Staré Město & Josefov

Staré Město (Old Town) is the oldest part of Praha on the right bank of the Vltava River. Historically the Czech part of Prague, Staré Město was originally formed out of settlements surrounding a marketplace in the 9th century. Staré Město's boundaries are where the city walls and moat used to exist, which are the roads Revoluční, Na Příkopě, and Národní, as well as the Vltava River. Much like in Malá Strana, working class locals are all but absent from the apartments here, as gentrification is in full swing in these parts of Praha. So, I would suggest that new construction, or apartment renovations, that are done in Staré Město or Josefov be required to include some subsidized units. The area is very walkable and transit friendly, but biking in this part of the city is all but impossible, so I would also add some asphalt bike lanes on some streets. Much like in Hradčany there is no street grid at all, and most streets are short and very narrow. A lot of Prague's tourist attractions are in Staré Město, such as the Church of Our Lady before Týn, Old Town Square, the Charles Bridge, the Old Town Hall, and the Prague Astronomical Clock (Pražský Orloj). Businesses are not very varied, with most catering to tourists, and consisting of gift shops, travel agency windows, and restaurants, which means that residents who want, say, milk and eggs, must leave the neighborhood to get such simple commodities. The neighborhood is served by many transit options, including Metro Line A, many tram routes, and a few infrequent and frequent (Metrobus) bus routes. Josefov, the former Jewish area of the city, is an enclave in the northwestern part of Old Town. Today, the area is basically an extension of Old Town, with very few Jewish people still residing in the neighborhood. Most businesses in Josefov are luxury clothing stores, which means that Josefov, along with Anděl and Vinohrady, is one of the main shopping districts in Praha. Some historical landmarks are in the neighborhood as well, such as the Old New Synagogue. Housing stock in both areas used to be quite run down, but most buildings have now been covered in bright, new stucco and have been renovated.

Bronzeville

Bronzeville is a neighborhood located on Chicago's South Side, in the Douglas Community Area. From the 1920s through the 1940s, Bronzeville was home to the city's wealthier African Americans. During this period, many nice homes were constructed, and later were for the most part subdivided into apartments. Fortunately, many of these large homes survive to this day due to the loving care of their residents. Currently, Bronzeville is undergoing gentrification,  but is in a stage where both rich and poor reside in the neighborhood. Businesses vary a lot as well, from T-Mobile stores on Pershing to Pan-African restaurants on King, though the neighborhood is mostly residential in character. The neighborhood appears to have many residents who own their homes, so hopefully this will stem some of the worse effects of gentrification. Many famous African Americans have lived here, including Louis Armstrong, Ida B. Wells, and Gwendolyn Brooks. Bronzeville also seems to have a strong sense of community, with many of the residents exchanging words as they pass by. Bound by 26th Street, State Street, Pershing Road, and Lake Michigan, the neighborhood is quite walkable, and also fairly bike friendly. Many Divvy Stations exist here, and bike lanes can be found on King, 26th, 31st, Cottage Grove, and Oakwood. The Lakefront Trail runs through the neighborhood as well. Transit-wise, the CTA Red Line operates 24/7 with frequent service, and serves the neighborhood with the Sox-35th Station. The Green Line operates with frequent service as well, and serves the neighborhood through the 35th-Bronzeville-IIT and Indiana Stations. The Metra Electric Service operates infrequent, seven day a week commuter service to Bronzeville via the 27th Street Station. The Metra Rock Island District also serves Bronzeville with infrequent, seven day a week commuter service through the 35th Street/"Lou" Jones/Bronzeville Station. CTA Buses 1 Bronzeville/Union Station, 3 King Drive, 4 & N4 Cottage Grove (24/7 Service), 21 Cermak, 24 Wentworth, 29 State, 35 31st/35th, and 39 Pershing all serve the neighborhood, most with frequent service.

