It used to be that going "Across 110th Street" -- shout-out to Bobby Womack! -- represented crossing over into a lesser part of Manhattan. No longer. A second "Harlem Renaissance" is in full effect, and while its homes are a relative bargain compared to downtown, Harlem is no longer playing second fiddle to its southern neighbors.

Formerly crime-ridden streets have been transformed into beautiful blocks of brownstones, including Harlem's most famous area, "Strivers' Row," two rows of 1890s houses on 138th and 139th streets. Back in the 1980s, the city was practically giving Harlem brownstones away. Today, though much of the neighborhood is still a bit rough around the edges, plan on spending about $1 million for a brownstone -- and that's for a fixer-upper.

If you're more the turnkey type, there's plenty of new construction, too. Since the city's real-estate boom began, condos have sprouted in Harlem's numerous vacant lots, including the 77-unit condo the Lenox at 380 Lenox Ave. (where prices reached $2.4 million), and the 126-unit Bradhurst Court at West 145th Street and Bradhurst Avenue.

Perhaps the glitziest newcomer to the area is 111 Central Park North, which features underground parking and Abigail Michaels concierge services, with prices starting at about $1.5 million. As a sign of how far the neighborhood has come, in 2006, an Australian tycoon dropped $12 million on a duplex penthouse there, Post columnist Braden Keil reported, and, in 2007, Esquire magazine tricked out an $8.5 million penthouse.