74th St Between Central Park West and Columbus Ave

This block has two distinct personalities, which if it weren't for the other, would overwhelm the entire street. The northern side consists nearly entirely of one specific style of brownstone whose curved facade repeats over and over again – creating a very bumpy-looking building front in the distance. The southern half has a similar repetitive feel, but this time with rows of townhouses which share a litany of characteristics such as height, window style and general layout. However, unlike the brownstones the architectural detailing on these townhouses seem to vary quite a bit from one building to the next.

I shouldn't mislead you, the entire street isn't like this, just a good chunk of it in the middle. The buildings which line the sidewalks towards the avenues are a bit more unique. The eastern end is home to the famous San Remo co-op, whose dual towers can be seen from just about anywhere in Central Park. While the base of the building doesn't appear to be anything particularly special, the building that rises above is one of the more enviable structures on the Upper West Side. It's clear the real estate market agrees, as units in this building can commonly go for as high as $15-$20 million. (It's obviously my next move...this blog is going to take me straight to the top.)

Central Park West is expectedly devoid of any shopping or restaurants, however Columbus Avenue brings with it a handful of neighborhood places that, should you need to, you can duck into.