So popular among real estate agents that the less attractive "Hell's Kitchen" moniker was replaced with "Clinton," this area of Midtown West is currently experiencing rapid (re)development. It still has a rough-and-tumble character when compared with other more defined neighborhoods in Manhattan, harkening back to its days as a bastion of poor and working-class Irish Americans. In the last decade, the neighborhood has undergone tremendous gentrification because of its proximity to Midtown, and long-time residents, many of whom enjoyed reasonable rents and decent-sized apartments, are finding that conversion of rent-controlled and -stabilized apartments, coupled with the general building boom and strong economy, brought quick change to this formerly sleepy area. While you'll find thousands of new apartments in Hell's Kitchen west of Ninth Avenue, you'll also find dozens of eclectic and interesting restaurants to boot.