I think a lot of people tend to imagine Kabukicho as a whole like "It's the city like this" when they think of the city, but even within the Kabukicho area, the atmosphere can completely change with just one street over, actually. This may be a rough explanation, but the further you get away from Shinjuku Station, the more underground atmosphere it has, and it becomes an area that has lost its wholesomeness in various ways, both in a good and bad sense. In that sense, Ichiban-gai is the closest to Shinjuku Station, so I wouldn't say it's wholesome, but there aren't as many underground elements there. That's the impression I have.
結構みんな歌舞伎町って街を一括りで『こんな街』って想像するんじゃないかなって思うんだけど、同じ歌舞伎町エリアでも通りが一本変わると実は全然雰囲気が変わる。すごい乱暴な説明かもしれないけども、新宿駅から離れれば離れるほどアングラな雰囲気を持っていたり、まあいろいろ良い意味でも悪い意味でも健全さを失ったエリアになっていく。そういう意味では一番街は新宿駅と一番近いから、健全とは言わないまでもそこまでアングラなものは転がっていない。っていうのが自分の持っている印象。