I'm not really crazy about any of them, but the one I would prefer is Via Ruggero Bonghi. The one I like least is Via Petrarca.

We (2 adults and 1 teenager) had a fabulous stay in AirBnB Rione Monti Apartment on via Urbana. Short walk to colosseum. Little grocer next door. Great food options down the block. Walked to forum area.

Via Urbana is a great street. It's been inhabited since ancient Roman times.

Frankly speaking I do not recommend any Airbnb apartment at all. Why should you live like at home rather than having the opportunity to exchange talks and ideas with other people, no matter if guests or personnel, in a hotel or in a bed&breakfast? And why shouldn't you take a full vacation, enjoying also someone doing the housekeeping?
That said, being Roman I would avoid at all the center of the center of Rome. it has become a Disneyland, only tourist living there. Do you really want to know Rome? Well, among the central district choose Testaccio or San Saba, i.e. the area close to the Pyramid. Or choose even something a little bit out of the Aurelian Walls, like San Giovanni or the Salario neighborhood. In exchange of some more walking you will get a better feeling of what is now Rome and better and cheaper restaurants.

I actually agree with Vincenzos on the issue of hotels versus apartments; I actually much prefer to stay in a hotel, for the reasons he gives, as well as for several other reasons, mostly concerned with safety inspections and availability of more reliable reviews. As for safety, I've never seen an apartment in Italy with smoke detectors, fire extinguishers or sprinklers. I've also encountered other problematic safety issues in apartments.

That said, I often stay in apartments myself, when traveling with a family group. However, if at all possible, I rent from www.booking.com, which usually allows me to pay with a credit card at the time of arrival or departure, with no advance deposit.

I'm not so much in agreement with Vicenzos on the issue of staying in the center. All that he says is true, but most people on holiday don't have lots of extra time, and going back and forth to a periphical apartment kills time. Also, I really like having a nearby hotel where I can drop off purchases, take a nap after lunch, or just change shoes.

Actually speaking I would not be too much concerned about fires . the typical residential building that one may find in Italy, apart form the mountain areas, has very little risk of fire propagation even from one room to another one. Generally, domestic accidents involving fire involve only those who caused it.
Anyhow there are for sure limitations that should be considered.
I mentioned areas that are not peripherical. Testaccio and San Saba are within the Aurelian Walls, San Giovanni and Salario just steps out. One should not believe that everything woth seeing in Rome is concentated more or less around the Pantheon. For example the 7 Pilgrim Churches, a tour that is absolutely worth doing are spread all around.

It's just a matter of deciding how one wants to visit a city. If one makes a list of things to see, well, in that case the best thing to do is to find the closest place where to stay. Personally I have always visited cities in another ways, no more than one or two places to see decided in advance and after just following the stream. The city I visited in the "tourist-mode" more often is New York. I have been as south as Gramercy Park and as north as Central Park West at 95thW (more or less, I do not remember). I never considered the time spent on the metro, in a bus or in a taxi like "lost time", it was part of the daily life of the city.
The two cities where I have been more often, essentially for business reasons but I was always adding some time to know the city, are Prague and Moscow.
Even if I was there for business reasons I was not going to stay next to the office, I wanted to do as any other people living there and move to get to the business site. And also I was not staying in the center, and not for a cost problem, company was paying. Simply, a different way to live a city

Maybe I was not clear, English is not my mother language btw. I am not a fan of the "live as a local", rather I want to show myself as a visitor. So I like hotels or, as a second option, a bed & breakfast. I want someone that can help me in case of practcal problems.
But I am not a fan of the "must-see" places. When I go somewhere I pick no more than one or two things and then just go around following the stream. I like looking to the normal buildings to see how the architecture of the city evolved, I like to see how the people enter into a shop, I like to see workers doing road maintenance, I like eating where locals go to eat. So for me it is not important to be in the center, even because in the center I will see only tourists.

Obviously I was traveling alone when for business, but with family and friends when for leisure.
Btw, I will tell you a story that, better than anything else, will explain my position. Just few days ago I met with a former colleague from UK. He told me that a couple of years he moved form a house to another one. So he started picking what to keep and what to discharge. While doing that he found a picture that was taken approximately 25 years ago, not a geological era, once we had a business meeting in Rome. I think that it was on March. On the evening, a nice Roman evening, we, a group of 10 people, went to dinner close to the Pantheon where we took the photo. And we were almost alone in the photo, very few people around. Try to do it now and, no matter which period of the year, it will seem that you are at the department stores just before Christmas.
Obvioulsy tourism has grown, more people are coming, but what has significantly changed is the location where they stay. Once they were staying almost all around the city, preferring obviosuly the center, but the center as a whole. Historical center of Rome covers an area of approximately 16 sq. km (6 sq miles), Nowadays people tend to concentrate in an area of 5 sq. km (less than 2 sq. miles) centered at the Pantheon. Simply said, Rome is not only that area.

On a previous trip we had an apartment on Via Giulia near Campo di Fiori and found it to be a great location so this time we're staying on Via dei Cappelari in the same area, though a bit closer to Piazza Navona, which we love to stroll in the evening.

Great thread. Some thoughtful commentary on where to stay, city or residential neighborhood. Apartment or hotel. I also have memories of England and France when I was in college and thought it was crowded then.

I have mostly stayed in Rome in non-tourist areas. Frankly, it did take longer to get anywhere. But we were near family, so that was a tradeoff. The first time was in a hotel and it still had tourists, just German and Eastern Europeans who were on a cheaper tour bus. We did try to say hello at the breakfast buffet but that was about it. Most of the staff spoke Italian and German. So the interaction was pretty low.

My second trip, I came with my family, including kids, and financially, an apartment was the way to go. It was before airbnb, and so was much harder to find. I was surprised to find how much my kids learned about Italian life by living in an apartment. Since we were there for two weeks, we had to figure out how to use the laundry. We also went to the grocery store multiple times, and they helped pick out our food. That was quite an eye opener. Nothing on the shelves was familiar.