Are there any bad parts of Queen Village? (Philadelphia, Washington: low income, fit in)

[worldexplorer1]

Hi everyone,

My family (me+wife+1 yr old son) are planning to move to Philadelphia in the next few months. We are very interested in the Queen Village area but have noticed that parts of Queen Village are consistently reported as being "unsafe". I've attached some crime maps I found that show this.

In particular, there is an area south of Christian st, west of 3rd St. Is there something I'm missing about this area that makes it a pocket of bad surrounded by an otherwise nice neighborhood? We have found some decent houses south of Christian that we like but have been hesitant because of some of this data.


(Source: Realtor.co)


(Source: Philadelphia County Safety Map)

Thanks in advance!

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by worldexplorer1

Hi everyone,

My family (me+wife+1 yr old son) are planning to move to Philadelphia in the next few months. We are very interested in the Queen Village area but have noticed that parts of Queen Village are consistently reported as being "unsafe". I've attached some crime maps I found that show this.

In particular, there is an area south of Christian st, west of 3rd St. Is there something I'm missing about this area that makes it a pocket of bad surrounded by an otherwise nice neighborhood? We have found some decent houses south of Christian that we like but have been hesitant because of some of this data.


(Source: Realtor.co)


(Source: Philadelphia County Safety Map)

Thanks in advance!

The pocket you are seeing, I think, is the public housing at 5th and Christian. It extends to Washington Ave. You can easily avoid it.

Otherwise Queen Village is one of the most historic and lovely areas in Philadelphia and nice with new and older housing. Queen Village is right next to Bella Vista and further south is Pennsport.

[kyb01]

OP, if you want to explore another neighborhood look in Fairmount or Spring Garden. There's a ton, I really mean quite an explosion, of young children and babies. You would definitely fit in with your one year old. It's safe. Well, to me it is.

[worldexplorer1]

Originally Posted by kyb01

The pocket you are seeing, I think, is the public housing at 5th and Christian. It extends to Washington Ave. You can easily avoid it.

Otherwise Queen Village is one of the most historic and lovely areas in Philadelphia and nice with new and older housing. Queen Village is right next to Bella Vista and further south is Pennsport.

Ah okay thanks for the info! That helps a lot.. weird that this public housing development doesnt show up on the Public Housing Authority Site (). Maybe we'll try to stay north of christian

Thanks for the info on Fairmount! We had considered it but felt like it was too far removed from the rest of the city.. maybe we'll revisit it

[Angus215]

Projects / low income housing b/w Washington Ave and Christian Street. If you look at a satellite image, they look like town homes with small yards that are completely out of place for the neighborhood, plus one remaining high-rise housing project. Stay north of Christian. Very nice neighborhood.

[NewtownBucks]

Originally Posted by worldexplorer1

Hi everyone,

My family (me+wife+1 yr old son) are planning to move to Philadelphia in the next few months. We are very interested in the Queen Village area but have noticed that parts of Queen Village are consistently reported as being "unsafe". I've attached some crime maps I found that show this.

In particular, there is an area south of Christian st, west of 3rd St. Is there something I'm missing about this area that makes it a pocket of bad surrounded by an otherwise nice neighborhood? We have found some decent houses south of Christian that we like but have been hesitant because of some of this data.


(Source: Realtor.co)


(Source: Philadelphia County Safety Map)

Thanks in advance!

The short answer is no, there are not really any bad areas of Queen Village. The longer answer is that there were high rise public housing projects called Southwark Plaza between Christian & Washington that attracted poverty and crime like most of the urban housing projects of the 50s and 60s. These were torn down in the 90s I think and replaced with the townhouses mentioned above. The neighborhood has improved greatly since then. Even as recently as 2007, 5th & Carpenter was identified as one of the top 10 drug corners in the city, but I don't think that's true anymore. I personally don't feel uncomfortable at all in that neighborhood.

While I wouldn't view safety/crime as a big concern anywhere, as others have said, you're better off north of Christian anyway. The main reason is that Christian is the southern border of the Meredith catchement. Meredith elementary is one of the best in the city. If you have a 1 year old, schools will be a concern eventually.

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by worldexplorer1

Ah okay thanks for the info! That helps a lot.. weird that this public housing development doesnt show up on the Public Housing Authority Site (). Maybe we'll try to stay north of christian

Thanks for the info on Fairmount! We had considered it but felt like it was too far removed from the rest of the city.. maybe we'll revisit it

Fairmount is right next to Center City(downtown) as a point of reference. Queen Village is not near downtown.

Fairmount puts you within walking distance of the Phila. Museum of Art, Rodin Museum, Barnes Museum, Franklin Inst(kid magnet), Academy of Natural Sciences, main branch of the Free Library. It has lots of independent restaurants. The largest Whole Foods in the city is in Fairmount.

Obviously I am a big fan. I live in the next neighborhood to the east, Spring Garden.

Also Fairmount has a newly rehabbed playground. There's also a newish playground in Spring Garden. There's a nice dog park in SG as well.

And as I said, there's a baby boom going on in Fairmount. I'm amazed by it frankly.

It's a diverse area too.

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by Angus215

Projects / low income housing b/w Washington Ave and Christian Street. If you look at a satellite image, they look like town homes with small yards that are completely out of place for the neighborhood, plus one remaining high-rise housing project. Stay north of Christian. Very nice neighborhood.

The high rise isn't a project as far as I know. It was converted to senior housing when those town houses were built.

[Angus215]

Originally Posted by kyb01

The high rise isn't a project as far as I know. It was converted to senior housing when those town houses were built.

That's possible, though I assume it is low-income senior housing. But those seniors probably aren't much of a safety threat LOL!

[frbrown]

Originally Posted by kyb01

Fairmount is right next to Center City(downtown) as a point of reference. Queen Village is not near downtown.

Queen Village most certainly is right next to Center City. It's is immediately adjacent to Center City, just like Fairmount.