Nest Seekers International

The Upper East Side

Three hundred years ago this area was farmland. Now it is home to some of the most sought-after residences on the planet. Whether it is Fifth Avenue, with its grand mansions and magnificent museums, Madison Avenue, with its chicest of chic fashion boutiques, or Park Avenue, with its genteel apartment blocks entirely free of neighboring commercial outlets - you can't beat the Upper East Side for status and sophistication.

From East 59th up to 96th Street, the Upper East Side epitomizes elegance and class. Yet it is not only comfort and prestige that attracts both singles and families to this area, it is convenient too. The Upper East Side is not far from New York's best midtown shopping, has excellent private and public schools, and perhaps best of all is a short stroll away from Central Park, the magnificently planned gardens which are the size of Monaco.

The Upper East Side's museums - from the grand Metropolitan, through to the spiral Guggenheim, the innovative Whitney, and the vast mansions-turned-museums, such as the Frick and the Cooper-Hewitt, mean this area has the greatest concentration of artistic treasures anywhere on earth. And while the Upper East Side is the number one choice for New York's high society, there are also some more affordable streets close by too.