Amber Snider

Before moving to Hamilton Heights/West Harlem two months ago, I lived in East Harlem, on 100th Street between First and Second Avenues, in a $2,300 three-bedroom I shared with two other people. The apartment was what I call "cozy"--old hardwood floors and appliances, but fairly spacious compared to your average NYC apartment. My queen size bed, writing desk, bookshelves, and dressers fit comfortably in my little "nest." A few blocks south of my apartment you'd be on the burgeoning Upper East Side, a few blocks north you'd be in the thick of Harlem, and over by Second and Third Avenue you'd be in the projects. Being on this "cusp" was kind of the best of both worlds, but for very different reasons.