Vienna-best neighborhood.

I don't know the neighborhood names, and you'll certainly get more informed answers, but we've stayed near the Volksoper opera house, near the Wahringer Strasse Metro. It is a pretty nice neighborhood, more residential but lively with a lot of good, reasonably priced restaurants, cafes etc. It feel like a locals neighborhood with good value rents and amenities for people with upper middle class income. Easy transit and walkable to core of the center if you like walking.

We really enjoyed the neighborhood around Radetzkyplatz. If you're interested in that area, I'll share info about the apartment where we stayed. Two tram lines go through there and there are several restaurants nearby.

Stay inside the Altstadt, the “Old Town” which Is inside the Inner Ring road encircling downtown. I stayed in an apartment there last fall for about €90 per night. Almost all of Vienna’s attractions are there, it makes about everything walkable, and you’ll feel like a local. VRBO calls this neighborhood the “ Innere Stadt” and is a great source for apartments there with the least expensive apartments in summer running around $120-$200 per night.

" I don't know the neighborhood names, but we've stayed near the Volksoper opera house, near the Wahringer Strasse Metro. " This is the ninth district ( Bezirk ) Alsergrund

First a short lesson - There are 23 Districts in Vienna. AirBnB uses the name of these districts when describing their location. The Districts are numbered 1-23, but they also have a proper name as follows (population):

1. Innere Stadt (16,409) - The historic center where all sites are concentrated, will be $$$. Everything is walkable.
   
2. Leopoldstadt (103,233) - the areas of this district very near to the canal/very close to the First District are fine, but many areas are not recommended. Walkable to the center but also well connected by public transporation.
3. Landstraße (89,834) - Where I live :). Areas near the Belvedere are posh with diplomats, but areas further away are working class neighborhoods. The area around Hundertwasserhaus is also ok. Several sites are walkable. Short ride on public transportation to anywhere.
4. Wieden (32,745) - A small district close to the center, a good choice. Well located and many sites are walkable/short ride on public transportation.
5. Margareten (54,940) - can be working class/immigrant heavy, neither of which are necessarily a bad thing, but not much character except the areas from the Pilgrimgasse U-Bahn stops towards the center. You'll need to take public transportation.
6. Mariahilf (31,621) - Home of the major pedestrian shopping street in Vienna, so lots of activity; avoid the area closest to the Westbahnhof. Some sites are walkable but the district has great public transportation connections.
7. Neubau (32,027) - Full of boutiques and good restaurants, very trendy area. Good choice. Walkable and well connected.
8. Josefstadt (25,068) - Most desirable district in Vienna, very walkable with shops and good food. Good choice. Also walkable and well connected.
9. Alsergrund (43,342) - The student district. Perfectly find but may be a bit noisier. Well connected with many trams.
10. Favoriten (194,820) - No
    
11. Simmering (97,333) - No
    
12. Meidling (94,179) - No
    
13. Hietzing (53,829) - Too far, but the where the Schonbrunn is located. Some areas are posh.
    
14. Penzing (91,578) - Too far
    
15. Rudolfsheim-Fünfhaus (78,388) - No
    
16. Ottakring (102,580) - No
    
17. Hernals (56,342) - No
    
18. Währing (50,285) - A bit further out, but includes the lovely Cottage Viertel, the cottage quarter, near the Turkenschanz. The center can be reached by tram in 20-25 minutes.
19. Döbling (71,596) - The most posh district of Vienna with actual homes, many of them large. Hugs the vineyards of Vienna. This is where my senior parents like to stay when they come for a month, but it takes them 30 minutes to take the tram to the center and 45 minutes to get to my place.
    
20. Brigittenau (85,796) - No
    
21. Floridsdorf (155,998) - No
    
22. Donaustadt (180,245) - No, unless you like Ikea.
    
23. Liesing (98,385) - No, too far.

As a general rule, the best areas are within the Ring or just adjacent to the Ring. You will want to become familiar with public transportation no matter where you stay. The monthly pass is a great value and the system is very easy to use - even those who do not speak German.

For practical purposes, i.e. walking distances and public transportation travel time, the general rule for tourists is to stay inside Belt Boulevard (Gürtel), the big street which encompasses the inner boroughs (1 to 9); outer boroughs are 10 to 23.

City boroughs categorized with a "No" by Emily are not necessarily bad - there are no really bad or scary areas in Vienna -, but somewhat less appealing.

Vienna has a very mixed town structure; even so-called "working class boroughs" have areas where you can live nicely.

Correct wmt1 - the areas I wrote "no" are places to live, not places to stay on vacation. They are boring residential areas which will require extra time to commute each day to sites. That said, there is not a street in Vienna I wouldn't walk down alone at 3 am. It is an exceptionally safe city.

Thanks for all the suggestions. While I like to stay in the city center for short stays , on a longer stay I like a more local neighborhood feel.
Preferably the area would be not too far away from attractions, walking plus a few tram/bus stops is good. Areas that offer good neighborhood, moderate restaurants, bars & cafes plus grocery shopping. Like to stay away from overpriced, mediocre tourist trap eateries. Also areas that are safe to walk about in the evening. Hope to be settling in, experiencing local life. Neubau & Josefstatdt seem like good choices? Also am very fond of parks & gardens, not necessary to stay near those, but what are everyone's favorites?

Stadt park, the Volksgarten and Burgarten are exceptional parks. They are all in the Inner Ring where
we stayed in an apartment a few months ago so we walked through the parks several times. Outside of the Ring, the great parks are the ones at the Belvedere Palace and Schonbrunn Palace.

I stayed outside the Altstadt on my first visit to Vienna, but found the to and fro to the points of interest was not worth the time taken, and the expense of tram and U-Bahn tickets really added up in Vienna, negating the savings of a less-expensive apartment.

