Greenwich Village, Chelsea, SoHo, and Gramercy Park.
The beauty of these neighborhoods definitely comes at a price, however. Median asking prices here are $1.497M and $4,895 for monthly renters, which are high above the borough median for this past summer.
The highly lusted after lush greenery that can be found in these neighborhoods along with iconic destinations–does Gramercy Park ring a bell?–definitely have some effect on the cost of living in these neighborhoods, but who can deny their beauty?
Brooklyn: Williamsburg
Williamsburg, known for its relentless hipster culture, stands strong at Brooklyn’s most searched for neighborhood since 2019. Park Slope, Brooklyn Heights, Greenpoint, and Fort Greene serve as runner ups.
Similar to Manhattan, all of these Brooklyn neighborhoods had median asking prices and rents over the borough median ($975K and $3,299) this summer, but it’s not necessarily a pipe dream to live in a Brooklyn high-rise or brownstone.
StreetEasy economist Kenny Lee states, “The borough still offers more cost-effective options for renters as well as buyers looking to purchase their first home. In Brooklyn, a typical starter home with at least one bedroom offered more square footage for each dollar than in Manhattan, making it an attractive alternative for young professionals hoping to put down roots in the city.”
Plus, sweeping views of the Brooklyn Bridge and Brooklyn’s extensive art scene definitely add to the ambiance of the borough.
Queens: Long Island City
More and more NYers are choosing to settle down in Queens as the cost of living tends to be a bit more affordable in this borough than the others. Queens’ most coveted neighborhood is Long Island City, followed closely by Astoria. Next up were Sunnyside, Forest Hills, and Ridgewood.
These popular neighborhoods had median asking prices below $800K this summer, and a median asking rent of $2,650 in Astoria compared to a borough median of $2,600.
“Queens boasts all types of homes the city can offer. Gleaming high rises by the waterfront in Long Island City offer rentals with a convenient commute to Manhattan. And with the borough-wide median price per square foot at $608, first-time buyers can score a larger home in Queens, compared to Manhattan and Brooklyn,” said StreetEasy economist Kenny Lee. “For experienced homeowners, multi-family homes in Ridgewood provide an opportunity to live in an even bigger space, with an additional source of income through renting out the non-primary units.”
Queens offers all the excitement and convenience of living a hop, skip, and a jump from Manhattan without as hefty of a price tag.
Bonus: take a look at our NYC Neighborhood Guide: What To Do In Astoria
There’s nothing wrong with a bit of daydreaming, and we encourage you to keep on at it–especially if it involves these dreamy NYC neighborhoods!