Convent Ave, Hamilton Heights

Sometimes its good to take a wander around a new city and Convent Avenue is one of the streets that you probably wont stumble across too much. It only really sticks in our mind because it turns into Morningside which is the same name as a region that is close to ours in our home city. The buildings and architecture are well worth a look here, harking back to the Brownstone era and it has to be said the buildings have kept their shape and style pretty well (not sure how much renovation has been done to it).
It seems a reasonable place to stay and when we visited there was a lot more families on the street than some of the other areas we visited which must say something for the overall neighbourhood.

First, no one has ever heard of it & cabbies never know how to get there!! But it is a pretty nice street. It runs from about 153rd street and St. Nicholas Ave and once you get to 128th street, it changes names to Morningside. From about 145th Street to 140th, it is in an historic district and the brownstones are amazing. There are still a few of them for sale, but they are going quickly. At 141st, City College begins and from 8am to 6pm, Monday through Friday - even during the summer- no cars or taxis are allowed to travel from 141st to 135th streets. The college has guards placed at both sides and barricades, so don't bother to try to drvie down. There's construction going on as well and the M18 is not running on Convent until January 2009. Just past the school (135th to 130th) there are many 6 story apartment buildings and most of the residents are either families or City College students (myself included) Past 130th, the neighborhood changes and there are less families & students. I would avoid walking around that side late at night. Overall, there is not much traffic and it is pretty safe. The one major drawback is that there is no restaurants at all on this street. Though a new laundromat is going in at 131st (still under construction)