BrickUnderground

Admit it: New Yorkers are nosy. Living separated only by walls (and sometimes painfully thin ones at that) doesn't help. But there's one good reason why it's not so bad to wonder how your neighbors live: We can all learn from each other.

Headlines about a noise war among neighbors in Soho got us wondering what’s available in the area (but not necessarily in that same building, at least not while these two warring factions are still battling). These apartments — mostly two-bedrooms, though there’s a one-bedroom in the mix — are all hosting open houses this weekend:

Every building in New York City is a neighborhood unto itself, each one with a distinct vibe and community, governed by laws both codified (see: co-ops) and unspecified (see: how residents in a building just happen to know to avoid a specific dryer in the basement because it gets so hot it practically cooks your clothing). Essentially, you could make a full-fledged documentary about each one and have more than enough material.  Is it the same elsewhere?

Hey, how about a gentrification story that makes you laugh instead of curl up into a ball of hysterical sobs?  Buzzfeed's "Handy Guide to Gentrification" is more of a questionnaire, really—complete with accompanying cartoons—that's ostensibly for those on the lookout for the "next best" place to live — perhaps the "yuccies" (aka "young urban creatives") memorably described by Mashable.