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There are two types of people consistently in Soho: wealthy young people who live in amazing lofts and eat at Soho's incredible, renowned restaurants, and tourists who come to shop up and down Broadway everyday. For those of us in the middle, Soho remains a go-to spot for shopping and perhaps nightlife.

Soho is one of the coolest neighborhoods aesthetically, thanks to this fusion it has going on of industrial and quaint. You'll find lots of cast iron architecture, warehouses and European embellishment along cobblestone streets. The apartments here are usually lofts and lots of bars and restaurants have opened in spacious warehouse-type locations. The shopping here is expensive and designer, with a few bones thrown to the middle class, like Topshop and H&M. Broadway has a few stores that are worth fighting crowds for, but usually the strip is a tourist-infested nightmare. The side streets, like Prince, Greene and Mercer, are the real gems, with off-the-beaten-track boutiques and bars. While you'll find fashion's best offerings in Soho - from Scoop to Catherine Malandrino to L'Agent Provocateur - you'll also find quirky-cool spots like KidRobot for toys and Evolution for scientific wonders and taxidermy.

The dining scene in Soho is fantastic if you've got the bucks, otherwise, not so much. But I do recommend Fanelli's on Prince and Broome Street Bar for that authentic Soho starving artist community vibe, only with delicious comfort food.

If more people could afford to live in Soho, it'd probably have a better reputation - people often write it off as pretentious. But aside from the tourist invasion, it can be a really cool place.

Greenwich Village is one of the very best neighborhoods in Manhattan, basically because it has everything you could wish for packaged in a charming, small-town vibe sort of way. Start at the not-so-small-town Union Square for all of your convenience shopping - it's the village's hub for chain stores, including Best Buy, Whole Foods, DSW, Babies R US, etc. Along the east side of Greenwich Village runs Broadway, and the stretch here is lined with great shopping - boutiques, vintage store, designer stores and a few cooler versions of chains like Urban Outfitters and Le Petit Chateau. Along the west side is Sixth Avenue, and this is arguably the best stretch of this avenue. Boutiques, cafes and little restaurants line this stretch where iconic village streets like Bleecker meet it.

Then you have Washington Square Park, long the one and only place to go for some of New York's best street performers. The brownstones that surround the park are gorgeous and stately, juxtaposing the park's gritty history - though it's cleaned up now. Along the streets of MacDougal, Sullivan and Thompson, especially between Bleecker and West 3rd, you have everything you could want in the way of nightlife, from great restaurants representing every part of the world and bars that range from raucous club to quiet pub. The only problem you may find here is the brazen invasion of NYU students, which some people claim has ruined the area. It has in no way ruined the area - there are still great stores, restaurants, bars and the architecture and spirit of the village remain. But it is definitely an obstacle to overcome when trying to enjoy a night out.

The most amazing thing about Greenwich Village is that it has literally everything you could want, but that's not even enough for it. It also happens to be surrounded by New York's other coolest neighborhoods, so if you're somehow not satisfied by this neighborhood, you're just blocks away from another.

Old-world money meets over-the-top shopping with European architecture as a backdrop in Lenox Hill, making it the perfect setting for the opulent life of “Gossip Girl” characters. Central Park’s green oasis is decorated with regal statues and accoutrements. Regal residences with marble floors, rich awnings and wrought-iron or golden doors opened and closed by doormen are lined with trees. Perfection runs rampant here. The sidewalks are filled with designer-bedecked teenagers and nannies pushing strollers. Along avenues like Madison, some of fashion’s greatest designers have set up shop for Ladies Who Lunch to spend what they will on the next big looks, while Lexington Avenue offers a better mix of high-end and affordable – well, affordable, relatively speaking. Lexington is your best bet commercially speaking, and where you’re most likely to find a diner, deli or bistros that don’t limit you to set courses. If it is the finer dining you’re seeking, try the neighborhood’s own Café Boulud, Caravaggio or, of course, the Carlyle Restaurant in the Carlyle Hotel – a beautiful institution that also features a rare book store, Café Carlyle and Bemelman’s Bar. Bars like Lexington Bar and Books maintain the aristocratic mood by offering an after-dinner cigar oasis. In short, Lenox Hill is one of the most upper-crust areas of the Upper East Side, but it doesn’t sacrifice its personality in the process.

