Philadelphia? How Much Does Crime Carry Over, ETC (Avalon, North East: rent, crime rate)

[Jimmy Burma]

Hey Philadelphia, I've often thought that Philadelphia would be a good place to live; for me, anyhow. The history, spunky people who are proud of their city and sports teams, being close to other major East Coast cities but with relatively lower cost of living, being close to the South Jersey Shore etc ah, can't forget Philly Steak's either. I've thought that I might want to live in Boston before for similar reasons (would love to be near the ocean again) but think that Philadelphia might suit me better. Boston seems like it could be a bit smug and over run with Ivy Leaguers, Yuppies, etc (ha I know they make the world go round but still..) and of course the cost of living is pretty steep as well. I've always heard so much about the "crime" in Philly though?. All the references to and less than flattering nicknames like the "city of thuggerly love" or "killadelphia". Hey, don't get mad though I lived in Kansas City for quite some time which has a pretty heavy crime rate as well (seriously) and a lot of knuckleheads (who seem to proud of the idiocy) call it "Killa City".

So, I'm curious as to how much crime from the bad areas actually carries over into the decent parts of town? I really think Philadelphia, from what I know of it would be a great, unique place to live and the fact that it may be a little rough around the edges doesn't bother me much, I lived in St. Louis for a time, some dicey parts of Chicago and LA but am a little older now and could definitely do without the hassle if you know what I mean? I am just curious as to how widespread the crime actually is in Philadelphia in regards to the actual city limits. It's always good to hear from people who actually live there and my experience with people from Philadelphia (knew some Philly guys in the Military), though a bit rocky at times has usually been that they're pretty straight up and proud of their town and I like that. I've heard that City Center is alright and that some of South Philly and maybe North East Philadelphia is still reasonably safe and family oriented as well? Any thoughts?

*As a side note or last thought I know that Philly is not on the coast but pretty close like an hour right? Maybe less? I'm also curious to how much time people spend on the water there? The Delaware right? Can you smell any salt in the air or is it still too far from the Coast?

[akorosdc]

The crime is fairly concentrated in select areas of the city. Outside of certain neighborhoods you're pretty safe. Center City, Old City, and parts of South Philly are all safe, as are other neighborhoods like Fairmount, Manayunk, Chestnut Hill, or Mt. Airy. University City and Northern Liberties had problems in the past, but have been steadily improving for years. I know I'm missing a lot of neighborhoods, so others can elaborate.

As for the beach, it takes about an hour to get to Atlantic City, which would probably be one of the closest. Most people go further south to Avalon, Stone Harbor, Wildwood, or Cape May, which can take 1.5-2 hours, depending on where you're coming from to start out with. When I lived in Philly we went to the beach every weekend for at least a day, and for a while would stay for a while in my aunt's beach house. A lot of people also rent houses for a month or week. Unfortunately, you don't smell salt in the air, we're a little far for that. To do boating you can go on the Delaware or also the Schuylkill (no motor boats, but there's a lot of rowing and sculling).

[john_starks]

"city of thuggerly love"

ha! that's a new one. i've heard "city of brotherly shove"

*As a side note or last thought I know that Philly is not on the coast but pretty close like an hour right? Maybe less? I'm also curious to how much time people spend on the water there? The Delaware right? Can you smell any salt in the air or is it still too far from the Coast?

yeah, its an hour drive from the jersey shore. and from memorial day to labor day, it seems like the whole metro area hits the shore on the weekends. a little more breathing room in the city.

[pman]

you're impressions are largely right, though large swaths of west philly have improved (though, correspondingly, large areas of southwest philly have gotten worse), fairmount and spring garden are decent neighborhoods, and yes, the northeast is still family and more suburban in nature. south philly has really taken off as has northern liberties and fisthown.

[john_starks]

^^ yup, northern liberties is the official "cool" section of philly now

[waltlantz]

what's major crime to you?

Property and possible theft? Provided that you live in a decent neighboorhood you prolly don't have to worry about car theft too much, My family doesn't but it depends where you live I guess.

Violent crime and assault? It's simple, stay out of slums, watch how you carry yourself, be attentive, know where you are going (and don't display high paranoia everywhere you walk) and you have very little chance of ANYTHING major happening to you.

