Portland Oregon resident moving to Philadelphia (Erie, Washington: apartments, rental, crime)
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I will be working near Washington Square.
I would like to be within a 30 minute commute. I am considering West Mount Airy, Germantown, Bensalem.
But I have read good comments about East Passyunk Crossing, Bella Vista Southwark. I was wondering what some of the locals have to say.
Ideally, I am looking at 1200 in rent. But I am willing to travel further away to get more amenities, like two bedrooms, 2 baths, maybe a washer dryer in the unit.
Lastly, I was told to stay away from Camden, but again, I am wondering what the locals have to say.
I will be working near Washington Square.
I would like to be within a 30 minute commute. I am considering West Mount Airy, Germantown, Bensalem.
But I have read good comments about East Passyunk Crossing, Bella Vista Southwark. I was wondering what some of the locals have to say.
Ideally, I am looking at 1200 in rent. But I am willing to travel further away to get more amenities, like two bedrooms, 2 baths, maybe a washer dryer in the unit.
Lastly, I was told to stay away from Camden, but again, I am wondering what the locals have to say.
Thank you
Yea definitely stay away from camden, that goes without saying. Mount Airy and Bensalem are both mostly nice, Germantown has decent parts, but parts are rough. I'm not really sure what has drawn you to these locations though. What are you looking for? Bensalem is nothing at all like Germantown... it seems the only criteria you've mentioned is commute time, and oddly all three, Germantown, Mount Airy, and Bensalem would have a commute time well in excess of half an hour to Washington Square. If you're planning on driving honestly Germantown is the only one that would be even close to half an hour. Bensalem is legitimately over an hour away from wash west. This is assuming of course that you would be commuting during rush hour.
I'm guessing you're not familiar to the city, but looking at how long the commute will take on google maps is pretty useless when you're commuting during rush hour. However long Google maps says if you are driving any legitimate distance during rush hour you can safely double that commute time and that estimate is still probably conservative.
I live in Bella Vista currently and love it. You could walk to work in less than 15 minutes and you can't put a price on a commute like that. East Passyunk is basically below bella vista so you're a little further south, you might be able to get a bigger place but most people would want to drive to work at that distance.
Both are safe though and I think would be great options with good commutes to your job.
You Should also probably consider southwest center city (graduate hospital) or other parts of south philly although parts of it can get rough, especially west of broad.
Honestly though more information on what you're looking for (i.e. what type of environment) would be helpful because among the place you've mentioned from Bella Vista to Bensalem, you're spanning everything from basically suburban to practically a downtown environment.
I will be working near Washington Square.
I would like to be within a 30 minute commute. I am considering West Mount Airy, Germantown, Bensalem.
But I have read good comments about East Passyunk Crossing, Bella Vista Southwark. I was wondering what some of the locals have to say.
Ideally, I am looking at 1200 in rent. But I am willing to travel further away to get more amenities, like two bedrooms, 2 baths, maybe a washer dryer in the unit.
Lastly, I was told to stay away from Camden, but again, I am wondering what the locals have to say.
Since the locations you mentioned vary greatly in distance from Center City, greenery, etc. and you didn't elaborate too much on what's important in your decision, I'll toss out an uninformed opinion: Bella Vista or Queen Village. You'd be a short, pleasant walk to work. Even in a city that's well-served by public transit, the value of being able to walk to work can't be overestimated: it's healthy, economical, emotionally beneficial, etc etc. Just pick a place that's a reasonable distance from the weirdness that is South Street (if you wonder why, pay a visit to the area on a weekend night).
And yes, Camden's a non-starter.
Heh, I was just there. Bella Vista and Queen Village area reminded me so much of Portland. Summer months will have more rental listings but get snatched up really quick. A lot of listings go up 60 days before move in date, I find. Positive you can find what you're looking for closer to Washington Sq. but you'll have to act quick.
Bensalem is nothing at all like Germantown... it seems the only criteria you've mentioned is commute time, and oddly all three, Germantown, Mount Airy, and Bensalem would have a commute time well in excess of half an hour to Washington Square. If you're planning on driving honestly Germantown is the only one that would be even close to half an hour. Bensalem is legitimately over an hour away from wash west.
Just wanted to throw this out there, because Germantown is on the list of neighborhoods we're looking at, I know some people who live in Germantown, and I work in the Washington Square West/Market East area.
There's a secret to making it from Germantown into CC pretty quick using public transit other than regional rail (more expensive and runs less often). The first is to find a decent place in Germantown, because it can be rough there - although after visiting a bunch of times, we're pretty okay with a lot of it.
The second is to live near Greene Street or Wayne Avenue, where you can catch buses that take about 15 minutes to deliver you to Broad and Erie. If you live off of Greene and below Walnut Lane you can take the H or the XH bus, which really lowers possible wait time.
The third is to catch the Broad Ridge Spur, which will get you from Broad and Erie to 8th and Market in 10 minutes (or if you work on the other side of Washington Square, you can get the regular Broad Street Line or Express which will also get you to Center City quickly).
So depending on wait times and walking distance, you're looking at a possible 30 minute commute.
I agree with the overall sentiment of this thread that what you're looking for is all over the place though. If you go with the South Philly neighborhoods you're looking at, you'll have better proximity to work, a likely safer area, and a more urban and young atmosphere. The advantages of Germantown or Mt. Airy would be the value, generally better quality apartment buildings in my opinion (a lot of divided victorian houses or brownstone apartments, as opposed to divided row homes), and greenery/access to the large Wissahickon Park (or the river trail, depending on which part of Germantown).
If you are from Portland, you must love green (the color...I am not referring to anything else, I promise) and the outdoors so I'd definitely say Mount Airy would be a good place for you (maybe Germantown or Chestnut Hill too) so you can go hike in the Wissahickon any time you want and shop at the Weavers Way food coop. Someone described West Mount Airy as the Berkley of Philly to me recently. West Philly/University City in the Clark Park/Cedar Park vicinity is great too and the Baltimore Ave crowd definitely shares some political alliances with the progressive Portlanders. We've got our own coop over here too.
I will be working near Washington Square.
I would like to be within a 30 minute commute. I am considering West Mount Airy, Germantown, Bensalem.
But I have read good comments about East Passyunk Crossing, Bella Vista Southwark. I was wondering what some of the locals have to say.
Ideally, I am looking at 1200 in rent. But I am willing to travel further away to get more amenities, like two bedrooms, 2 baths, maybe a washer dryer in the unit.
Lastly, I was told to stay away from Camden, but again, I am wondering what the locals have to say.
Thank you
I live in Philly, but I'm a Seattle native. I love Philly. Bensalem is quite a trip from Center City. I would suggest Mount Airy, Manayunk, East Falls, University City, Southwest Center City, or South Philly. Germantown has it's nice parts and not-so-nice parts, so keep that in mind. You'll definitely be able to find something in your price range in these areas. Consider living close to Regional Rail or the Broad Street Line in order to ease your commute.
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