Looking for direction, as well. (Philadelphia, Horsham: 2009, apartment, rent)

[BrassShrink]

Hello. This is my first post, and have done some reading. This forum is very helpful, but I'm still in the process of gathering more information about moving to the Philadelphia area, so I'm going to throw my virtual hat into the virtual ring.

When are you moving? late June 2009

Where are you coming from? West Texas

Why are you moving?
1) We HATE West Texas!
2) We want to be closer to friends and familyin the Northeast.
3) We want closer access to more activities (e.g. snowboarding in the Poconos (and Vermont for those longer vacations) or day trips to NYC and DC).

Where will you be working? Don't know yet, either in NE Philly or Doylestown

Have you been here yet? I visited Philadelphia once in the early 90s, and my wife is from NJ, near Cherry Hill.I'll be going there for job interviews within the next few weeks.

Will you buy or rent? Rent for the time being, while we save up for a house. House price range $300-500K

If renting, are you looking for an apartment, a townhouse or loft? Townhouse/condo or apartment

How much can you spend? $1000-1800/month

Do you prefer hi-rise or walk up? Walk-up preferred

Are you married or single? Do you have children? Married, no kids, in our early 40s, but act like we're ten years younger.

Do you prefer public or private schools? Public university for my wife

Do you have pets? No, but we want to adopt one or two dogs.

Do you want or need a yard? It's not a deal-breaker if we don't have one right now.

Are you keeping a car? We have one car and would like to keep it.

Do you prefer bustling activity or calm and quiet? Yes

What do you want to be closest to? Somewhere that's easy to access my work and access Temple University (likely place she'd end up going).

Do you want to live with people of a similar age, race, religion or sexual preference or do you prefer a diverse neighborhood? Racial/religious/sexual orientation diversity is desirable, preferring a place with a younger (late 20s- late 40s) demographic, that's friendly toward couples without kids.

Coke or Pepsi? Coke Zero, 'nuff said.

(And how tacky is it wearing 49ers gear to a game at the Linc?)

And maybe I'll finally have one of those cheesesteaks from Pat's/Geno's/Wherever's. Thanks.

[ajb842]

If you work in Doylestown, I don't know of any easy way to get to Temple from anywhere around there. I would recommend Abington which would be in the middle of both. If you work in NE Philly, I would recommend jenkintown/elkins park area which would be 30min or less to temple and the same to wherever in NE philly. Rent shouldn't be an issue. I think you'll find something nice in your price range. In Bucks county,bordering NE Philly, there's Feasterville and even in the area of 19116, you can rent a townhome for about 1500 and jump on 95 to get to Temple.

[Tone509]

Using Temple U. and Doylestown as a guideline, many towns in the nearer northern 'burbs may possibly fit: Abington, Glenside, Upper Dublin, Hatboro, Ambler for starters. These are all basically older burbs with major thoroughfares in or near them. They're moderately diverse by suburban standards. While you'll find a fair share of families, you should also find some active couples as well.

And wearing a Niners jersey will probably get you some moderate razzing in the stands if we're playing you that day... but not as bad as if you wore one from our division, especially the dreaded (and recently butt-whooped) Cowboys.

For a cheesesteak, go to Pat's and Geno's if you want to be able to tell your friends about it. Otherwise, "wherever" is likely better. My personal preference is Campo's on 2nd and Market downtown. There are a lot of opinions of course.

Originally Posted by BrassShrink

Hello. This is my first post, and have done some reading. This forum is very helpful, but I'm still in the process of gathering more information about moving to the Philadelphia area, so I'm going to throw my virtual hat into the virtual ring.

When are you moving? late June 2009

Where are you coming from? West Texas

Why are you moving?
1) We HATE West Texas!
2) We want to be closer to friends and familyin the Northeast.
3) We want closer access to more activities (e.g. snowboarding in the Poconos (and Vermont for those longer vacations) or day trips to NYC and DC).

Where will you be working? Don't know yet, either in NE Philly or Doylestown

Have you been here yet? I visited Philadelphia once in the early 90s, and my wife is from NJ, near Cherry Hill.I'll be going there for job interviews within the next few weeks.

Will you buy or rent? Rent for the time being, while we save up for a house. House price range $300-500K

If renting, are you looking for an apartment, a townhouse or loft? Townhouse/condo or apartment

How much can you spend? $1000-1800/month

Do you prefer hi-rise or walk up? Walk-up preferred

Are you married or single? Do you have children? Married, no kids, in our early 40s, but act like we're ten years younger.

Do you prefer public or private schools? Public university for my wife

Do you have pets? No, but we want to adopt one or two dogs.

Do you want or need a yard? It's not a deal-breaker if we don't have one right now.

Are you keeping a car? We have one car and would like to keep it.

Do you prefer bustling activity or calm and quiet? Yes

What do you want to be closest to? Somewhere that's easy to access my work and access Temple University (likely place she'd end up going).

Do you want to live with people of a similar age, race, religion or sexual preference or do you prefer a diverse neighborhood? Racial/religious/sexual orientation diversity is desirable, preferring a place with a younger (late 20s- late 40s) demographic, that's friendly toward couples without kids.

Coke or Pepsi? Coke Zero, 'nuff said.

(And how tacky is it wearing 49ers gear to a game at the Linc?)

And maybe I'll finally have one of those cheesesteaks from Pat's/Geno's/Wherever's. Thanks.

[BrassShrink]

Originally Posted by Tone509

one from our division, especially the dreaded (and recently butt-whooped) Cowboys.

Never!

Thanks for the info.

[BrassShrink]

What about Horsham? Is there good train access to Center City or, say, Friends Hospital from either there or Ambler?

[Tone509]

Originally Posted by BrassShrink

What about Horsham? Is there good train access to Center City or, say, Friends Hospital from either there or Ambler?

You can catch a train from neighboring Horsham into Center City.

Which Friends Hospital location would you be referring to?

[maf763]

Public transport to Friends Hospital isn't great as you would have to take a bus. The drive from Horsham would probably be in the neighborhood of 45 minutes, but could be worse depending on time of day. Horsham doesn't have a train station, but you wouldn't be far from Ambler or Hatboro stations for CC access.

[BrassShrink]

I think I was (already) getting my Hatboro and my Horsham mixed up.

Thanks again!

[BrassShrink]

Originally Posted by Tone509

Which Friends Hospital location would you be referring to?

In NE Philly

[Tone509]

Originally Posted by BrassShrink

In NE Philly

Ah, in that case you'd be driving to Friends Hospital. Even if you didn't mind riding into Center City and switching trains, the closest stop is too far from the hospital. You'll be driving there.