patch.com/new-york/upper-west-side-nyc/uws-has-grown-more-any-manhattan-nabe-pandemic-study?

UWS Has Grown More Than Any Manhattan Nabe Since Pandemic: Study

A new study from Placer.ai shows that the Upper West Side population grew 30 percent from November 2019 to October 2022.

Gus Saltonstall, Patch Staff

Posted Wed, Jan 11, 2023 at 1:13 pm ET|Updated Thu, Jan 12, 2023 at 2:18 pm ETReplies (4)

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — The Upper West Side doesn’t just have more people than it did before the COVID pandemic, but it has seen the largest population growth of any Manhattan neighborhood during the period, according to the location analytics website Placer.

Like other urban areas in the United States, Manhattan saw a significant population drop between February and April 2020, losing eight percent of its population.

But as the city began recovering from its pandemic losses in the following years, the tides have turned. The population in Manhattan is now larger than it was before the pandemic, according to a recent study titled “Post-Pandemic Migration Trends in New York.”

Manhattan is the only borough that has seen its population increase since the pandemic began with the highest growth concentrated on the Upper West Side.

The UWS population has grown by 30 percent between November 2019 and October 2022, according to the study.

Find out what’s happening in Upper West Sidewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Let’s go!

Here are the six Manhattan neighborhoods that saw the biggest growth during the period.

• Upper West Side: 30 percent
• East Village/Gramercy: 26 percent
• City Hall/Civic Center: 25 percent
• Meatpacking District: 17 percent
• Roosevelt Island: 16 percent
• Chelsea: 15 percent

“But the population influxes are not limited to Lower Manhattan – the Upper West Side saw significant growth as well,” the study reads. “So while the pandemic did drive some to move away from major cities, it appears that others may now be leading an urban revival.”

Placer.ai is an industry leading location analytics company that was recently valued at $1 billion. The company uses people’s phone apps usage to track there whereabouts.

The way the company defines residents is based on those numbers. A user that spends roughly eight hours a day at a regular location is considered an employee, whereas a user that spends their nights in one location regularly is considered a resident.

You can check out the full study for yourself and the Upper West Side’s leading role in the migration back to Manhattan on Placer.ai’s website.