Harboring a small-town feel and luscious greenery, Staten Island provides students ample, affordable living spaces, gorgeous beaches and waterfront views, and a burgeoning local arts and alternative music scene - all within a free ferry ride of Manhattan's vast spectrum of opportunities.

Increased migration amongst young people, coupled with the exciting new development of parks and entertainment venues, is making Staten Island the City's newest underground darling.

Keep reading to explore the changing landscape of the City's fastest growing borough!

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Nearly 18,000 students attend three undergraduate programs located in Staten Island, while just over 120 students attend the Staten Island School of Nursing. Harboring some of the largest, most bucolic campuses in the City, Staten Island's schools offer top-notch liberal arts educations and copious athletic fields and facilities. Nestled alongside Willowbrook Park, CUNY's College of Staten Island lies at the heart of Staten Island on a beautifully-manicured 204-acre campus, while St. Johns University and Wagner College are located to the north in the Grymes Hill neighborhood - the latter situated high upon a hilltop.

Check out a complete list of Staten Island's colleges and universities.

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Staten Island neighborhoods range from charming "small town" communities to working-class, historic neighborhoods, to dormant districts ripe with redevelopment potential.

Although still below Citywide totals, the North Shore is the borough's densest and most racially diverse district. Here, new development has increased by roughly 75% in recent years - mainly in urban St. George, home to the Staten Island Ferry and the minor league Staten Island Yankees ballpark. Priced out of their Manhattan studios, an increasing number of artists and musicians are colonizing St. George, promoting the rise of a lively, local indie scene and attracting cafes and galleries to the area. To the west, Stapleton, one of the Island's oldest communities, is slated to undergo its own renaissance following the completion of the new Stapleton Waterfront District.

Much less dense, the rest of the Island contains beautiful parks, beaches, and wetlands, as well as athletic fields and retail complexes featuring national retailers like Target.

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Access to Staten Island from the rest of the City exists via the Staten Island Ferry departing out of Lower Manhattan and the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge coming out of Brooklyn. The borough also connects to New Jersey via three bridges.

The Staten Island Ferry offers free, 24-hour service between Staten Island's St. George's Ferry Terminal and the Whitehall Ferry Terminal in Lower Manhattan. Both terminals recently underwent extensive renovations and efforts to turn these terminals into well-stocked retail and dining destinations. The twenty-five minute ride on the Staten Island Ferry offers unparalleled views of the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, New Jersey's waterfront, and Lower Manhattan's impressive skyline.

The Staten Island Railroad runs 24 hours a day between the Island's southern-most neighborhood of Tottenville all the way up to the St. George station, where passengers can connect to the Ferry.

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To see the largest selection of Tibetan art outside of Tibet, check out the Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art located adjacent to La Tourette Park and Golf Course, on the Staten Island Greenbelt. Spanning 2,225 acres, the SI Greenbelt features 28 miles of hiking trails, numerous athletic fields and facilities, and sledding and ski hills. In warmer weather, head over to the East Shore to swim at Midland Beach, catch a summer concert, fish, and walk along the 2.5 mile South Beach Boardwalk, which features a stunning view of the Atlantic Ocean and New York Bay.

For a unique history lesson, visit Historic Richmond Town, New York City's only living history museum, or the Snug Harbor Cultural Center, featuring the Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art, the Staten Island Museum, the Staten Island Botanical Garden, and Art Lab, an institute offering classes in fine and applied arts, along with exhibition space for artists.

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There are several development projects and land use studies underway aiming to invigorate Staten Island's lapsed commercial corridors and under-utilized waterfront. New development plans for Staten Island will substantially increase housing and park space, while respecting Staten Island's more suburban context and scale.

The New Stapleton Waterfront District is an exciting project underway on SI's North Shore, promising to create a public esplanade, parkland, and retail opportunities along the waterfront.

At the heart of Staten Island, Fresh Kills, the site of a former landfill, is presently undergoing an ambitious, innovative conversion into the City's largest public park.

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