Living in Inwood, New York

Inwood occupies the northern tip of Manhattan, where the island's terrain turns hillier and wilder than almost anywhere else on the grid. Inwood Hill Park holds some of the last old-growth forest left in the borough, with trails, caves, and salt marsh along the Harlem River, and Fort Tryon Park sits just to the south with its own set of gardens and river overlooks. The Dyckman Farmhouse, Manhattan's last remaining Dutch farmhouse, sits preserved as a small museum in the middle of the neighborhood's residential blocks.

The A and 1 trains serve the neighborhood, and the A in particular is an express line that can move quickly once it gets going, though the ride into Midtown or downtown still takes real time given how far north the neighborhood sits. Rents here are among the most affordable in Manhattan, a direct trade for that added distance from the busier parts of the island.

It fits people who want large parks, a slower pace, and some of the most affordable rent Manhattan has to offer, and who are comfortable with a longer commute to reach Midtown or downtown — space and quiet in exchange for time on the train.