Community thrives in bodegas, green spaces The Bronx is best known as a borough teeming with vibrant life and diversity. Neighborhood sidewalks and streets are busy with people waiting for buses, hustling in and out of MTA subway stations, and navigating traffic on bicycles. Speakers blare lyrics in English and Spanish from storefronts ranging from pizza shops to jewelry stores. Street vendors offer everything from fresh produce to fragrances and clothing. Waters converge around this northernmost borough of New York City — the Harlem River surrounds the Bronx to the south, the Hudson River to the west, and the East River and the Long Island Sound estuary to the east. This makes for plenty of green spaces and parks in the Bronx — one of the biggest appeals for residents who use these spaces year-round. Even on the chilliest of spring days, it's typical to hear children's laughter on playgrounds and the bounce of basketballs on concrete courts. Diversity and liveliness extend to the Bronx's entertainment, shopping, and dining scenes. There's the Bronx Zoo, Bronx Museum of Arts, Yankee Stadium, and various restaurants serving international cuisines. Bronxites also enjoy the practical and convenient bodegas on corners of the borough. Bodegas often serve as community pillars, meaning quick grocery grabs are also a chance to connect with a neighbor. Hiking, biking, and sporting fields in The Bronx's parks: More than 100 parks are scattered throughout the Bronx, from expansive spaces with hundreds of acres to small community and neighborhood playgrounds—most parks feature spaces for walking and biking and various courts and fields for sports. There are also community gardens and open fields. According to Bronx Times, the borough is considered the greenest in NYC, with 24% of it being parkland. Specifically, there's a lot of park space around Pelham Bay in the Bronx, including Pelham Bay Park, along Long Island Sound, walking trails, and a beach. Bronx Park is the borough's most popular park, where locals bike, hike, skate, kayak, and grill out. It is also home to the renowned Bronx Zoo and the New York Botanical Garden, which houses over one million living plants and hosts an annual Orchid Show. The Puerto Rican Parade takes over 152nd Street: Since 1995, the annual Puerto Rican Day Parade has brought live music, dancing, storytelling, and vibrant arts and crafts to the streets of the Bronx, but especially lights up 152nd Street. Community pride also shines during Bronx Week every year, featuring a fair, parade, food, and music. Cultural institutions are all along the Grand Concourse, including The Bronx Museum for the Arts, Paradise Theatre, and the last home of the famous poet Edgar Allen Poe. The Bronx is proudly the birthplace of hip hop, specifically the rec room at 1520 Sedgewick Avenue, where DJ Kool Herc played extended cuts of two records on his turntables during a 1973 back-to-school party. Today's Bronxites can catch hip-hop as well as other genres of music at venues such as Debonair Music Hall and Bowery Ballroom. Yankees Stadium is the place to catch ball games of the league-record 27-time World Champion Yankees from late March through October. The venue also hosts concerts, shows, and other sporting events during the offseason, including soccer matches and college football bowl games. Global dining in Little Italy and Mott Haven: International dining is a Bronx specialty. In South Bronx, Little Italy is a trove of authentic Italian restaurants and fresh baked goods. Flavors from West Africa and Chinese American, Mexican, and Honduran cuisines mark the Mott Haven neighborhood along the Harlem and East Rivers in the South Bronx. The borough also has some of the city's best seafood at the Fulton Fish Market. Dubbed the "New York Stock Exchange of Seafood," it is one of the largest seafood emporiums in the United States and generates $1 billion annually. The Bronx holds its own when it comes to the retail scene. The area along Arthur Avenue has specialty stores carrying handmade items. Meanwhile, The Mall at Bay Plaza beckons shoppers with an array of big-box stores. The cheapest borough to purchase a house in NYC: The Bronx is the most affordable borough to buy a house, with a median price of $574,390. Neighborhoods Parkchester, which has a median home price of $195,000, and Bedford Park, which has a median price of $225,000, are two of the cheapest areas to purchase a house. Homes are, on average, on the market for 41 days before being sold in the Bronx. The MTA provides more than 100 bus and train routes in the Bronx: The Metropolitan Transit Authority, offering more than 50 bus routes and 70 train stations, provides convenient travel options in the Bronx. The Bronx features six train lines, including the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line. Other lines cover destinations like the Concourse Line (IND), the IRT Dyre Avenue Line in the northeastern Bronx, the IRT Jerome Avenue Line (Woodlawn Line), the IRT Pelham Line (operated by the 6 train) from Pelham Bay to Mott Haven with a mix of elevated and underground stations, and lastly, the White Plains Road Line (2 and 5 trains). Bikers can have the convenience of over 170 miles of bike lanes. Meanwhile, the Cross Bronx Expressway benefits drivers. The expressway features Interstate Highway 95, 295, and US Route 1 portions. A $2 million study to address public health impacts caused by the Cross Bronx Expressway will improve residents' safety, manage traffic on the highway, and create a new open space for public use. The report based on the study is scheduled to be released in late 2024. Whether flying out for vacations, visiting family, or on business trips, LaGuardia Airport is just under 10 miles from the district. The Bronx is about 20 miles from NYC's larger airport, John F. Kennedy International. Bronx High School of Science is rated the second-best high school in all of NYC. The Bronx is divided into six geographic districts — 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12. Many highly rated schools in the Bronx are in the New York City Geographic District No. 10, with a B-plus Niche rating. Bronx High School of Science is rated the No. 2 high school in New York. Riverdale Country School is rated the best private school in New York. Fordham University is one of New York's more popular colleges. Grand larceny increasing in the Bronx: In the Bronx, the rate of violent crime is 6.908 per 1,000 residents, according to Crime Grade. Violent crime is even more likely in the northeastern Bronx, with 1 per 46 residents. The property crime rate is 34.01 per 1,000 residents. A property crime is more likely to happen to 1 in every 17 residents in the northeastern Bronx. New York Power Authority's peaker power plants in the South Bronx contribute to environmental hazards, including respiratory issues, breathing problems, heart disease, and cancer. Referred to in the borough as "toxic soup," the peaker plants emit twice as much carbon dioxide per unit of electricity and 20 times as much nitrogen oxide as other power plants. Activists, including South Bronx Unite, are pushing for the plants to close earlier than its intended 2035 timeline to mitigate the effects on the community. Learn more on the Bronx city guide.