HAMILTON HEIGHTS & WASHINGTON HEIGHTS

THE BASICS: Typical residents—students, young professionals with college loans, new parents who need an extra room—have fled uptown for space. A lot of actor-singer-dancer-waiters live along (where else?) Broadway. In Hamilton Heights, you’ll find one- or two-bedroom floor-throughs in brownstones. Farther up, five- or six-room apartments in prewar buildings, as well as Art Deco two- and three-bedrooms, dominate.

WHAT’S NEW: The brand-new seven-story condo building at 135th and Broadway—the top four floors of which have balconies and views of the river—is said to be nearly sold out. Several co-op and condo conversions are in the works west of Broadway in Hamilton Heights, and a new condo building is under way on Cabrini Boulevard. Developers are also renovating several properties on Bradhurst Avenue in the 140s—an area that Home Realty NYC broker Yolanda Chang predicts will “boom out.”

BARGAIN HUNTING: The operative phrase here is east of Broadway. Check out Wadsworth and St. Nicholas Avenues, in particular, for the best deals.

HOT SPOTS: The new Hispaniola has a cigar bar and a smokin’ Asian-Latin menu. A bite at the New Leaf Café in Fort Tryon Park supports the New York Restoration Project. St. Nick’s Pub features live jazz most nights and serves soul food that reminds you how uptown you really are.

PREDICTION: Gentrification (two Starbucks outlets and counting) explains the recent price increases. An off economy could slow that process, but the area has natural advantages over the outer boroughs that should help it maintain its appeal. Says Klara Madlin, president of Klara Madlin Real Estate, “You have value anywhere that you can reach by subway and don’t have to cross a bridge.”