Neighborhood Recommendations For Young Singles (Chester, West Chester: to rent, houses, safest neighborhood)

[annelotte]

Hello all,

I'm looking to move to the area in a few months and will be working in the Blue Bell area. I was wondering what recommendations people might have for places that won't have too long of a commute, are young and have a trendy or eclectic or artistic vibe going on with a decent nightlife, and are also places where I won't get stabbed (or I guess I am less likely to be). Bonus points for areas that are reasonably affordable.

I realize this is a lot to ask, but any suggestions or details about the area are appreciated. I am clueless!

[newmarlig]

I suggust Manayunk. It's about a half hour from Blue Bell and is definitely what you are looking for.

Manayunk.com - Home

[dave80jc]

This is kind of long but hopefully it answers your questions:

Manayunk would also be a great place I think. I am 26 and I have lived here for the past 2+ years. If you want a place with lots of young people but within a reasonable commuting distance to Blue Bell then come check it out. The majority of the people who live in Manayunk seem to either be young professionals/grad students or older people who have lived here for most of their life. It's safe - I have never been afraid to walk around at night and Roxborough (sometimes its hard to tell the two apart and the area is often referred to Roxborough/Manayunk) was recently voted the safest neighborhood in Philly I believe. Also, since most of the people around are young, its a good way to meet people in a new place and can often turn into cooler things like finding some friends to rent a house at the shore for the summer, which is what a lot of people do here.

Nightlife is great - come for a visit and take a walk down Main Street. There are plenty of bars/restaurants for whatever fits you. The Manayunk Brewery, or Brewpub, is really nice in the summer. They have a very large deck/patio area outside and its overlooking the river.

As for affordability, you can find a wide range of prices. Most of the houses are older rowhomes. You can probably find a room in the 400-500 range + utilities. You can also get much more expensive especially if you get into some of the newer construction places. Parking is kind of a pain at times, but once you get here you can learn places that always seem to have spots. You'll also find it funny when a lot of the streets that look like they are one-way actually are two-way. For me, this isn't that much of an issue because I decided that I'd rather be in a place where I can walk to everything and have nightlife close rather than go there anyway because thats where the young people go and have to worry about cab rides or driving home. Two added bonuses are the Arts Festival and the Bike race. Do a search on the internet for those and you'll see what I mean.

If you are looking for a place, then check out Craigslist. There are always people looking for roommates to fill a house. A good rule of thumb is that the closer you get to Main Street, the harder parking will be close to your house and the more money you'll pay. Obviously though, it might only take a few minutes to walk down to the bars vs. walking back up the hill to whereyou live. Sometimes you can luck out though and find a place like I did that was a dead end street but close enough that it was only a 5 min walk and I could always park in front of my house.

[BPP1999]

Conshohocken is not artistic, but it's full of young professionals, and is about 20 minutes from Blue Bell.

Chestnut Hill (like Manayunk, also in the city, so you have the approx. 4.3% wage (income) tax) is very nice, but it's more of an older population.

Doylestown is a great, postcard-worthy place, but it's a bit of a drive from Blue Bell.

You might also try West Chester and Media, but these places are a bit of a distance from Blue Bell.