New to area and new City government employed required to move into the City of Philadelphia - SOON (apartment)

[Razrpink]

Hello, all -
So I recently moved to the Philadelphia area for several reasons: 1) I like the general area, 2) I wanted to find work in the area, and 3) I have decided to get married to my longtime partner. I've been living in NJ (within easy walking distance of the City of Philadelphia when I or drive across the bridge from NJ into PA), and I love the area. I also moved in with my soon-to-be spouse "over there" across the Delaware. After searching for a job for a year. I found a nice one working for the City government. It's a great situation!....But here is the caveat: If I want to keep the City job, the City requires employees to find a bona fide permanent residence within the City within 6 months (saying "I can see Philadelphia from my house" is not good enough!).

My hope / plan was to look for a room or studio apartment (a cheap one, because the City job does not pay City apartment market prices), get my mail there, spend enough time there to have a clear conscience and say that it's a legitimate residence, pay the City taxes...and shuttle back and forth between that place and the NJ place owned by my fiancee. She has no interest in selling her place, and I have no interest in giving it up either. And getting married and having a shared address may make things even more complicated. As I see it, I have these options: 1) Find a City address and be there enough to call it a bona fide residence (and I my starting salary is $52,000, which doesn't seem to buy much in any Philly zip code, or 2) Look for other employment that does not require changing residences.

My questions are these:
1) Do any of my readers have experience with this sort of work situation in the City, and how have you handled it?
2) Assuming that I stay in the government job and look for a legitimate Philly residence, what is the absolute cheapest type of residence and local I can find for now? Zip code, urban blight, and travel time will not scare me off, by the way. I am open to all suggestions.