The best Bronx neighborhoods to check out in 2018

September 15,2018 | By Brick Underground

Parts of the Bronx have long offered a (relatively) affordable place to live in an ever-pricier city. Rents and home prices are starting to rise there, thanks to some new development and price pressures pushing renters and home buyers ever outward from Manhattan's core, but the borough is still one of the best places in New York City to score a deal.

Brick Underground spoke with four real estate agents to get a better sense of which neighborhoods in the Bronx have the most to offer newcomers. Some recommendations, such as Riverdale and Concourse, are already well-known. Others, like Kingsbridge and Pelham Bay, show up less often in the citywide conversation. We looked at each in terms of access to public transit, park space, unique architecture, and housing that’s more affordable than much of what's available in Manhattan and Brooklyn.

Fordham

Fordham covers several neighborhoods adjacent to the 93-acre Fordham University campus in the West Bronx. Raymond Werdane, a broker with Bohemia Realty Group, says the area has become popular given its proximity to the D and 4 trains.

Many prewar buildings in the neighborhood are being renovated and gaining new amenities as interest in the area grows. Aside from a sizable apartment stock, Fordham offers bustling shopping district along Fordham Road as well as Arthur Avenue, the commercial strip of Bronx's famed Little Italy. The area is also home to the Bronx Zoo, the New York Botanical Garden, and the historic Paradise Theater.

How to get there

Metro-North takes you directly to Fordham University and the New York Botanical Garden. A little west of the university, you can catch the B, D and 4 lines. The subway takes about 40 minutes to get to Midtown, whereas the Metro-North will get you to Grand Central in 20 minutes.

Living there

The northwestern neighborhoods that make up Fordham include Belmont—where you’ll find Arthur Avenue and plenty of Fordham student renters—as well as Fordham Heights, University Heights, and Fordham Manor. The inventory for sale is limited at the moment, according to Streeteasy, with eight co-op, condo, and house listings, at a median price of $502,500. Rentals are more plentiful, and one bedrooms currently have a median asking rent of $1,450, while two bedrooms have a median of $1,775.