Living in Van Nest: rent, commute and grades

The Bronx · Updated November 2026

A cream stucco building with red tile roofs and arcaded ground floor beside a small plaza and autumn trees.
A modern brick library beside autumn trees and prewar apartment buildings on the corner.
The elevated tracks crossing a wide, sunny avenue with a sidewalk and a station building.
A station entrance under the elevated tracks beside a deli with passers-by.
A silver subway train on the elevated tracks under a bright sky.
Photo credits

This guide also covers Bronxdale, which shares Van Nest’s official city boundaries.

Rent in Van Nest

$1,514 a month, estimated

Type of homeA room in a 2-bedroom, shared by two

Van Nest is cheaper with roommates

Find people looking in Van Nest
COverall

Van Nest graded

Grades compare NYC neighborhoods with each other. How the grades work.

Everyday life

  • B+Walkability

    The average home has 4.9 of 5 everyday needs within a 10-minute walk (grocery store, restaurant, cafe, subway station, park) and about 218 places to eat or shop.

  • C+Food and shopping

    Within a 10-minute walk of the average home: about 37 places to eat, 18 kinds of cuisine, 2.1 large grocery stores and 144 open storefronts.

  • A+Parks and green space

    100% of residents live within a 10-minute walk of a park of an acre or more, with about 722 acres of parkland within 1 km and about 472 street trees within 300 m of the average home.

    Residents: The Bronx Zoo and the Botanical Garden are within walking distance. New resident, Dec 2024

People

  • BCommunity

    20% of households moved in since 2018, 6% are roommates sharing a home, 20% of residents are 22 to 34, and there are about 8 cafes and bars within a 10-minute walk of the average home.

    Residents: A neighborhood alliance of longtime residents organizes events such as free meal giveaways. Lifelong resident, Mar 2025

  • DNightlife

    About 4 bars, clubs and restaurants licensed to serve alcohol on site within a 10-minute walk of the average home.

    Residents: Little nightlife: most of the neighborhood is indoors by 8pm. New resident, Dec 2024

Home and safety

  • DSafety

    10.5 murders, robberies, felony assaults and burglaries were reported per 1,000 residents in 2025 (305 in all).

    Residents: A safe place to live. New resident, Dec 2024

    City data and 3 resident threads on Reddit agree on this grade.

  • FQuiet

    69 noise complaints to 311 per 1,000 residents in 2025, not counting helicopter complaints, and counting each address at most 12 days a year. That measures how often people complain, not how loud it is.

    Residents: A quiet place to live. New resident, Dec 2024

  • DBuilding upkeep

    45.7 serious housing code violations (class B or C) were issued in 2025 per 100 rented homes, and there were 23 heat or hot water complaints per 100 rented homes.

Who lives there

  • Young families

What residents say

Residents like

Show 14 moreShow less

Safety

Community

  • Neighbors on the street are very nice and welcoming.

    New resident, Dec 2024

  • Most residents care about the community and want to keep things nice, more so further east on Bronxdale Avenue.

    Resident, Dec 2024

Food and shopping

Nightlife

Walkability

Quiet

Parks and green space

Getting around from Van Nest

Map of New York City neighborhoods shaded by travel time by subway or bus from Van Nest
By subway or bus, arriving by 9:00 on a weekday:Under 30 min30 to 45 min45 to 60 minOver an hourVan Nest
  • Pelham Pkwy 25

Residents: The daily commute to Manhattan is hard, and friends rarely make the trip to visit. New resident, Dec 2024

What to know about Van Nest

  • Van Nest takes its name from a station on the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, open from 1872 to 1986, which was named after the father of railroad director Abraham R. Van Nest. Source
  • Van Nest is a low-density area of mostly single-family homes with some multi-family buildings mixed in, according to City Planning. Source
  • The northern part of the area, by the Lydig Avenue shopping street and Bronx Park East, has clusters of denser housing; most of the surrounding area is one- and two-story homes. Source
  • Morris Park Avenue is Van Nest's main shopping street, with more than 300 mostly small, family-run stores, according to City Planning. Source
  • Van Nest runs west to the edge of Bronx Park. Inside the neighborhood, the small Van Nest Park sits where Van Nest Avenue, Victor Street and Unionport Road meet. Source
  • A Parkchester/Van Nest station is planned on the Bronx Metro-North expansion, which will give the area a direct rail link to Penn Station in Midtown, Westchester County and Connecticut. Source

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Sources

Facts about Van Nest:

Data behind the grades: