Hell's Kitchen doesn't live up to its name

I approach basically everything between 34th and 59th with trepidation. The tourist crowd is overwhelming and makes walking, people-watching--everything I love about NYC-- frustrating at its best, and infuriating at its worst (and I usually lean towards the latter, in case you're wondering). But a recent necessary foray into the wilds of the Theatre District/ Times Square (to see July 4 fireworks from the Interprid--which were FANTASTIC!) introduced me by default to a "new" Hell's Kitchen; a wondrous thing. We walked up Ninth Avenue (far less crowded and crazy-making than B'Way or 7th or 8th) and from about 44th to 55th were just amazed at the number of chic/ cool/ hipster-y restaurants and bars, filled with young people-- and we also saw lots of interesting looking and affordable menus. While I myself probably wouldn't hang out there on a regular basis I think it's a great area to send a younger crowd looking for more sophisticated bars than the usual East Village or Columbia or NYU fare--and I definitely want to check out at some point some of these really interesting looking restaurants. Or take a walk up or down just to people-watch. Hell's Kitchen definitely looks like the hot new place to live based on the crowd we saw there and it's wonderful to see it coming into its own.