720 FORT WASHINGTON AVE

Washington Heights spans northern Manhattan from the Hudson to the Harlem rivers, north of 155th Street up to Dyckman Street (the border with Inwood). The neighborhood gets its name from Fort Washington, which long stood at Manhattan’s highest point. The fort is long gone, and so is the neighborhood’s dangerous reputation. From having one of the city’s highest crime rates in the 1980s, Washington Heights has emerged as a desirable neighborhood. It offers residents an appealingly slower pace and often larger apartments than can be found in points south. While it may be far from some of Manhattan’s cultural highlights, it boasts its own, foremost among them the Met Cloisters and the Hispanic Society of America. The neighborhood has long been known for its lively diversity; added to the mix in recent years have been young professionals and creatives who are proclaiming Washington Heights the next Williamsburg.