West Farms- One of Bronx’s Original Railroad Suburbs but Present Day Dense South Bronx Community

West Farms was one of the first settlements in the Bronx located along an early rail line. By the mid 19th century it had 1000 resident and was developing into a railroad suburb like Yonkers. By the early 20th century West Farms was integrated into the rest of the South Bronx becoming a dense working class neighborhood for those looking to leave the slums of Lower Manhattan. By the 1970s it had one of the highest concentrations of Puerto Ricans in New York City. And like the rest of the South Bronx it experienced the destruction of the 1970s and resurrection in the 1980s and 1990s and is now mostly in-tact and rebuilt. West Farms however seems to have a slightly higher concentrated of poverty and Hispanics than other South Bronx neighborhoods and has seen limited recent revitalization. Its commercial district along Tremont is pretty gritty and somewhat abandonded and there are more vacant lots here than most parts of the South Bronx.

But West Farms has some great amenities starting with the expansive Bronx Park to the North and the Bronx Zoo, solid tree canopy and decent schools. It also has top notch transit access and decent retail amenities and is still walkable to larger centers of shopping in the Tremont and Crotona Park East neighborhoods. For West Farms to become a top notch urban district it needs more income diversity to drive better retail & cultural amenities and a more diverse housing market. 

Click here to view my West Farms Album on Flickr

URBAN STRENGTHS:

• Excellent public transit served by two subway lines.
• Solid density at 54K people per square mile and this includes some census blocks with limited populations.
• Solid bike infrastructure including a couple dedicated bike lanes and several bike rental stations.
• Good sidewalks and ADA standard curbs on 65% of intersections
• Good Tree Canopy for the Bronx
• Good access to Manhattan but not as good as other South Bronx neighborhoods. Midtown is 45 mins and Lower Manhattan and Long Island City are 50-55 minutes by subway.
• Good connectivity in the core of the neighborhood but it gets pretty chopped up on the eastern edge.
• Good urban form other than some industrial/autocentric spots on the eastern edge of the district.
• Pretty good historic architecture on the western half of West Farms mixing 1920s brick apartment buildings and rowhouses. The eastern edge however is very gritty unattractive rowhouses. Generally Post WWII in fill is pretty urban form.
• Decent number of schools within West Farm and to the west in the Tremont neighborhood but less options than most South Bronx district. Public schools are generally rated pretty well but limited private and charter schools.
• Great access to park amenities thanks to the expansive Bronx Park which includes the Zoo, Botanical Garden, and lots of other amenities. Also a handful of small to medium parks spread throughout.
• Decent retail amenities but more limited than most South Bronx neighborhoods due to it size a limited number of commercial district. Retail amenities include a couple full sized groceries & several drug stores and smaller groceries, a couple furniture stores, discount clothing stores and 99 center stores, several salons and barber shops, a handful of churches & several doctors offices (but not hospitals). Also a local post office and public library. Many other shopping amenities are still walkable in the neighboring Tremont and Crotona Park neighborhoods

URBAN WEAKNESSES:

• Crime is still higher here than NYC and the Bronx on average but significantly down from its peak in the 1990s. A decent # of vacant lots here, more so than other South Bronx Neighborhoods.
• Generally not great diversity indicators as this is a 70% Hispanic neighborhood with nearly 40% of residents living in poverty. But better generational diversity than most South Bronx neighborhoods.
• Streetscaping is fine but dated.
• Not a ton of for sale product. Very limited # of market rate studio and 1-bed condos. Some 2-beds condos that sell btwn 150K-365K. 3 & 4 bedroom product is very limited. Some market rate 5-bed condos that sell for around 750K. Older townhouses sell for less but limited product.
• West Farms has a ton of rental inventory but most of it is not market rate (7:1 lease below 2K). Very limited for sale rentals that are listed on traditional platforms like Zillow.
• Decent cultural amenities including several restaurants, a handful of bars & cafes, a local art gallery and the Bronx Zoo is just north of the neighborhood.”