Meatpacking District

I like the Meatpacking District. I dont love it, but I like it. It gives off a good vibe and reminds me of my hometown of Lockport Illinois.Its crowded at night, definetly safe.

I have serious reservations here. On the one hand, who doesn't like to see the girls in their glitter tops and lip gloss, attended to by their boyfriend of the moment (and they all look alike anyway) strutting up for a night out on the town in the Meatpacking District. On the other hand, the sight gets old pretty quickly. The area has been called “New York's Most Fashionable District,” probably because all the mega-designers like Diane von Furstenberg and Stella McCartney all have stores here, and it's literally impossible to see a woman walking around in heels that are any less than 12 inches. They, like, throw you out of the neighborhood if you don't have the heel height here (No, not really, but it feels that way). I don't know about all that flashy fashionista stuff, and I really don't go for the nightlife scene, which caters to a yuppie crowd that wants to think of itself as edgy and hip (even though it is merely young and rich, not the same thing at all). So the Meatpacking District doesn't impress me much. But I do like the feel of the cobblestoned streets and the former industrial buildings, most of which really used to be slaughterhouses. And I love love love the High Line Park, which begins in the Meatpacking District and carves through Chelsea. I also really love jogging up the footpath that follows the banks of the river and the West Side Highway, but none of those things have much to do with what the Meatpacking District is famous for, which is flashy night-lifers and over-priced drinking. I do take some pleasure in the aesthetics of the ultra-luxury buildings that have sprung up in recent years in this area, all designed by brand name architects. Such places are literally dripping with flashy new-money money, but at least they are aesthetic and a pleasure to gawk at on an afternoon.

The Meatpacking district covers a twenty block area on the extreme Westside of Manhattan. The boundaries of this achingly hip and trendy district extend roughly from the Chelsea Market which is located between W 15th and W 16th streets down to Gansevoort Street.
This gritty and grimy area which has a distinct industrial feel to it was the domain of slaughterhouses and meatpacking outfits ever since 1949 when the Gansevoort Meat Market was established here. Since the late 1990s, however the area has cleaned up somewhat so that it now functions as New York’s premier party district which has within its environs countless designer boutiques and stores as well as many hip and happening restaurants and clubs which are exceedingly popular with tourists and locals alike.

Located in the heart of the Meatpacking district is the stylish, boutique Gansevoort Hotel which is favored by celebrities and the beautiful of New York City, whose rooftop bar is an especially popular hangout spot during the balmy New York summer evenings. Some of the most popular restaurants of the Meatpacking district include joints like Pastis, Bagatelle, Budakkan, Fatty Crabs and Spice Market which are known as much for the food that they serve and the good looking and stylish patrons that they attract. However the newest attraction of Meatpacking district is the newly opened Highline Park which has been created along an old elevated freight rail line that used run from Gansevoort Street to 34th Street.