<p>I wouldn’t call Morningside Heights or the upper west side necessarily terrible in all caps (this coming from someone who has only ever lived on the upper west side). Morningside Heights has pretty much all of the standard amenities a college student could need and very much feels like student’s domain. The upper west side while not particularly exciting, is a very pleasant neighborhood. Amsterdam and Columbus have about 50 restaurants and bars between them from 116th to 90th. Not to mention downtown is about 30 minutes away on the subway. North of 116th might not be the best area, and I wouldn’t necessarily want to hang out in Morningside Park after dark, but students don’t have any reason why they would ever need to go to those places, and if they did its not like they are so overtly dangerous that anything would happen, they are just maybe a little sketchy. The rest of the area is pretty great for a college student: bustling and full of stuff, but also cozy and sequestered, and yet with access to the big city.</p>