Please help us decide!!!! Unsure about fairmount/brewery town. (Philadelphia: real estate, rental)

[juxzta1]

Im about to buy a house on harper street at 29th in fairmount. I have lived at 23rd and green and now im at 29th and pennsylvania. Now im thinking of heading to 29th and harper. Which is one block south of girard. My girlfriend and I are in our mid to late twenties,white and get home late at night.We have a car and she'll be coming and going at night by herself.Should I worry. Can anyone help us decide.We love fairmount but is this too far????The house is awsome inside and out.PLus really affordable.What to do!!!!!

[Nikki30]

My advice to you is that any area you move to, you have to be careful and aware of your surroundings.

[passdoubt]

I think anything south of Girard is safe, but you should just visit there at night and see what it's like. Walk around the street on a weeknight and see if you feel comfortable. Why would you buy a house without at least checking it out first?

Why did you tell us that you're white? The majority of victims of violent crime in Philadelphia are black, so being white (and living in a mostly white neighborhood) you probably have a lower chance of being victimized. The idea that criminals roam the streets looking for white people to rob and rape is statistically inaccurate.

[joey1975]

Hi juxzta1 ,

If it helps... I am moving to a rowhome North of Girard. I bought a rowhome on N Dover & Thompson (2 blocks north of Girard and 1 west of 29th).

I am an architect and I will be fixing it up. I am also a runner and love the fact that the park is so close!!

You can feel unsafe even in the best of neighborhoods. Me and my girlfriend personally are OK with the fact that the neighborhood is still, like, blighted, and could be unsafe... we had no problems to date, though. We walked a lot around lower Brewerytown, befriended some of the neighbors and it is not all that bad.

Plus we own our own home, no mortgage (it was dirt cheap) and all that extra money comes in handy for further investing.

good luck!

Joe

Hope it helps

Joe

[Ant$]

i know someone from brewerytown who is one of the people that they're trying to price out as the gentrification of brewerytown continues. he told me homes in the area that have been fixed up are going for almost $900,000!!!

[near1977]

I spent the first 18 years of my life in "brewerytown" , a term which is basically a marketing gimmick since there has not been a brewery there
since before I was born. The area you mention is what me & my friends used to call "down the hill" i.e., where the white people live. You are talking about the first "down the hill" block and it served as the traditional boundary between the ghetto (girard and north) and where the "rich" folks lived. Of course most residents there are not rich, I realize now, but thats how kids sometimes think. That said, I have never , ever been robbed,stabbed,shot,etc. in "brewerytown" - I have in center city, though.
As for being a female of the caucasian persuasion, that gives you some crap you may have to put up with on the part of the "yokels" of the neighborhood, but really no more than walking past a few construction workers , they'll talk alot of crap, maybe, but the insecurities of a few chumps don't really amount to anything real. By the way, you don't have to feel unsafe just because your white or female, caution is good though in all situations. Most people in the area go to work everyday and mind their own business.
You probably won't have to deal too much longer with the culture clash though, as gentrification is pricing out all the poor people in favor of rich people who don't feel safe around poor people, because I guess poor people are always victimizing rich people, but all the "safe" areas are too expensive or overrun with rich folks who vote republican and the suburbs are not cool and gritty or have enough historical significance and are not philly proper and also its lame riding a cool single speed bike into your job downtown FROM downtown and driving really far sucks because it takes about a week to find a parking space downtown and nobody thinks ardmore is cool anyway.
But to be serious ...yeah the poor folks will be gone in like, five-ten years and it'll be another northern liberties.Until then just walk with confidence. Thats really it , because while I KNOW for a fact that we are not all like that , sometimes you can come across some poor (or wealthy/middle class) people who just have a chip on their shoulder because they feel like life sucks and that they will feel alot better if they intimidate someone that day- its not just a black thing, I've seen poor whites , latinos and asians behave in the same way, they lash out at girls sometimes because they expect you to fear them and that gives them some sort of sick rush. Let me reiterate that this is by no means the majority of any group, but mostly just some stupid kids acting like stupid kids.
A large portion of what goes down in Philly is tied into race but even more is tied into a sort of classism on the part of the city government and landowners who see poor people a hopeless rabble and dealing with them as an excellent way to ruin a good day. Look, your gonna find more bums and crime in center city but realize that some will see you as an invader if you cross the line on girard....but expect nothing more than a few odd looks and maybe a smile or two.
I grew up there and now I live in west philly , I like west philly mainly because through gentrification and living on the edge of UC, I can actually shop at a supermarket and catch a bus downtown going in a straight line and not just the 48/33 weaving throughout all of north philly because Septa apparently does not like the area.
So , in closing it sounds like a good buy because once they develop the bulk of the area and move the proles out, you'll be sittin ' on a valuable chunk of real estate (moreso than now)- My grandparents paid 5000 dollars for a home about two blocks away from there and the land has(of course)multiplied in value exponentially in just the past two years!

Just take a bike ride, walk or drive for 6 blocks in every direction at 9am,5pm and 9pm and you'll know all you need to know about the area.

[itulldu]

Our daughter is graduating from college in May. We need to stay about a week to ten days and are thinking about doing a vacation rental rather than staying in a hotel. When we visit, we usually stay in the City, usually at the Hyatt or in the City Center. We are trying to coordinate our trip with others who will be staying in the Museum area albeit for a shorter period of time. There is a condo rental located on Ogden Street between 28th and 29th in the Brewerytown area. Except for a short visit to the park, we have not been to this area. How is the neighborhood? Is it safe? Are there any good restaurants? How is the night life? We would appreciate any thoughts or recommendations.

[solibs]

FYI, the reason those buses have to weave their way through Fairmount is to get around Girard College. It takes up 6 blocks and there are no through streets.

Originally Posted by Ant$

i know someone from brewerytown who is one of the people that they're trying to price out as the gentrification of brewerytown continues. he told me homes in the area that have been fixed up are going for almost $900,000!!!

$900k north of Girard . . . hahahaha . . . I don't think you'll find $750k north of Fairmount.

My neighbor's brother closes today on a place at 29th & Master. Totally rehabbed, gorgeous place for $140k. $900k my a**. It isn't a high crime but the neighborhood looks like hell and there's nothing there and there's hardly anything you can get to without getting on the bus or in a car.

[Philly Dave]

Unless you're getting a fabulous deal, don't do it. The area around 29th and Ogden is very sketchy, and you're not near anything at all. No night life; no restaurants. You will be much better off staying somewhere else. Also, merely driving through that neighborhood can be confusing - especially at night - since the streets are very narrow; they all look alike; and there are some weird one-way and dead-end roads.
If your daughter is at school in West Philly (Penn or Drexel), you could probably find some sort of short-term condo rental over there. If it is another school in a less dedsirable neighborhood (such as Temple or LaSalle), you're probably best staying in Center City.

Meanwhile, congratulations on your daughter's upcoming graduation!

[Ant$]

Originally Posted by solibs

FYI, the reason those buses have to weave their way through Fairmount is to get around Girard College. It takes up 6 blocks and there are no through streets.



$900k north of Girard . . . hahahaha . . . I don't think you'll find $750k north of Fairmount.

My neighbor's brother closes today on a place at 29th & Master. Totally rehabbed, gorgeous place for $140k. $900k my a**. It isn't a high crime but the neighborhood looks like hell and there's nothing there and there's hardly anything you can get to without getting on the bus or in a car.

900k pre-financial crisis, i found out...