These are the main differences, circa December 2021

• The UES is larger. There are 9 avenues on the UES vs 6 on the UWS--they're not evenly spaced, but you get the idea

* The UES ends at 96th, where it turns into Spanish/East Harlem, the UWS at 110th, at which point you have Columbia U and Morningside Hts.

• There are many more high rise buildings on the UES, especially east of Lexington, which was once German/Hungarian Yorkville--the high rises replaced tenement style buildings and were largely built from the 1960s to 00s. Those buildings are unloved these days but represent a great real estate bargain and thus people like R28's friend are able to buy 1BRs for $500K

• There are more museums on the UES than UWS

• The Macy's Thanksgiving parade starts on the UWS

• Riverside Park on the UWS is much larger and nicer than Carl Schurz on the UES and now extends all the way down to the Battery (or at least the bike trail does)

• Both have one very widely used subway line (123 and 456) and one not very widely used (CE and Q)

• Lincoln Center is on the UWS, there is nothing comparable on the UES

• There are more private schools on the UES

• The $$$$$ co-ops on CPW are much more in demand these days than the ones on Park or Fifth. The ones on Park, in particular, have developed reputations for being full of elderly busybodies who don't like kids or people under 50 and make the buying process far more invasive and drawn out than necessary.

• Both neighborhoods have lost many of the unique stores that made them special and those stores have been replaced with generic chain stores along with an absurd number of banks and drug stores.

• Most of the liberal/creative types that once lived on the UWS now live in Brooklyn or Washington Heights. Many of the very wealthy people who once lived in the UES now live in SoHo Tribeca or even Brooklyn and the Financial District.

• It is somewhat easier to get to NJ and points west from the UWS, to LI and CT and points northeast from the UES