West Ridge, Chinatown, Downtown Skokie, & Lincoln Square

I have visited all of these neighborhoods many times already, which is why they are combined into one post and each have only short descriptions rather than extensive impressions.
As always, West Ridge was very nice. I still feel, however, that Western Avenue needs to become more pedestrian friendly, with less auto oriented businesses. The area also contains many Desis, especially along Devon Avenue, where the city's "Little India" is located. The area around the corner of  Western & Lunt contains some walk up apartments, one story commercial buildings fronting Western Avenue, and many urban houses.
Chicago's Chinatown is quite large, and both the "New Chinatown" and "Old Chinatown" areas are nice. However, the commercial portions of New Chinatown all face inner pedestrian passages instead of the street, and front the street with parking instead, which must be fixed.
Downtown Skokie has had lots of new investment recently, leading to an interesting mix of pre-WWII shops and apartments, as well as 21st century mixed use developments. Many businesses had Russian signs outside, and the area is quite diverse.
Lincoln Square is a pleasant neighborhood and community area on Chicago's North Side, centered on the eponymous square. The neighborhood hosts many old-timers, as well as newer residents. Historically German, Lincoln Square is now home to people of many cultures.

Chinatown

Chinatown is a very busy neighborhood just north of Center City, bound by Vine Street, Broad Street, 7th Street, and Arch Street. Over its long history, many attempts to destroy or shrink the district were enacted, including building the Vine Street Expressway, the Pennsylvania Convention Center, The Gallery at Market East, The Philadelphia Police Headquarters, The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, The IRS Philadelphia Offices, and The US Federal Courthouse-Philadelphia, among others. These buildings have helped form a ring around Chinatown, but even so, the district is still quite prosperous. Although not very large, Chinatown houses a great deal of Chinese and Vietnamese businesses. The community here is quite strong, and have resisted the closure of Chinatown Station on the Broad-Ridge Spur, as well as the closure of Holy Redeemer Chinese Catholic School & Church. Most residents of the neighborhood are low income recent immigrants from East Asia, though its proximity to Center City may change this. The neighborhood is mostly made up of mixed use residential and commercial buildings, with the area as a whole centering on the intersection of Race & 10th. Chinatown is extremely walkable, and bike lanes exist on 13th and 10th. SEPTA Rail operates the Broad Street Line's Race-Vine and Chinatown Stations, the former having Local and Express train stops, whilst the latter has Broad-Ridge Spur trains. SEPTA City Division operates the 4, 16, 23, 27, 47, 47M, and 61 buses. I would suggest adding bike lanes in more areas of the neighborhood, and allocating some housing for low-income residents so gentrification doesn't kill the area.

Cherokee Street

Like Chicago's "Community Areas", Saint Louis has official neighborhoods that are often groups of two or more unofficial neighborhoods. Some unofficial neighborhoods get divided along official neighborhood boundaries. This is the case of Cherokee Street. Divided by Marine Villa, Gravois Park, Benton Park, and Benton Park West all the way from Grand to Broadway, it is an extremely socioeconomically and culturally diverse neighborhood. From Broadway to Jefferson, most of it is in a historic district, with very upscale old apartments, homes, duplexes, etc. and very nice, hipster antique stores. This area is richer than the rest of the street, and is pretty nice. From Jefferson to about Nebraska the area is very Latino, with many bodegas, restaurants, etc. dotting the street. Past Nebraska, the area has far less business and becomes more residential, as well as more African-American and less Latino. After it hits Grand, it sort of becomes the southernmost edge of Tower Grove South. There is an extremely diverse range of housing stock and business variety, with housing dominated by turn of the century urban houses and two-flats. Businesses range from upscale antique shops to light industry to markets to print-shops. Transit-wise, the #73 Carondelet runs right down Cherokee Street, but is not very frequent. The #10 Gravois-Lindell, #30 Soulard, and #40 Broadway serve the area, but aren't very frequent either. The #11 Chippewa and #70 Grand also serve the area, and are quite frequent. A pretty good neighborhood, with a lot of diversity!

