Possibly moving to the Del-Val in a year (Philadelphia, Chester: 2010, apartments)

[papilgee4evaeva]

Hey all,

I'm in the process of gathering information for a possible move to Philadelphia (or vicinity) for me and my wife next year. Instead of searching the forum for answers to other people's questions, I'll pose my own:

When are you moving? June 2010
Where are you coming from? Metro Baltimore
Why are you moving? If we come to Philadelphia, it's so I can work on my doctorate at Temple
Where will you be working? I'd be a GA at Temple, my wife would be a teacher
Have you been here yet? I drove through on a weekend trip to NY and stopped for a cheesesteak on the way back...

Will you buy or rent? Rent
If buying, are you looking for a house or a condo? How much can you spend? N/A
If renting, are you looking for an apartment, a townhouse or loft? How much can you spend? Would prefer a standalone or townhouse but would settle for an apartment if we had to... $1100ish is our set limit
Do you prefer hi-rise or walk up? Walk-up

Are you married or single? Do you have children? Married, no kids... yet
Do you prefer public or private schools? N/A
Do you have pets? No
Do you want or need a yard? I'd like one, but...
Are you keeping a car? Yes
Do you prefer bustling activity or calm and quiet? Somewhere in between... I'd like to hear more silence than traffic at night

What do you want to be closest to?
Work 3
Shopping 4
Basic services (supermarket, drugstore, etc.) 2
Nightlife 5
Train or subway stations 1

Do you want to live with people of a similar age, race, religion or sexual preference or do you prefer a diverse neighborhood? We kinda like diversity... everyone has something to offer

Coke or Pepsi? Mountain Dew

PS: I'm not against living in Delaware, so if anyone has experience with places down there, I'd like to hear. Oh, and because both my wife and I like pumping our own gas (and because she is a native NYC'er), New Jersey is not an option.

Thanks for your help!

[niceguy19125]

I'd recommend Chestnut Hill and West Mount Airy, which are neighborhoods in the extreme northwest section of the city. Chestnut Hill has a really nice/quaint downtown area that is safe, has every service you could think of and at the same time a quiet area also. It very much has a small town feel. Here you'll find less newer box-like apartments and more converted rentals in older more historic buildings which has an appeal for many. Parking isn't an issue like most areas of the city either. The neighborhood has an expensive reputation, which holds true for purchasing homes, however rentals are for whatever reason in line with similar safe areas of the city. There are a lot of parks and greenspace which is nice for city living. West Mount Airy is the neighborhood to the east that has far less commercial offerings but is a great neighborhood nonetheless. It has a crunchy granola vibe, translating into for the most part, some very nice neighbors and a community feel.
Avoid East Mount Airy which can be dicey. As a rule the further west closer to Chestnut Hill are the nicer areas of West Mt Airy...or west of Germantown Avenue.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chestnu...,_Pennsylvania
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_A...,_Pennsylvania

[Joe84323]

Since I didn't see a question, I'm going to assume you're looking for recommendation of places in which to live. Delaware is a good 30-40 minute drive. In Philly, I'd live maybe around Christian, or Ellsworth a couple blocks off broad. 15 Minutes, two blocks walk, and you're at Temple.

You'd also be somewhat close to South Street that way, which has a couple good supermarkets, and lots of other fun stuff to do.

[niceguy19125]

Originally Posted by Joe84323

Since I didn't see a question, I'm going to assume you're looking for recommendation of places in which to live. Delaware is a good 30-40 minute drive. In Philly, I'd live maybe around Christian, or Ellsworth a couple blocks off broad. 15 Minutes, two blocks walk, and you're at Temple.

You'd also be somewhat close to South Street that way, which has a couple good supermarkets, and lots of other fun stuff to do.

The question was attached in the "sticky" for new residents. The OP is looking for a quieter, more diverse neighborhood with train accessibility to Temple. They also plan to keep a car and need parking availability.

[papilgee4evaeva]

Thanks for the info.

Chestnut Hill and West Mt. Airy, huh... I hadn't heard much about Chestnut Hill for some reason but will be checking it out. Come to think of it, I tend to see a lot of recommendations about NW Philly, Roxborough being one of them. Any more?

Also, any suggestions on suburbia?

[DanceOfDays]

You have lots of options if you want to fan out into the (Pennsylvania) suburban side of things. I would follow the regional rail lines out, the R5, both Lansdale and Paoli/Thornadale, the R3 to Media would be my suggestions. There are towns along all three of those lines that could very well have exactly what you're looking for. The Media-Wallingford area on the R3, or the Glenside/Oreland/Ambler/Abington area might be good places to look. The train ride would be a quite a bit longer than the ride from say, Chestnut Hill though.

[newmarlig]

Does your wife have a teaching job? That location would help in giving recommendations.

[niceguy19125]

Originally Posted by papilgee4evaeva

Thanks for the info.

Chestnut Hill and West Mt. Airy, huh... I hadn't heard much about Chestnut Hill for some reason but will be checking it out. Come to think of it, I tend to see a lot of recommendations about NW Philly, Roxborough being one of them. Any more?

Also, any suggestions on suburbia?

Some parts of Roxborough are pretty good, I'd go more with the north end.
East Falls is also decent if you stick to the more northern and western sections.
If you can swing it, I think you'd really like the feel of Chestnut Hill and West Mount Airy. Check it out.

[niceguy19125]

Originally Posted by papilgee4evaeva

Thanks for the info.
Also, any suggestions on suburbia?

For suburbia, I would look at the towns of Jenkintown, Elkins Park or Glenside north of the city. They offer more frequent SEPTA train service as 3 or 4 separate train lines come through ( R1, R2, R3 and R5..Glenside gets three, no R3) offering easy access to Temple and downtown.

SEPTA

[papilgee4evaeva]

newmarlig: No, she doesn't have a job yet (the current year hasn't even started yet here!)... we're waiting to make sure we'll be headed Philly before setting up shop. If I know my wife, though, she'd be looking at districts in Chester, Montgomery, and Bucks counties.