what is living in Tacony, philadelphia like? (Penn: middle-class, renting)

[RW 41]

Originally Posted by PennKid

Maybe I should clarify what I mean when I say Tacony; I mean the area bounded by approximately Cheltenham to the Southwest, to Princeton in the Northeast, from Torresdale to the River. This is where a lot of the well-kept stand-alone homes seem to be, with some especially nice ones towards Disston Park and the train station. I will agree that the immediate area around Harbison looks as if it has seen better days (although a flat-out ghetto I don't think it is). A couple guys that I did tech with here at Penn lived up closer to Cheltenham Ave., and they all liked it (they disputed among themselves whether or not they lived in Wissinoming or Tacony), and they were a diverse group of old-schools Northeasterners, Hispanics, and Polish immigrants. My own personal experience comes from some research I had to do with the Tacony Historical Society which required me to be up there once a week for a semester. The immediate area around them I dare say is actually beautiful, and Im always amazed at how comparatively quiet the area is- you even hear birds chirping I also did some flooring for a house on Hegerman when I needed some fast cash, and I liked the street as well (as did all the Brazilians who worked with me; there seems to be a high concentration of them in Tacony. I'm sorry if my general impressions are too optimistic, but I like to err on the side of niceness as regards philadelphia neighborhoods.

Tacony runs north of Levick Street, up to Cottman Ave. East to the river and it ends at about Gillespie Street to the west.

[slickvic277]

Originally Posted by PennKid

Maybe I should clarify what I mean when I say Tacony; I mean the area bounded by approximately Cheltenham to the Southwest, to Princeton in the Northeast, from Torresdale to the River. This is where a lot of the well-kept stand-alone homes seem to be, with some especially nice ones towards Disston Park and the train station. I will agree that the immediate area around Harbison looks as if it has seen better days (although a flat-out ghetto I don't think it is). A couple guys that I did tech with here at Penn lived up closer to Cheltenham Ave., and they all liked it (they disputed among themselves whether or not they lived in Wissinoming or Tacony), and they were a diverse group of old-schools Northeasterners, Hispanics, and Polish immigrants. My own personal experience comes from some research I had to do with the Tacony Historical Society which required me to be up there once a week for a semester. The immediate area around them I dare say is actually beautiful, and Im always amazed at how comparatively quiet the area is- you even hear birds chirping I also did some flooring for a house on Hegerman when I needed some fast cash, and I liked the street as well (as did all the Brazilians who worked with me; there seems to be a high concentration of them in Tacony. I'm sorry if my general impressions are too optimistic, but I like to err on the side of niceness as regards philadelphia neighborhoods.

The "official" borders are always ill defined as with any neighborhood in Philadelphia. But as someone who has spent the last ten years living in either the Tacony, Mayfair, or Holmesburg sections these neighborhoods all over lap. Your impressions of Tacony are clouded at best, and based off a small section of the neighborhood. As for your buddies who lived near Cheltenham ave, they were in Wissinoming.

I would say Tacony would be from the river to about walker street. and from Benner to about Rahwn st. Although it's not to say that you could draw a perfect box in this area and call it Tacony because parts of Mayfair and Holmeburg jog into this area as well. Plus to the south the Wissonoming section is ill defined too.

When I lived in Tacony I saw full blown drug raids. A home invasion on the block I was on in which a guy's dog was stolen and his house was ransacked. Drug transactions in the middle of the afternoon. Once on Edmund and once on Torresdale ave I was approached by prostitutes and both times it was around 4:30 in the afternoon.

A friend of mine who lived on Ditman st. Had his house broken into during the daytime when he was at work.

I stand by my assessment of the Tacony area. Some nice blocks and some nice houses but overall a poor neighborhood with a major drug problem and all the related crimes that come with it.

[frankgn87]

Originally Posted by slickvic277

w


Not with your junk and franky87 pushing.....lol!!

lolol

[Struvak]

Tacony and Mayfair are very beautiful architecturally, there are a lot of trees as somebody mentioned, but is not safe and quiet. At least any more. There's a lot of drugs and those people who don't do grugs drink a lot. Especially on holidays and weekends during the warm and hot season people spend a lot of time outside, which results in loud music, dirty language, a lot of noise at night, so you can't sleep and police just ignore your calls. A lot of houses owned by better-off white people are rent by black, latino or white trash families who often are of very low culture, which again means drugs, alcohol and noise. Kids is another problem, they do whatever they want, nobody controls them. The will andalize your car or house if they don't like your fir any reason, for instance. The area is very dirty, people litter everywhere, don't clean after their dogs etc. The only advantage of buying a house in this area is low cost of living (however, these houses are really old, they need a lot of repairs and rennovations, water pipes leak, electric lines are dangerous and may cause a fire anytime, roofing leaks, with old heaters and windows heating is very expensive in winter etc) or renting these houses. There's a lot of auto crimes - kids steal car radios, olders steal cars. I've seen a lot of fighting between drunk or high teenagers and adults in the streets. Also, if you are not white or come from another country there's still a lot of racism (it's not upfront and may be not as wide-spread as it seems but sometimes one a.-hole is enough to spoil ur life).

