Roofswap's Top Neighborhoods
Nicole Frank is one of the leading experts of the home exchange community. Nicole has been an avid home exchanger since childhood and has completed dozens exchanges around the world with her family. Nicole’s "Key to Home Exchange" appears weekly on RoofSwap.com with do’s and don’t regarding house swapping and tips and advice on a wide array of travel topics. Have a question for Nicole or want to share some insight of your own? Visit our Member Forum section and post your comments and questions.
Travelers who don't mind paying sky-high prices for tiny hotel rooms have one advantage over home swappers: they know where the "touristy" sections of a vacation destination can be found -- near all the expensive hotels! Those looking for a home exchange vacation get the benefit of lodging in "real" neighborhoods where locals live. The draw-back is you may not know which of those neighborhoods best meets your travel desires.
ASK THE FORUM
That's where your fellow roofswappers can help. The RoofSwap Forum is the place to go for advice on where to target your search for swap homes. The Forum has lots of interesting questions and great ideas. One common question is "What is the best neighborhood for home exchangers in New York (or London, or Paris) ?" Helpful locals from popular RoofSwap destinations have shared their own opinions, and you can see their advice, or add your own, here: http://www.roofswap.com/index.php/forums/home
THE ROOFSWAP TOP 20
The RoofSwap home page has a quick link to the RoofSwap "Top 20" -- the most popular destinations to trade your home with another RoofSwap member. Roofswappers' favorite international destination is London, and their most popular US vacation spot is New York City. The London-NYC top rankings echo world-wide tourism rankings which consistently show the same cities, in the same order, as the top draws for visitors world-wide.
NYC NEIGHBORHOODS DEFINED
There is a brand new resource to find you the best New York City RoofSwap home. New York magazine commissioned statistics genius Nate Silver to do an objective ranking of the Top 50 NYC neighborhoods based on factors like nightlife, safety, shopping and housing stock that are as important to City residents as to visiting home swappers (the only exception is the "schools" category, which was not a major part of the rankings).
The results of this exhaustive new poll are great news for RoofSwap members. Here are RoofSwap the Top New York City Neighborhoods, as objectively ranked by New York magazine, and sample RoofSwap listings in each area:
BEST NYC NEIGHBORHOODS
#1 Park Slope. This Brooklyn neighborhood is next to huge and gorgeous Prospect Park. Your RoofSwap partners are likely to have bicycles to lend you for weekend ride through the car-free park. RoofSwap has dozens of Prospect Park listings. Many are in elegant, classic brownstone buildings like this one: http://www.roofswap.com/index.php/listing/details/216353
#2 Lower East Side. Most RoofSwap listings in the hip Lower East Side are the perfect size for the young couples drawn by the area's plentiful nightlife, creative and reasonable restaurants, and cutting-edge boutiques. You know you're in Manhattan when a 600-square foot apartment can accurately be described as "huge". http://www.roofswap.com/index.php/listing/details/210143#
#3 I am omitting this Queens neighborhood which got the third spot due to cheap housing. There are few interesting shops or restaurants in this area, so it is more appropriate for NYC residents than visitors.
#4 to 9 Brooklyn Near Manhattan. There are lots of great Brooklyn neighborhoods on the list that are just a stone's throw (or quick subway ride) from Manhattan. RoofSwap has dozens of listings in areas like Cobble Hill, Boerum Hill, Greenpoint, Prospect Heights, Brooklyn Heights and others. You will find spacious digs and an easy commute into Manhattan: http://www.roofswap.com/index.php/listing/details/220369
#10 East Village. This neighborhood should rank higher for roofswappers because schools and high housing costs are the only reason it didn't take a much higher place on the list. Those are not home exchangers' concerns! We are more interested in the amazing variety of restaurants, the nightlife, artistic resources and the shopping. These roofswappers offer personalized recommendations to meet your specific interests: http://www.roofswap.com/index.php/listing/details/216423
ARE THERE EVEN BETTER NEIGHBORHOODS FOR ROOFSWAPPERS?
These neighborhood rankings are aimed at people who live in New York City. Home swappers need not consider how much it would cost to buy a swap home, or whether nearby public schools are any good. After I analyze the data to isolate the best areas for visitors I will write another article so you can search the plentiful NYC RoofSwap listings for your dream swap home.
