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Used to live in Philly (cc, northeast) back in the 80s and 90s. Moved out to far suburbia, and I want to move back to town in my dotage. Not sure where exactly I want to go, but want to be able to take the train into town. I like to go see the orchestra and do things in CC, but from where I live, you can't get a train, or if you drive to one, the last one comes back too early. So I am thinking the west side - West Philly areas, or Delaware County.
My heart is still in Delco, but if you can afford the house, you can't afford the taxes. If you can't afford the house, you can afford the taxes, but do you want to live there? Makes me crazy. I lived in Lansdowne a ways back. Houses are affordable, but what's it like there now? Is it targeted for gentrification yet? Reading a lot about Drexel Hill here, but again with the taxes, ugh. Any place else good?
Wynnefield, Ovebrook farms, Wynnefield Heights - the old Italian sections used to be rather nice. Big old stone singles and twins. See a lot of homes on Zillow, etc. with all the old gaudy decor and plastic slipcovers on the furniture. Figuring the old guard is going or gone. But are the areas still Italian? Or is there another section on the west side of Philly (or even Southwest, I haven't been there in decades) that is worth considering?
Northern suburbia is too expensive so is out of the running. And I need to drive to Delco a lot so would rather not be that far. TIA for your ideas.
The inner ring of suburbs generally has high property taxation relative to home values. But home prices are often lower than elsewhere (Drexel Hill, Elkins Park). Your home may not increase much in value but you get a lot of house for the money.
If you are retired, the city wage tax disappears and property taxes are low compared to suburban rates. That may be worth looking into. Live near public transit and CC is within a half hour.
The inner ring of suburbs generally has high property taxation relative to home values. But home prices are often lower than elsewhere (Drexel Hill, Elkins Park). Your home may not increase much in value but you get a lot of house for the money.
If you are retired, the city wage tax disappears and property taxes are low compared to suburban rates. That may be worth looking into. Live near public transit and CC is within a half hour.
OP, if you are 65 or older you may be eligible for the homestead exemption wrt to city property taxes.
Homestead exemption can also depend on the property you live on too.
I don't see Lansdowne going downhill, but I feel it's too "stuck" in the middle of so many other areas that I don't see it gentrifying either, or at least not in the recent future. It's not as accessible to the highways. So, even though it's closer to Philadelphia proper than Drexel Hill for instance, it takes just as long or a bit longer to get to many places. It is a good area for decent suburban public transportation connections though.
I don't know what areas are Italian, but Italians are kind of "everywhere", are they not?
I think delco is good to look into for you- Folsom, Essington, Sharon Hill maybe, Woodlyn, Lansdowne. I personally like Wynnefield Heights too- if you have enough money to remodel something there, totally worth it.
My current house is just too much upkeep for someone my age, so I gotta get out. Although yes, I thought about fixing something up - nothing major, but I do want something with a bathroom on the 1st floor or the ability to put one there, so most rows are probably out. Unless I buy an apartment or something, although the wife wants a house. And I remember the low taxes in the city, with great fondness. The Italian thing, better local shopping. What can I say? I remember the area across Route 1 from say Haverford Avenue - Overbrook Farms? - had a lot of paisan.
And yes, I know about the wage tax. Life is good.
That's sort of how I felt about Lansdowne, too, stuck. Am not so worried about home price going up, I just don't want to see it go *down, or the taxes go way up. And can I trust Delco not to do that? Anywhere? I know, places like Media and Broomall are lower taxes. Houses cost too much, though.
Not sure I would want toward the airport so much, that's what I meant by would you really want to live there. Still, the taxes - just looked at a house comparable to but lower priced than what I'd get for my house here, and the taxes were $10K! In Folsom!
Personally, I would recommend living right in the city and living a (mostly) car-free existence in retirement. Any way you can convince your wife that a house doesn't make much sense as you age and likely need one-floor living?
My current house is just too much upkeep for someone my age, so I gotta get out. Although yes, I thought about fixing something up - nothing major, but I do want something with a bathroom on the 1st floor or the ability to put one there, so most rows are probably out. Unless I buy an apartment or something, although the wife wants a house. And I remember the low taxes in the city, with great fondness. The Italian thing, better local shopping. What can I say? I remember the area across Route 1 from say Haverford Avenue - Overbrook Farms? - had a lot of paisan.
And yes, I know about the wage tax. Life is good.
That's sort of how I felt about Lansdowne, too, stuck. Am not so worried about home price going up, I just don't want to see it go *down, or the taxes go way up. And can I trust Delco not to do that? Anywhere? I know, places like Media and Broomall are lower taxes. Houses cost too much, though.
Not sure I would want toward the airport so much, that's what I meant by would you really want to live there. Still, the taxes - just looked at a house comparable to but lower priced than what I'd get for my house here, and the taxes were $10K! In Folsom!
You are probably thinking about western Overbrook, west of 63rd St, between Haverford and Malvern Aves. Overbrook Farms is next door working westward toward Rt1/City Ave.The housing, at least to me, looks like it always has: well maintained.
Overbrook Farms is fine, and the crime rate is low. There's a Regional Rail station at its eastern end, but aside from that, mass transit skirts it (a crosstown Germantown-69th Street bus route uses 63d, and the G to Lankenau Hospital passes close by and stops at the station, but that's about it).
Wynnefield IMO doesn't have much in the way of shopping, but its big stone and brick Colonials are still well maintained. If you're still looking when the March issue of Phillymag comes out, you might want to read about the couple who moved there from Drexel Hill to have an easier commute to work (and to cut their property taxes. They also wanted to move back into the city, not quite like you, but you're willing to consider it). The shopping in that area's on City Avenue, and there's a small strip of shops that cater largely to St. Joe's students on North 54th just south of City.
One-floor living is something you won't get in a city rowhouse - ever - but you said you didn't need it. Should you ever find you do, the larger twins and singles in the Overbrook and Wynnefield areas can be remodeled to provide it. Ditto Northwest Philly outside Manayunk. First-floor half baths are now pretty common in new construction or rehabbed houses of all types in the city.
It seems to me that many of the neighborhoods in Northwest Philly would also suit you. Especially Mt. Airy and Roxborough. Mt. Airy (as well as Chestnut Hill to its north and Germantown to its south) has very good Regional Rail service into the city as well as a bus route along its spine (Germantown Avenue) that connects to the Broad Street Subway. Mt. Airy has a very nice business district along Germantown Avenue with many shops and restaurants, and there are pockets of shops elsewhere in the neighborhood.
Roxborough is just up the hill from the adult playground of Manayunk. You can catch trains into town there.
Regarding Lansdowne: It seems to me that a lot of its residents would love for it to gentrify, and its west side is already pretty tony. Its main shopping district should have all the charm and vibrancy of Media's or Ardmore's, but it's not there yet. It has some of the finest early-20th-century housing stock of any area suburb. But unless and until the William Penn School District, which it shares with Darby, Colwyn and Yeadon, improves, it will probably never fully realize its potential.
I like the Roxborough suggestion. I'd also add East Falls to that list for you.
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Not sure where exactly I want to go, but want to be able to take the train into town. I like to go see the orchestra and do things in CC, but from where I live, you can't get a train, or if you drive to one, the last one comes back too early. So I am thinking the west side - West Philly areas, or Delaware County.
