Manhattan

Long the center of the American economy, the Financial District is full of impressive turn-of-the-century buildings and is a hive of activity during the day. At night it clears out considerably, though it is becoming an increasingly residential area, giving it more flavor than it has had in the past. Wall Street, the World Trade Center site, South Street Seaport, and Battery Park — a departure point for ferries to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, Staten Island, and Governors Island — are all in this neighborhood.

The "Triangle Below Canal Street". Home to Robert DeNiro's annual film festival, it is popular with the affluent crowd and replete with trendy restaurants. Unlike SoHo to the north, Tribeca is not over-filled with shoppers on weekends, and Greenwich Street could be mistaken for the main street of a beautifully preserved small town.

"South of Houston Street" flows north from Canal Street between the Hudson River and Lafayette St. The ultimate urban gentrification story, SoHo was a rundown industrial area until the 1960s, when artists began inhabiting its spacious and then-cheap lofts. After the artists came the galleries, then the celebrities, then the shoppers, and now the visitors. Filled with gorgeous cast-iron architecture (on Greene Street especially), SoHo is a great shopping and dining destination, even if many of the artists have moved on.

Chinatown retains its scruffy, exotic atmosphere, especially around Mott and Canal Streets. The diminishing Little Italy still exists on Mulberry Street (and comes out in full force for Italian festivals such as the Feast of San Gennaro in September), but the surrounding blocks are morphing into fashionable Nolita ("North of Little Italy") or have been annexed by Chinatown.

Famous as the Jewish immigrant ghetto of the early 20th century, the neighborhood today is enjoying a renaissance, with dozens of bars and restaurants.

Coffee houses, wine bars, lowrise but high art and literary connections, all between Houston and 14th Streets. The bohemian center of yore, today's Village is strongly upmarket but retains its diverse flavor, with its historic community around Christopher Street and thousands of students who attend NYU.

Diverse and gentrified but perhaps still hip, this area lies east of Broadway. Pockets of Ukrainians, Japanese, South Asians and young professionals make it one of the most vibrant Manhattan areas. The once-shabby area formerly known as Alphabet City, centered on Avenues A through D, is now considered part of the East Village.