[Just1Lion]

even some of the more popular areas for nightlife can become sketchy at night. holy crap take a walk down south street after 9 pm on weekends. its getting out of control. friggin cops on horses just waiting to mess people up. its a riot waiting to happen.

[Jimmy Burma]

Well thanks for all the replies to my original post. Philadelphia sounds a bit like St. Louis in regards to the the crime. What I mean by "carry over" is basically how much crime or thuggery spills out of the slums and carries over into decent areas or even decent entertainment districts. Yeah, it's common sense to stay out of the hood and watch your back but in some cities these days ( KC and St. Louis included unfortunately), you can be in a perfectly fine area and still encounter a group of thug's or thuglet's (youngsters honing their skills) who've got a pistol or two and bad intentions. I know, I know... that's a lot of cities these days but I've traveled a bit and trust me some places are definitely worse than others. When I lived in San Diego and would come back to KC to visit (in the city not the burbs) it was almost shocking to think "wow, this is where I spent a lot of my childhood". SD has crime but the inner city there is like Disneyland to even the East or South East Sides of Kansas City. STL for example, I love it, love the city and of course something like 80 % of the crime stats probably come from the North Side but it still spills over onto the South Side and some suburbs. I was just curious as to how serious it is in Philadelphia? What's the deal with South Philly these days? I've seen a few posts that make it sound like it's gone to hell in a handbasket or something? I always had the impression that it was a bit rough, or "old school" but really how much worse has it gotten? Usually those old neighborhoods like that tend to be safer than some "up and coming" areas full of yuppies, students and hipsters (they make great crime victims, unfortunately for them) Thanks again for the replies.

[waltlantz]

In Philly just driving around and listening to my family, the up and comming and are litterally coming into the city and moving upwards from the central district.

Yea sure, there was a stolen pocketbook or wallet from my family, maybe bikes will get stolen sometimes. But you can make precautions against that. Really you can live/work in the city with little trouble.

If there were such incidents OFTEN and CONSECUTIVELY of young, wealthy, more than likely white new residents of the city shown every night on eyewitness news then there would be a MAJOR change.

(It's MAINLY black on black, drug stuff/thug stuff mainly in certain rundown areas, any other family/accuaintence killing stuff is mainly in black poor areas too and IF there was much spill over in the good areas, then it would have much more coverage in news media and be a large focus of political elections)

You're going to run in to ill mannered, obnoxious people in the city. As for major crime "spilling over", it can and does happen but it's not a chronic thing at all really.

Just plan, be attentive, be ready to deal with people you may not originally be accostumed to (within reason), use judgement and common sense and you shoud do ok.

[pman]

Originally Posted by Jimmy Burma

Well thanks for all the replies to my original post. Philadelphia sounds a bit like St. Louis in regards to the the crime. What I mean by "carry over" is basically how much crime or thuggery spills out of the slums and carries over into decent areas or even decent entertainment districts. Yeah, it's common sense to stay out of the hood and watch your back but in some cities these days ( KC and St. Louis included unfortunately), you can be in a perfectly fine area and still encounter a group of thug's or thuglet's (youngsters honing their skills) who've got a pistol or two and bad intentions. I know, I know... that's a lot of cities these days but I've traveled a bit and trust me some places are definitely worse than others. When I lived in San Diego and would come back to KC to visit (in the city not the burbs) it was almost shocking to think "wow, this is where I spent a lot of my childhood". SD has crime but the inner city there is like Disneyland to even the East or South East Sides of Kansas City. STL for example, I love it, love the city and of course something like 80 % of the crime stats probably come from the North Side but it still spills over onto the South Side and some suburbs. I was just curious as to how serious it is in Philadelphia? What's the deal with South Philly these days? I've seen a few posts that make it sound like it's gone to hell in a handbasket or something? I always had the impression that it was a bit rough, or "old school" but really how much worse has it gotten? Usually those old neighborhoods like that tend to be safer than some "up and coming" areas full of yuppies, students and hipsters (they make great crime victims, unfortunately for them) Thanks again for the replies.

south philly is filling up with those folks. you may be thinking of southwest. center city has its share of oddballs but I've never seen large numbers of thugs or thuglets. Occasionally something will happen in an "entertainment" area but it's not terribly common. if you can get along in KC, you shouldn't worry much in Philly.