Also, did you know that AirB&B hosts can cancel on you at the last minute leaving you scrambling for replacement accommodations? It’s happened to a number of people I know and who post online.

Hi, Alice.

Precisely for the reasons Emily and wmt1 have stated, I decided a couple of months ago to reserve a month-long stay inside the 6. (Mariahilf), because I required good connections to U-Bahn, S-Bahn, and regional trains. Along with regular use of public transport, I'll put down many kilometres of walking, at least 50 km (31 mi), in developed areas and green spaces. In the area surrounding my stay, I figured out there's a drugstore and grocery stores, all an easy walk within 0.5 km (0.3 mi); and I've also determined from their webpages several cafes and restaurants I'll frequent.

i'll have to look into other sources in addition to airbnb. Has anyone used a local realtor for a month's stay?

Check out TheHomelike.com; TheBlueground.com;
VRBO.

and the expense of tram and U-Bahn tickets really added up in Vienna,

@Kenko: Then you have bought single ride tickets, practically nobody uses in Vienna.

Compared to other European cities, Vienna has exceptional low fares for public transport, if you buy the right pass, e.g. one calendar week about €17 for unlimited use of all kinds of transportation (tram, subway, bus, train) day and night.

I am happy to recommend some parks, as this is my true love. The obvious parks on the tourist circuit are Stadtpark, Burggarten and Volksgarten. Stadtpark is the city's garden and features a pond where young kids feed the ducks and a large grassy areas where older kids smoke weed and play Pokemon Go. Burggarten is a sloped grassy area backing up to the Hofburg, so it quite scenic. Volksgarten is famous for its roses - an absolute must for garden lovers. Be sure to find the Sisi monument as well.

Since you will be in Vienna for a month, you'll want to dig deeper with parks. Both the Schonbrunn and Belvedere have lovely gardens very worthy of exploring (both free). The Prater is the green lung of Vienna and is a huge wooded area with many trails. I, however, have four favorite gardens that are a secret to tourists. First, is Kurpark Oberlaa which is easily reached on the U1 subway line. This is a huge park with so many hidden themed gardens. Next, is the Donaupark, also easily reached by the U1 subway line. Beautiful flowers and planted beds as well as a small train. Third, make time to explore Türkenschanzpark, which is in the lovely Cottage Quarter. This park is a dream. Finally, you must explore the Augarten, which is lined with shaped chestnut trees and flanked by the famous Augarten porcelain factory and the Vienna Boy's Choir school/residence.

While not really parks, I would also highly recommend a visit to the St. Marx Friedhof (St. Marx Cemetery) as it is a beautiful, peaceful place full of lilac bushes. I also highly recommend that you spend a sunny afternoon in a motorboat rental on the Alte Donau (Old Danube) looking at the very cute and old lake houses. You can rent boats here - https://www.marina-hofbauer.at/

As for your other questions regarding a realtor, I would not recommend this as rental properties in Vienna are never set up legally to be short term.

And finally a special message to @Kenko - next time you come to Vienna please let me know as it seems that you made some mistakes on your use of public transportation. As wmt1 notes, everyone buys passes and no one buys single tickets. A monthly pass, which would be good on all forms of transportation would cost the OP here 51 Euro for the entire month (1.70 per day), or a weekly pass would cost 17 Euro. You will not find cheaper public transportation anywhere in Europe. Also, the center of Vienna is never referred to as the Altstadt as the center is not that old. It is referred to as the Innere Stadt or the First District.

Alice: I'll be interested to know what you find about other accommodation sources.

Emily: thanks for your tips on your fave parks; I'm looking forward to visiting Donaupark and Türkenschanzpark. As distance within city limits is not an issue, I'm going back to Zentralfriedhof, and I've been recommended the Bohemian Prater in 10. and Blumengärten Hirschstetten in 22.

Henry - Blumengärten Hirschstetten is also one of my favorites, particularly for children. Is Kurpark Oberlaa on your list as well? It really is glorious. The Bohemian Prater is interesting and quirky, for sure.

Thank you Emily for the tip on monthly transit passes.
You read my mind as that was the question that popped into my mind as I read the tip from wmt1 on weekly transit passes. Alice will certainly want to look into those while visiting for a month.
And thank you for the roundup on the lovely parks of Vienna. I ‘ll explore some of the ones you’ve written of on the next visit to magnificent Vienna.

Emily I know you know your city by putting eyes on it every day, but you might find the following interesting:

https://www.ehl.at/fileadmin/user_upload/RZ_093-20_WMB21_EN_Gesamt-Weboptimiert-ES.pdf

It a big real estate company's ( https://www.ehl.at/ ) residential market report in English. User friendly, professionally produced document with tons of helpful graphics and short characterizations of each of Vienna's neighborhoods. The average income differences between neighborhoods are strikingly large, way bigger than the differences in most American cities. Revealing in many other ways too.

Great data in that! Thank you Hank.

Emily once again sets the standard for providing advice on the RS Forum. Thanks for the helpful info on districts and parks! I loved the Augarten when I visited a few years ago. I will be in Vienna at the end of the month and will definitely make reference to the list of parks while there -- parks are one of my favorite things to visit when I travel. Thanks again, Emily.

We enjoyed staying near Burggasse and Volkstheater. The Spittelberg area has charming pedestrian streets and restaurants on Gutenberg and Spittelberg. There is a Spar grocery store nearby. It is easy to walk to the Burgring to the Palmenhaus for dessert overlooking the Burggarten. It is also near the lovely Volksgarten rose garden. It was great to be in an area near museums and walkable to St. Stephan's Cathedral as well as easy transportation to Schoenbrunn Palace and gardens. We also appreciated the upper and lower gardens at the Belvedere Palace. We loved Vienna!