Gay, relocating to Philly

[solibs]

Harrisburg and Pittsburgh are pretty liberal towns. But so is Austin, TX. So is Knoxville, TN. No one is denying that there are liberal, gay friendly enclaves all over the country. The question is, how far can you go before you've left the reservation? For Harrisburg, Austin and Knoxville the answer is "not very far."

And no, Central PA doesn't resemble Alabama. It's more like West Virginia or Western NC. The general populous isn't foaming at the mouth and running around with Fred Phelps but they are socially conservative.

[Gerania]

Originally Posted by kyle19125

A better option is Zipcar, which is equally prevalent, and if you're going completely carless allows access to Zipcars in 50+ US cities.
Zipcar

That's a great solution. Living in an area new to them, they'll want to explore and visit the Brandywine Valley, New Hope and other areas.

[GraysFerryB4]

Marriage Equality just went down in NJ but I still say you take a look at Collingswood...

[PhillyViaBoston]

I give a big thumbs up to Washington Square West ("the gayborhood") in Center City. I used to live at 11th & Waverly and LOVED it. (Moving only because I was pregnant with our 2nd kid and my husband thought we needed one of these damn "lawn" things, but I digress...) I walked to everything I needed within Center City, or took a cab for reasonable fare when I was rushed. I hardly ever used SEPTA.

The only high rise I can think of in that area is on the southeast corner of 8th & Walnut (maybe called The St. James?), but technically that may be pushing the boundary of WashWest. It's mostly row homes, apartments within row homes, and shorter apartment buildings in WashWest.

[GraysFerryB4]

I would agree that Wash West is a great area to live. Just understand that to live in center city proper, you are going to pay the center city price. If you have a car and need parking, lop on another 35K. For a 2 br/2 bath unit with parking you are looking at nothing under 475K before association fees. You may want to look at the emergence of East Passyunk Crossing. Just south of the italian market in S. Philly, it has become the new "gayborhood" of Philly. Row homes run about 225K with off street parking.

[gfspeople]

I would recommend around Rittenhouse square and old city. Being gay is pretty irrelevant in Philly, so I'll answer your other question by saying that old city and even society hill have great restaurants and also small coffee shops on every corner

[pwright600]

Thanks for the help in looking for a "neighborhood" and getting settled into Philly. My partner is already working having leased an apartment in the Washington Square area. We have sold our house with the closing date set for March 5 and I have sold one of our cars. My partner loves the public transit and tell me we can probably sell the other as he is finding it easy to get around town. I'll arrive shortly after a leisurely trek cross country.

This forum has been such a great help in guiding us to the right areas in the Philly metro and in general being a stress reducer in the midst of a very stressful situation.

[Tone509]

Thanks for checking in with an update! Glad to hear the good news. Good luck to you and your partner!

[newmarlig]

You made a great choice - welcome!

[solibs]

Originally Posted by pwright600

Thanks for the help in looking for a "neighborhood" and getting settled into Philly. My partner is already working having leased an apartment in the Washington Square area. We have sold our house with the closing date set for March 5 and I have sold one of our cars. My partner loves the public transit and tell me we can probably sell the other as he is finding it easy to get around town. I'll arrive shortly after a leisurely trek cross country.

excellent! congratulations on your move, new job, selling your home so quickly
and all that.

Sorry about the snow. I promise - 5 ft. of snow in 3 events is not at all normal.

PS - if you guys are thinking about getting rid of the other car you should definitely look into zipcar and PhillyCarShare - personally, i prefer zipcar but definitely research both.