West Ridge

West Ridge, also known as West Rogers Park, has a slightly quieter, less dense atmosphere than Rogers Park, and is a tiny bit less diverse. The neighborhood is still very urban, however, and is named West Ridge due to it being west of Ridge Avenue, where as Rogers Park is east of Ridge Avenue. The housing stock in the neighborhood is mostly small, densely packed single family homes, with a few low density mixed use apartments, 2 and three flats, and garden apartments mixed in. On main roads, single story commercial and low density mixed use dominate. Many small and large parks and play lots are present, and the neighborhood is covered with lush, tall trees. Devon Avenue, home to Chicago's Little India, is mostly within West Ridge, with the area around the intersection of Devon and Western Avenues being the heart of Chicagoland's Desi community. The area ranges from low-income to upper middle class, and is very safe. The main ethnic groups in West Ridge are Eastern Europeans, Desis, and Koreans. The neighborhood, though lacking an "L" line, still has pretty good transit, with several good, frequent bus lines in the area. A great neighborhood!

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East Boston

East Boston, especially the Maverick Square area, was pretty cool. For transit, Hubway (bikeshare), the MBTA Blue Line, many reasonably frequent bus lines, and two Key Bus Routes all serve the neighborhood. Maverick Station and its bus bays are straight in the middle of Maverick Square, and act as an important hub of the neighborhood. The area lies near Logan Airport, and streets are arranged in a loose grid. The neighborhood is predominately Latino, and is mostly working class, though some new upper class developments can be seen. The buildings include tall public buildings, single story commercial, townhouses, and lower density mixed-use. Most buildings are older, and businesses range in variety quite a lot as well, from taquerias to light industry, and everything in between. My suggestion for the neighborhood would be to designate certain mixed income "corridors" and allow the rest of the neighborhood gentrify naturally. A pretty good area.

Chinatown

Boston's Chinatown is one of the largest and most ethnically Chinese Chinatowns in the country. Located close to Downtown, Chinatown has good transit connections and many Hubway (bikeshare) stops. A few surface parking lots exist, but other than that, the neighborhood has no vacant lots, or abandoned buildings. As far as buildings go, mostly older 5-7 story buildings dominate, many of which are mixed use, but some are purely residential or multistory commercial. Of the newer buildings, mostly 2-3 story multistory commercial dominate. The "entrance" to Chinatown is at the corner of Beach and Hudson Streets, where the Chinatown Gate, or Paifang, and a small but crowded park can be found. Transit-wise, the Orange Line, Green Line, Silver Line, and Red Line all have stations in or nearby the neighborhood. In addition to these three lines, several frequent and infrequent bus routes serve the neighborhood as well, but no key bus routes currently serve the neighborhood. All in all, a pretty great neighborhood, with a lot of potential. However, due to its proximity to Downtown, if nothing is done soon, Chinatown may eventually push out its ethnic Chinese due to gentrification.

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Dorchester

Dorchester is a massive neighborhood on Boston's southern edge. Boston's largest in both area and population, its six square miles contain all kinds of people, from all races and income levels. The eastern pieces of the neighborhood are predominately middle to lower middle class East Asian and Irish populated, the northern pieces of the area are predominately Eastern European lower middle class, the western pieces of the neighborhood are mostly African, Afro-Caribbean, and African American lower middle class, and the southern pieces are mostly middle and lower middle class African Americans, Irish, yuppies, gay couples, and artists. The neighborhood also has quite a few families. The Fields Corner area of the neighborhood is one of the most diverse, though still predominately Vietnamese. Extremely good transit connections can be found throughout the area, with reasonably frequent regular bus routes, two key bus routes, the Mattapan High Speed Line, and the Red Line-Ashmont Branch all serving Dorchester. The Fields Corner area consists of tightly packed houses on side streets, and medium density mixed use, as well as one story commercial buildings on main streets. The buildings vary a great deal in age, and overall, the neighborhood was just AWESOME!!!!! A MUST SEE for any Boston trip!

Chinatown, West Ridge/West Rogers Park, and Near North

I've reviewed these neighborhoods in other posts already, which is why I'm combining the three neighborhoods into one and keeping this post SHORT. Basically, I'm just saying that these three neighborhoods are still cool, still urban, still worth visiting, but not much has changed since last time I visited, so there's not much to say.

