Why you should live in Philadelphia (Montgomery: fit in, buy, schools)

[lititzman2003]

[quote=john_starks;8694943]yeah, that was great. after the last pitch i ran up to my roofdeck to listen to the people screaming, cars honking and fireworks. it was fun, but there was no way in hell i was heading over to braod street.

I had to explain to some of my neighbors who the Phillies were.

[john_starks]

yikes!

people don't have to like baseball (i'm not a huge fan) but c'mon!

[KansastoSouthphilly]

Why should you live in Philadelphia in comparison to where? If its living in Philly vs. living in the Philly suburbs then there are many reasons. I work in center city and I like being able to get to work by walking or taking a quick subway ride. I love living in walking distance to restaurants/bars. I am young and being able to go out with my friends without having to worry about driving home afterward is great. I like not having a car; I can get anywhere I need to go by public transit. If I have to drive I have philly car share or even Taxis at my disposal. I also walk much more living in the city and take advantage of my proximity to museums/sports teams more by living in the city.

The suburbs don't offer such amenities and as such I choose to live in Philadelphia.

[Tone509]

Originally Posted by lititzman2003

I had to explain to some of my neighbors who the Phillies were.

Wow, that's pretty bad! LOL

[lititzman2003]

Originally Posted by Tone509

Wow, that's pretty bad! LOL

I REALLY wish I was kidding! Sadly, we have a minor league team here called the Barnstormers.

[ScranBarre]

One advantage of Philadelphia is that you can enjoy car-free city-living without being over-charged for housing. I'm in the process of relocating to the Washington, DC metropolitan area to pursue a great offer of employment, and not only is the mass transit connectivity to the suburbs that I'm required to live in for my job duties not keeping pace with their outward growth/sprawl (leading to some heinous rush-hour gridlock thanks to the NIMBYs fighting mass transit expansion) but also if you attempt to live in a car-free (or at least nearly car-free) area you need to be affluent in most cases. I've looked online at some housing options in Philadelphia, and even in parts of Center City, an area where housing values have been skyrocketing throughout the past decade, there are many units that a single-income professional could afford to live in comfortably without over-extending themselves. I can't say the same about Washington, DC, where even if I wanted to live outside of the district in a place like Ballston/Clarendon/Rosslyn in the inner suburb of Arlington (along the Orange Line of the DC Metro mass transit) I'd have to get a roommate for a shoe-box-sized unit to be affordable. The same argument can be applied to New York City, but in the case of Philadelphia housing costs are more "in-line" with the spending power of most residents who want to live in the city. In my profession I'll likely be earning around $60,000 by age 24, but that $60,000 just goes so much further in a city like Philadelphia.

It's been incredibly frustrating realizing that as a person who abhors urban sprawl that I HAVE to live in the midst of it because Greater DC doesn't offer 1 BR/1 BA units that are affordable for those just starting out in non-car-centric areas. I wish starting salaries in DC would compensate one accordingly to the zany cost of housing, but I digress. For as much as some call Philadelphia "expensive" it is a BARGAIN compared to DC, NoVA, NJ, NYC, and many other parts of the BosWash Corridor.

[gfspeople]

Originally Posted by ScranBarre

One advantage of Philadelphia is that you can enjoy car-free city-living without being over-charged for housing. I'm in the process of relocating to the Washington, DC metropolitan area to pursue a great offer of employment, and not only is the mass transit connectivity to the suburbs that I'm required to live in for my job duties not keeping pace with their outward growth/sprawl (leading to some heinous rush-hour gridlock thanks to the NIMBYs fighting mass transit expansion) but also if you attempt to live in a car-free (or at least nearly car-free) area you need to be affluent in most cases. I've looked online at some housing options in Philadelphia, and even in parts of Center City, an area where housing values have been skyrocketing throughout the past decade, there are many units that a single-income professional could afford to live in comfortably without over-extending themselves. I can't say the same about Washington, DC, where even if I wanted to live outside of the district in a place like Ballston/Clarendon/Rosslyn in the inner suburb of Arlington (along the Orange Line of the DC Metro mass transit) I'd have to get a roommate for a shoe-box-sized unit to be affordable. The same argument can be applied to New York City, but in the case of Philadelphia housing costs are more "in-line" with the spending power of most residents who want to live in the city. In my profession I'll likely be earning around $60,000 by age 24, but that $60,000 just goes so much further in a city like Philadelphia.

It's been incredibly frustrating realizing that as a person who abhors urban sprawl that I HAVE to live in the midst of it because Greater DC doesn't offer 1 BR/1 BA units that are affordable for those just starting out in non-car-centric areas. I wish starting salaries in DC would compensate one accordingly to the zany cost of housing, but I digress. For as much as some call Philadelphia "expensive" it is a BARGAIN compared to DC, NoVA, NJ, NYC, and many other parts of the BosWash Corridor.

you are completely right about $60,000 goes a lot further in Philadelphia than in New York City

[frankgn87]

in a word.. NONE. City wax tax, car insurance, all the neighborhoods getting more dangerous daily.. I see no reason for anyone to live there..

Originally Posted by gfspeople

Are there any reasons that you should live in Philadelphia? Please comment

[MoorestownResident]

Agreed. You couldn't pay me to live in Philly though working in center city is not bad.

[Tone509]

I think we covered the negative perceptions of living in Philly in threads like this one:

http://www.city-data.com/forum/phila...ve-philly.html

Let's try to keep this particular thread positive.