Single Female moving to Philly, looking for affordable, safe apts. (Philadelphia: apartments, to rent)

[covegirl06]

I'm a 21 y.o. single female who's considering relocating to Philadelphia (coming from TX). I want to travel more, but I'm a little (ok, a lot, lol) nervous about moving there as I don't know anyone there. My main concern is safety and affordable housing. Don't wanna end up homeless nor do I want to get shot (lol). Like I said, I'm a single, 100lb female. I can tolerate thefts, burglaries, and OCCASIONAL murders (lol). But... Well, I think you all get the point. In my current town you can find a 1 bd room for a little under $500. Is that even possible in Philadelphia? The most I'm willing to spend is $600. What about Darby, PA? It's pretty close to the city and the cost of living there seems to be lower.

I tried checking out apts. on apartments.com but they were all really pricey ($800-$1,000 for 1bd room). Oh yeah, I don't have a car. But I most likely won't need one there, right? Anyway, I have about $4,500 saved up but I don't know how far that will get me, especially sense I don't know how long it will take for me to get a job. Soo, I kinda came up with a plan on how I can save money. But please, don't laugh. I'm serious. I was thinking about living in a self-storage until I get a job and an apt. (so I'm not just spending $$$). I even picked out my storage, lol. Port Richmond Self-storage located on 2625 Wheatheaf Ln. Is anyone familiar with this storage and this area? (still worried about my safety, but I guess I could always dress up like a bum? lol).

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

[newmarlig]

I really don't know about living in a storage unit.

Here are some possibilities on Craig's list. All in ok areas, but I can't say anything about the apartments themselves.

http://philadelphia.craigslist.org/


Mod edit - Craigslist is okay to link, but NOT individual apartments

Good luck

[covegirl06]

Thanks, Newmar!

[rainrock]

If this thread is serious.

You definitely DO NOT want to live in Darby, scratch that idea off your list completey. Center City,University City, Manayunk or bust.

$500 bucks doesnt go very far around here. Imo you may want to consider sharing an apartment/ house with other people who have qualities in common with you. Obviously do your homework and make reasonably sure you and your potential roommate/s will get along. There are alot of college and art students looking for roommates. Craigslist might be a good start.

Good luck

[FindingZen]

Definitely look into finding a roommate in the city, preferably in the areas that rainrock has already noted. You won't be the first twentysomething person sharing space together. It's also good that you're open to if not also prepared for urban reality. It would still be a good idea to travel with new friends - preferably trusted male ones - when going out at night.

[chessimprov]

TX has a much cheaper cost of living than safe places in Philly or than many other places for that matter. I would suggest you have some kind of job before coming up here even if it's just P/T or something. That will definitely make a difference.

[KansastoSouthphilly]

I live in a 1bdrm apartment in South Philly (passyunk square). The total rent is $600/mo. It is a safe area close to public transit and all the bars/shops on East Passyunk Avenue. I was lucky, however, to find this place. $600/mo will not leave you with many options. You might want to look into renting a room in a house. There are many such places on craigslist. This would certainly be better than living in a storage unit.

I would really check out the neighborhood before moving in. Even the safe areas in Philadelphia can seem intimidating to those who are not used to the blight of east coast cities.

I would not live in the suburbs if you don't have a car. You can probably take the regional rail into the city but it will likely be difficult to walk to get groceries and other necessary items. Keep in mind that you can sign up for zipcar/philly car share to have car access.

[MikeFromPhilly]

What is wrong with you people? why are you telling this girl to move here? If I were you I would stay in Texas or any other nice city or suburb.If you want to move up north then move somewhere nicer.I was raised here.I've lived here in Philadelphia since I was 4 years old and I hate this place.There's no jobs unless you have some sort of degree and even then it's hard getting good paying jobs,there's high crime,drugs,violence,ignorant people,high rent,the city is broke,pot holes everywhere,no parking spaces etc. I suggest you look into this place if you do decide to move here because no matter where you move in Philadelphia you WILL deal with all of these issues.You won't find a nice place to live for $600 a month rent so you might as well forget it.Darby is a poor borough of Delaware county which has the same issues as Philly and Chester City PA.There's public transportation everywhere from trains,trolleys to buses so you don't need a car but in a dangerous city like this you don't want to be sitting around waiting for buses and stuff at all hours of the night by yourself.Down south equals a better environment,lower cost of living,jobs & better weather most of the time.

[covegirl06]

Mikefromphilly, what ARE the nicer places up north (that are affordable)? My dream has always been to move to NY ... But I don't wanna end up homeless, lol. I think most ppl who have lived in a city (or town) their entire lives will usually advise ppl who are thinking about relocating there to remain put. I live in a small city. And granted it might be cheap here, there's basically NOTHING here! That's probably why it's so cheap. NO young person living here wants to be here, lol. They hate it, but they remain here for whatever reason! Fear, being away from family? who knows!

The nearest big city is Austin. But Austin ain't exactly cheap either. And then there's Dallas and Houston... They're OK. I just wanted to move outside of TX, just to experince other states. And well, right now, you're kinda killing that dream

Btw, WHY don't you move to TX if you think Philly sucks and TX is so GREAT???

[solibs]

covegirl - from some reason it's still ingrained in the culture, in this part of the country anyway, that the grass is greener down south or out west. I tried it. The grass is plenty green here. People that have never left here can't understand it. If you no point of comparison you can't truly appreciate what you have. And I say that as someone who moved here 10 years ago and who is originally from a leafy, victorian town on the Jersey coast.

Just as one would imagine in Dallas or Houston, there are bad neighborhoods and good neighborhoods. Except the crime in Houston, for one, is worse than in Philly.

As others have suggested you should really network, find friends of friends who live in Philly, find a room that way. Craigslist is not bad either - some of us here know what an apartment should cost so if you let us know we can tell you if it's a good deal or if it seems fishy. For $500 you can get a room in a nice house in a good neighborhood like Passyunk Square, Bella Vista, Grad. Hospital, Fairmount, etc. and definitely in University City.