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http://urbantransit.webs.com/apps/blog/

Little Village

One of the most colorful neighborhoods in Chicago, Little Village is a large predominately Mexican and Latino neighborhood, centered on 26th Street. The #60 Blue Island/26th bus runs very frequently, and is a night owl route (24/7 operation). It provides a lifeline to the people of Little Village, as many of its inhabitants are transit dependent. Many other frequent bus routes, as well as a few Pink Line stations are also present in the area. 26th Street is a busy thoroughfare at all times and at all seasons. Lined with bodegas, taquerias, and other stores selling everything from fresh fruit to jewelry, it is an eclectic area indeed. The buildings in which these businesses are located range from one story commercial buildings to three and four story mixed use buildings. Food trucks and fruit vendors are also present on the streets. On side streets, two flats and brick homes dominate. As one approaches Cermak Road, more abandoned properties are visible, but up until that point there are very few abandoned properties. This neighborhood is a wonderful place for new immigrants to experience a safe, vibrant neighborhood, and with its strong sense of community and low rent prices, will stay this way for a long time.

Also, don't forget to check out my other website:
http://urbantransit.webs.com/apps/blog/ 

Crown Heights

The Crown Heights neighborhood is a pretty cool neighborhood now, and has immense  potential to be something more. The neighborhood is host to a significant number of Hasidic Jews, Afro-Caribbeans, and African Americans. Currently, it is predominately lower middle class, though its proximity to Park Slope means that some signs of gentrification can already be seen. A way to create a mixed income community is if the NYCHA could begin to create designated low rent buildings to keep some of the current residents, and gentrification could bring in new residents and businesses. The neighborhood currently exhibits a variety of businesses, from Bengali grocery stores to African hair braiding shops.

Jersey City

One of the most diverse and transit friendly cities in the country, all I can say about Jersey City is...AWESOME!!! A variety of housing styles exist in the city, from fancy art deco high rises to wooden frame houses to new glass and steel condos. A variety of ethnic groups live in the area, with Latinos, Middle Easterners/North Africans, and South Asians dominating the city's demographics. Many people do not own cars here, so transit ridership is quite high. There is also a variety of businesses, from nice restaurants, to checks cashed stores, to movie theaters, to ethnic groceries. Add in a short commute to Midtown or Lower Manhattan via PATH or NJT, and you have an amazing city.  

Chinatown

Chinatown was awesome. plain and simple, awesome. The "new center" was purely commercial, like an outdoor mall. The shops were two stories tall, facing Chinatown Square, or one of the inner corridors. The area was very lively, with lots of people. Towards the river, there is a new urbanist style development with townhouses and condos. After that, the large Ping Tom Memorial Park hugs the river. South of all of this, the old Chinatown appears. Graceful old building such as the Pui Tak Center adorn the streets of the older part of Chinatown, as well as standard late 19th century brick buildings. The area is extremely Chinese, with many storefronts in all or mostly Chinese, not English. (I'm not sure whether it's Mandarin Chinese or Cantonese predominately spoken in the Chicago Chinatown.) The future of Chinatown is uncertain. Its proximity to the Loop may force many of its inhabitants to move elsewhere, and it will be hard to grow outwards, as the Chicago River, the Dan Ryan Expressway, and the Stevenson Expressway bound it into its current shape. A wonderful and extremely active ethnic neighborhood!  

West Rogers Park

West Rogers Park has changed a lot in a year. Since last year, the neighborhood has really gotten much nicer! New stores line Western Avenue, and things look less run down. The current inhabitants are still the same, which is nice. The same beautiful homes and apartments line its streets, and new bus shelters adorn the intersections. The Sari City area along Devon Avenue is slowly expanding down Western Avenue, and there is an increased Desi presence, and some new ethnic groceries are in the area. The area is medium-low density, with some apartments on side streets, but most mixed use buildings are clustered on Western Avenue and Devon Avenue. Although nothing about the neighborhood other than Devon Avenue is all that special, it is still a very charming neighborhood.