Hradčany

Hradčany is a neighborhood in Praha 1, near Malá Strana. The name basically means "castle district", due to the face that it was built in the area immediately surrounding Prague Castle. Although many areas can quite touristy, apartments here are still affordable, and many are owned or rented by middle class, longtime residents, unlike in nearby Malá Strana or Staré Město. The boundaries of the area that seem to be right to me are Milady Horákové to the north, Chotkova to the east, the many gardens southeast of the castle, Ke Hradu, Úvoz, and Dlabačov to the south, and Na Malovance and Patočkova to the west. Housing consists almost entirely of older apartment buildings, some of which are mixed-use. Most of these buildings are about 5 stories tall, though some are shorter, particularly on Nový Svět. There is virtually no streetgrid, and most streets are extremely narrow, winding lanes, which makes driving nearly impossible. Consequentially, the area is very walkable, and has a high proportion of transit users. Most of the neighborhood is situated on a hill, and many parks and tourist attractions are in this district, such as Pražský Hrad, Katedrála Svatého Víta, the Loreta, and Královský Letohrádek. Businesses are a mix of gift shops and tourist-oriented restaurants and things like convenience stores, grocery stores, and bars. I would suggest instituting rent control for some, but not all, properties in the neighborhood, as well as creating more pedestrian connections across Jelení Příkop in a north-south manner. Transit in the area is quite good, with Hradčanská station on Line A of the Praha Metro being the main transit hub. In addition to Line A, the arterial tram segment of the 1 and 25 also serves the station, as do frequent tram routes 5, 8, 18, 20, and 26. Metrobus routes 131 and 184, as well as night buses and trams, also serve Hradčanská. The Praha-Dejvice railway station, located on the boundary of Hradčany and Dejvice, serves Esko trains, and regional buses stop at Hradčanská as well. Arterial tram route 22, Metrobus routes 143 and 180, and standard bus route 168 all serve other parts of the neighborhood. I would also suggest adding more bike lanes in the area.