At first glance, Turtle Bay is an incredibly appealing place to live: rows of classic New York brownstones lined with trees make for picturesque streets. However, those streets are often closed, thanks to the neighborhood’s claim to fame, the United Nations. The same institution that causes residents much inconvenience also gives the area great prestige and a constant flow of buzz and excitement – that is, if you’re into the whole international politics thing. Even if you’re not, some visits made here by world leaders are too good to not take note of, especially when those leaders are on the controversial side. It might not be as exciting as movie star-studded neighborhoods like Soho, but there is undeniably something to be said for being able to keep an eye out for Prime Ministers, Presidents and Commanders.

The mix of restaurants is reliable – nothing too exciting or experimental, but solid enough to keep visiting diplomats happy. For a high end steak meal, visit Ben & Jack’s Steakhouse, which you know is good simply because it was founded by the owners of Peter Luger’s. Or, go low-key and kick back at the Beer Bar with, obviously, a beer menu to please and casual bar food. And don’t leave Turtle Bay without visiting Tudor City, a hidden gem of Manhattan set on a slope over First Avenue. Climb the steps to check out this little community and visit the park to spend time in this quaint little getaway.

While Central Park has become more like a veritable theme park with all of its attractions and constant bustle, New Yorkers look for parks that are more of a relaxing place to get away – to step off of the ever-busy sidewalks and escape the concrete, noisy traffic and rushing pedestrians. Madison Square Park is that kind of oasis, even if it has gotten more crowded in recent years thanks to the opening of one of New York’s most popular burger joints.

Without zoos and pools and castles, Madison Square Park is a simple, peaceful spot with green beauty all around. It is lush and relatively quiet, the perfect place to meditate, curl up with a book or have a catch-up lunch with friends. At night, the park and its surrounding area offer a romantic view, creating an Edgar Allen Poe-esque tableau with the trees framing an illuminated clock tower.

But let’s face it. The top reason most people flock to Madison Square Park is the aforementioned burger joint, Shake Shack. A line wraps halfway around the park on any given day – a line most deem completely worth it for the sought-after perfect burgers, fries and shakes. While Shake Shacks have popped up across the city since the original branch’s opening in the park, Madison Square’s location remains the most popular – what could be more perfect than chowing down on your expertly cooked fast food in a lush park plopped in the middle of the city?

There’s not a whole lot to do in the tiny neighborhood known as Civic Center, even if it is the hub of the city’s court system. New Yorkers associate the area with dreaded chores like jury duty, court dates, fighting parking tickets, etc. If you’ve never visited the area, it’s worth a trip there once, if just to see the brains behind Manhattan – here you’ll see City Hall and City Hall Park, a small but lush park with views of the surrounding legal buildings. The architecture is more old world and more attractive than that of buildings, say, midtown, but not as ornate and intriguing as architecture in areas like Sutton Place. In other words, you wouldn’t be missing anything if you didn’t take it in, but if you’re there anyway, you might as well.

The real attraction is South Street Seaport, which has pros and cons that weigh out to make it a place you perhaps visit once a year, on a particularly nice summer day. The port is always packed to the gills with tourists, and its stores cater to them instead of New Yorkers, featuring the stores they can find in their Michigan and Kentucky malls. But it’s undeniable that you can have yourself a lovely warm-weather day here, strolling the cobblestone streets, enjoying the views of boats and sitting down to relax before the sights of the Brooklyn Bridge and, of course, Brooklyn itself. You can catch a boat ride here, and you can cool off in the little mall – though you won’t want to do much shopping here. The strip is lined with decent but pricey seafood restaurants, but nothing in the way of nightlife. You can catch a food market along the street bordering the port, serving up the best culinary options in the area, like fresh-baked baklava, tea-flavored popsicles, gourmet pickles and more. It might be crowded and it might be touristy, but getting to be waterside for the day is a refreshing little break from daily city life.