[yorickshead]

Just want to say that this has been a sad thread to read. I was born and raised in Tacony. It was a blue collar, somewhat gritty neighborhood then (70s), but people respected themselves, their properties and their neighbors. How very sad that drugs, absentee landlords and irresponsible, uncaring people have ruined what was once a really fine place to live. As I said, no silver spoons in the mouths of the kids I grew up with...but I wouldn't trade my "old" Tacony neighborhood for anything.

[Shizzles]

Originally Posted by slickvic277

RW 41 is closer to describing Tacony then anyone else so far. Not to call people out but are any of you even really familiar with the neighborhood at all? I lived there for about 4 years. Tacony by and large is a $hit hole. it can be deceiving at times because there are still some nice blocks with nice houses but this is the exception not the norm. There's a lot of drug use in Tacony, section 8, and slum lord property owners. There's prostitutes all over Torresdale ave. And home invasions are a problem too.

It's really just a crying shame because like I said there's a lot of nice blocks and houses in certain parts of Tacony but not enough to justify buying a house there.IMO.

West Mayfair/Holmesburg is much much nicer and it's basically just the next neighborhood over. But as with Tacony there's parts that are nicer then others. If your looking in the area I would recommend looking on the west side of Frankford ave. and north of Cottman.

If you think Tacony is a dump then I don't know why you're recommending Holmesburg, since that area is probably even slightly worse due to the influence of Lincoln HS and Pennypack Park becoming a haven for robbery at night.


All in All, the Greater NE in general is solid, but seemingly in decline. Weither it's Tacony, Mayfair, Castor, Rhawnhurst, etc, in the end none of them are ghettos, but buying property might not be wise. I'd live there, but only in terms of renting.

[Tacony 4 life]

If you like city living, accessibility to lots of destinations and a walkable neighborhood with great history, then check out the neighborhood for yourself and don't believe all that you read here. Sure there are sketchy pockets here and there, as well as typical urban issues to deal with like in many neighborhoods, but the abundance of good parks, churches, schools and rec centers make this a decent place to raise a family. And lots of pride - active civic association and town watch - new 5 million $ firehouse being built next year. This is an up-and-coming neighborhood, not one on a rapid decline like some who post here think.

[slickvic277]

Shizzles;If you think Tacony is a dump then I don't know why you're recommending Holmesburg, since that area is probably even slightly worse due to the influence of Lincoln HS and Pennypack Park becoming a haven for robbery at night.

You're kidding right. Where do you live at? Lincoln HS poses no problems at all other then traffic and stating that pennypack is a haven for robberies is way off base.

I live a few blocks from both Lincoln and PennyPack and the neighborhood and houses are the nicest in the area. They completely blow Tacony and just about everything east of Torresdale ave out of the water.

The 4700 Blocks of Bleigh, Vista, Loring are all total dumps.
Almost everything off of Torresdale from Shelmire all the way to Harbison is a dump.

All in All, the Greater NE in general is solid, but seemingly in decline. Weither it's Tacony, Mayfair, Castor, Rhawnhurst, etc, in the end none of them are ghettos, but buying property might not be wise. I'd live there, but only in terms of renting.

Some parts of some neighborhoods are in decline while others are holding just fine. The home values in my neighborhood haven't declined at all in the past three years.

Like I said, lot's of nice looking homes in the Tacony/Holmesburg area but over all the neighborhood is a sh*thole.

West Mayfair by Pennypack and Lincoln is a nice, quite, clean neighborhood. Sorry, but there is no comparison between the two. Crossing Frankford ave is like going to a different world.

[Tacony 4 life]

Come on - you're all over every blog slamming Tacony. You seem to have some obsession with keeping decent people from wanting to move into an area which still has a good percentage of owner-occupants. Contact the community organizations, or contact its Historical Society for a history tour guide. Like I said I suggest those who don't know a lot about the neighborhood to come check it out sometime foir yourself. You may like what you see, especially north of Unruh Avenue. All neighborhoods have some problems, you obviously have an agenda.

[Tacony 4 life]

BTW the area of Tacony is defined by its Civic Association and the City Planning Commission as Delaware River west to Frankford Avenue and from Robbins Avenue north to Cottman.