Area around 25th & Washington (Philadelphia, Ellsworth: lease, credit, houses)

[skydivers-in-reverse]

Hey guys,

I ended up driving through this area at night (I was trying to meet up with a friend who was touring with a band in Philly, he normally stays with friends in Queen Village but I think one of them just moved to this area).

How is it on safety? What neighborhood does that fall into? It honestly kind of freaked me out, it was mostly deserted and a little rough looking(that overpass that runs through the area does not help, it reminded me a little of the area of Kensington/fishtown underneath the El but this was clearly not as developed or gentrified/that was not the el, I-95? Or?)

The people he was staying with were a group of young professionals/artists, and when we went to drop him off back at the house later on that night the block they lived on seemed actually quite nice. I'm not really looking to relocate from my current neighborhood or anything, just kind of intrigued by this area.

Thanks!

[venditto]

Not the best IME (but I'm sure people will disagree).

[RightonWalnut]

This is the border of three neighborhoods. Graduate Hospital/ South of South/ Southwest Center City North of Washington Ave. This neighborhood has several names and runs from Washington Ave to the South to South Street to the North. Broad to the East and the Schuylkill to the West. This neighborhood is an "up and coming" area and recently has seen a LOT of development. The areas closer to Center City are nicer and filled with yuppies and $800,000+ rowhomes. The more South you go towards Washington Ave the sketchier it becomes but this area is in transition. A lot of young professionals live in the area and it is getting nicer daily. To the Southwest of this is the Gray's Ferry neighborhood which is still a ghetto for the most part and to the immediate south of Washington Ave this neighborhood is Point Breeze. Point Breeze is the worst area of Philadelphia and is still a ghetto and dangerous in most parts but it has seen a huge influx in development lately and a lot of young professionals are starting to move into the area that are being priced out of Graduate Hospital. When you get closer to Broad Street south of Washington Ave that is a new area called Newbold which is the new "gayborhood"... a lot of people are moving here that are being priced out of East Passyunk Crossing and Passyunk Square.

A list of Philadelphia neighborhoods
List of Philadelphia neighborhoods - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Graduate Hospital
Southwest Center City, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Gray's Ferry
Grays Ferry, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Point Breeze
Point Breeze, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Newbold
Newbold, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


West of Broad Street in South Philadelphia is definitely the most complicated part of South Philadelphia. Basically on the west side of Broad in South Philadelphia, North of Washington Ave you will be fine and South of Snyder ave you will be fine. East of Broad Street you will be fine (for the most part).

Hope this helped The area is definitely interesting indeed. I'd give it 10-20 years and most of South Philly will be very nice. The dangerous areas are diminishing quickly... Point Breeze is the biggest obstacle for the redevelopment and gentrification of South Philly

[RightonWalnut]

Originally Posted by venditto

Not the best IME (but I'm sure people will disagree).

I agree... it's not the best area... but it's getting better yearly. Prob will be a nice area in 5 years.

[skydivers-in-reverse]

Ahh, makes a lot of sense - it was kind of a no-man's land, reminded me of a little bit of the area around Callowhill viaduct area/Spring Garden East of Broad street in that sense.
I have a terrible habit of taking the most indirect routes through the city possible, and he was going for a walk(which is a normal occurrence for him - still trying to figure out if he's super duper street smart or just not street smart at all though haha) when we were trying to pick him up - so I got thrown off and ended up getting a good tour of the area from 19th/20th to 25th around Washington and just South of that. When he told me where he was staying I immediately had alarm bells going off, but I knew that the area was improving slowly but steadily - - before I moved into this place I was looking at a house at 18th and Ellsworth(which is like a block or two south of Washington). My lease runs out in a little under six months, and while I'm giving priority to some places in West Philly..I might have to check out that area again, especially considering that I'm on a student budget.

[jtom605]

This is the border of three neighborhoods. Graduate Hospital/ South of South/ Southwest Center City North of Washington Ave. This neighborhood has several names and runs from Washington Ave to the South to South Street to the North. Broad to the East and the Schuylkill to the West. This neighborhood is an "up and coming" area and recently has seen a LOT of development. The areas closer to Center City are nicer and filled with yuppies and $800,000+ rowhomes. The more South you go towards Washington Ave the sketchier it becomes but this area is in transition. A lot of young professionals live in the area and it is getting nicer daily. To the Southwest of this is the Gray's Ferry neighborhood which is still a ghetto for the most part and to the immediate south of Washington Ave this neighborhood is Point Breeze. Point Breeze is the worst area of Philadelphia and is still a ghetto and dangerous in most parts but it has seen a huge influx in development lately and a lot of young professionals are starting to move into the area that are being priced out of Graduate Hospital. When you get closer to Broad Street south of Washington Ave that is a new area called Newbold which is the new "gayborhood"... a lot of people are moving here that are being priced out of East Passyunk Crossing and Passyunk Square.

Point Breeze is not the worst area of Philadelphia. It's certainly a ghetto, but, when taking all factors into account, there are areas that are worse and will not see any revitalization in the near future. Places like Hunting Park and Southwest Philly. Although I know Temple University is working on improving the neighborhood around their school, the area north of Temple is one of the most dangerous. Then you have places like Strawberry Mansion, Nicetown, Allegeny, etc. Point Breeze is a small neighborhood close to Center City, so someday it probably will gentrify, though at the moment, it's still bad.

[drive carephilly]

I've been in South Philly for 10 years and have watched it changed dramatically. It could still be argued that Point Breeze is the worst part of South Philadelphia but it's by no means the worst part of the whole of Philadelphia.

The area around 25th/Washington/Grays Ferry Ave. looks sketchy at night because not many people live around there - it's mostly industrial/warehouse/transportation there but it's not particularly dangerous in that general vicinity. The violence in Point Breeze is centered more around 22nd & Dickinson.

The entire area is changing rapidly - it's noticeable not just from year-to-year but from season-to-season. It's actually created a lot of controversy. The only thing incomplete about the gentrification north of Washington Ave. is that the tightening of credit markets means that the pace of new construction slowed dramatically. Slowed. Not stopped. You can still find some vacant land between Carpenter and Washington but not for much longer.

The $600k and $700k houses north of Washington Ave. has basically pushed everyone in the market for a house in the $200-$400k range south of Washington Ave.

[RightonWalnut]

Originally Posted by jtom605

Point Breeze is not the worst area of Philadelphia. It's certainly a ghetto, but, when taking all factors into account, there are areas that are worse and will not see any revitalization in the near future. Places like Hunting Park and Southwest Philly. Although I know Temple University is working on improving the neighborhood around their school, the area north of Temple is one of the most dangerous. Then you have places like Strawberry Mansion, Nicetown, Allegeny, etc. Point Breeze is a small neighborhood close to Center City, so someday it probably will gentrify, though at the moment, it's still bad.

That is a typo... I meant to say the worst area of SOUTH Philadelphia... Clearly Strawberry Mansion, West Kensington, Nicetown, Hunting Park etc. are much worse off then Point Breeze.