Where to Start? 40 YR Single Female Moving to Philly

[profkj]

Thank you all for the advice and feedback. Your input has been incredibly helpful. I looked into Collingswood, and I absolutely love the place, at least from what I can tell so far. Plus, it will be great to have access to speedy public transportation.

The thought of save a few hundred bucks each month makes me breathe a bit easier too. :-)

[southbound_295]

Originally Posted by profkj

Thank you all for the advice and feedback. Your input has been incredibly helpful. I looked into Collingswood, and I absolutely love the place, at least from what I can tell so far. Plus, it will be great to have access to speedy public transportation.

The thought of save a few hundred bucks each month makes me breathe a bit easier too. :-)

You might want to go to the South Jersey board & start looking through the threads there. Teachers from Glassboro live in many of the towns. No single town will be perfect, but many will work for you.

[frankgn87]

Originally Posted by profkj

Thanks so much for the feedback. I'll be working in Glassboro and was told many of the faculty commute from Philly. (Not the typical 8 to 5 job, and I'll be going against traffic.)

Fairmont looks nice. But is it in walking distance to other places (i.e., coffee shops, restaurants, taverns)?

If you live in Philly, you are going to lose 4% of your wage right off the top to city wage tax. Why would you want to do that AND have a long commute? I seriously doubt many people who work there commute all the way from philly.
Thats quite far

[dncr_doc]

Street parking in Fairmount?! Heck no...do not trust that....it is a nightmare up there and there are few garages/surface lots. No way would I do that if there's any chance you'll be getting home later in the evening sometimes. You may find that the only parking spaces available are not in a safe location and far from your home (there are plenty of those unsafe places in any city, and some areas in the Fairmount/Art Museum neighborhood are just not good places to walk longer distances alone late at night--I'm quite comfortable walking by myself to a variety of places here in town late at night, but some...shudder, no, not worth it).

As a 40-something single female professor myself who just moved here last year and loves living in Center City, I would also suggest Collingswood or Haddonfield if you are working in Glassboro. You can easily hop PATCO, as summersm343 just said, and be right in the heart of Center City for anything you'd like to do. To work in NJ, I would not live in the expensive city (unless you *really* want big city feel...in which case, give a shout and I can share more specific thoughts about locations that might make it easier to get in/out of the city with parking).

You might try looking at Get Your Walk Score - Find Walkable Apartments and Rentals to get a sense of amenities near where you are looking to live, and using Google maps will give you a sense of commute times (via car, transit, or walking). Both were a godsend to me when trying to decide where i wanted to be.

Good luck! I LOVE it here, and hope you do, too.....

[GraysFerryB4]

I think you described Collingswood to a "T". Don't work in NJ and live in Philly as another poster mentioned. You will get hit with wage tax and bridge tolls!