Relocating from NY to south NJ or near Philly need help choosing a safe/affd town (Gloucester City: affordable apartments)

[Sparkle8]

I’m from Bronx NY single female 30’s looking to relocate to South Jersey or one a town in PA near Philly. I’m in need of help choosing the right town since I know nothing bout the areas except for few. I’m still keeping my job in NY until I find a job in NJ or Philly. When I’m out there I will rely on public transit to/from work several months until my car situation sorted. I will take public trans to malls, shopping, errands etc.. I like diversity little or big so mix area will be great but not necessarily. Safe neighborhood to walk morning/evening/night (I know no where is safe today still don’t want to live in high crime towns. For housing i start with rooms since I don’t know where I would be and definitely don’t want to get stuck in lease term after potentially not liking area or place. Looking for affordable rental for room $550 to $700 max. Areas or near by towns with ppl mostly 55 and under, amenities, near shopping malls. I don’t make a lot but definitely can manage on my way. Just finished school for cosmetology. I work pt as makeup artist in a high end Dept store and presently work operate and run a family owned salon. I am looking into somewhere near bucks, Burlington, Gloucester City but need more info. I want to be 45 to 30 max from philly. Any feedback will be appreciated. Thank you!

[Leps12]

I'm going to recommend you look within Philly itself. Primarily because you will be relying on public transportation. Don't move to NJ if you don't have a car right away. NJ is auto dependent, especially South Jersey. Commuting to NY until you get a job around Philly will be a pain regardless, but if that's what you are going to do for the time being, then you should be putting yourself close to 30th Street Station in West Philly for Megabus or in Center City near Chinatown for the Greyhound station.

That said, if you want to live in Philly and in a safe area with your budget, it's only realistic if you look to find a two bedroom apartment and split it with a roommate you find on Craigslist or something like that. You won't find anything in a good area on your own for that budget, nor would you find anything in a good area on your own for that budget in NJ either. So, I think you should start with Craigslist or some roommate searching websites and see what you can find. Center City is still pretty expensive too...it's Philly's equivalent of Midtown Manhattan...you might want to extend your search into South Philly around the Italian Market area.

I know you said you would be looking at rooms...so I assume a bedroom in a house share...and you could definitely have better luck with that, but I still think, regardless, if you're not going to have a car for a few months, the only option for you is to actually live in Philly.

[rowhomecity]

Yea you 100% should look within Philadelphia the city itself. S. NJ as the above poster noted is highly auto dependent. There is one transit line in S.NJ, but those towns are islands within an auto centric built environment, so you have limited access to services if you were to live there without a car. There are many great neighborhoods in Philadelphia within your budget, so I recommend the city itself.

I would look for a job in Philadelphia ASAP though, because your commute to NY via bus is going to get old and expensive, FAST.

Check out: Affordable Housing Philadelphia on Facebook. It is a group with tons of postings on affordable apartments.

Also as the above poster mentioned the two areas in Philadelphia with bus service to NYC are around 30th street station and the Greyhound Station in Chinatown. So accessibility to these areas should be taken into consideration. But given your field, I would highly advise landing a job in Philadelphia before making the move, because the commute just is going to get OLD extremely fast, and it is not cheap to commute to NYC daily from Philadelphia.


Within Philadelphia focus on : S. Philly, West Poplar, Fairmount, Fishtown, Olde Kensington to start. You should be able to find something in your budget fairly easily using that site I gave. Good luck.