Has anyone in Philadelphia considered moving?....

[otters21]

In 1994 , I had to move out of Philly because my job went bye-bye due to the 1993 BRAC and OPM was able to place me on another job here in Columbus Ohio. It was not due to white flight ,rising crime , section 8 etc. In fact the neighborhood I left was then a blue collar ethnic family area and since then it has gentrifried with professionals moving in and trendy spots opening. However, truth to be told, when I look back, I feel I have made the best decision moving to Ohio. Reason being since I left Philly many , if not most, of affordable blue collar neighborhoods had seen severe decline and are no longer all that safe and I would have have been priced out in most of the neighborhoods that are still decent and safe. Back then I was a single woman living on my own and I could not afford the more pricey areas on the salary I was making.

[Boompa]

Actually, while I was in Vietnam my family moved to the suburbs. Whn I got back I mooved near them.

[phoenix762]

Originally Posted by 100percent

why?

I have a feeling this is not what you are looking for...but, here goes...

I lived in South Philly when I was a kid....and while I had great friends, I hated the area I lived in. I used to dream that a huge bulldozer would just level 2nd Street.

I left in 1979, moved to a group home in Rosemont, PA. Talk about culture shock!
I stayed in the suburbs for years, then joined the service, and moved to KY, lived there for 11 years.

I moved back to my old neighborhood in 2007....and wow, it is different in some very good ways....granted, South Philly isn't perfect, but it's so much nicer (to me, anyhow) than it was in the late 60's to late 70's.

The public schools leave a lot to be desired, though. My son goes to school out of his catchment area, and it's ok. His grades are very good, however, so we are hoping he will be able to go to a great HS.

[phlydude]

yes and did when I was 24 - mainly, we weren't ready to buy a house and didn't like apartments in the Northeast where we would have considered living

We moved to apartments in Lansdale and we made a trade-off, neighbors that didn't speak to each other in exchange for lower crime, less air and noise pollution, 3% reduction in wage tax and a little better proximity to nice shopping (Montgomeryville area).

We since moved to Delaware to evade the property taxes (and no sales tax is nice too) and neighbors still don't talk as much (but do a little more because people own the property) and shopping is a little further removed but the infrastructure seems better and maintained well.

I would move back to MontCo, but wouldn't consider back to my old neighborhood (Bridesburg). As I have advanced my career and life, it just isn't a fit for me...I don't want to have to deal with the drug culture and the mentality that comes from a thug culture of non-disciplined children that are becoming adults. I don't need that to deal with on top of everything else I work towards.

[solibs]

Only on occassion do I consider leaving Philadelphia for the suburbs. Sometimes i think about moving back to Collingswood (i still have friends there) but then I go visit and that cures me of wanting to live there. I also sometimes think about moving back "home" to the Shore. Especially this time of year. But then I go visit, realize that I don't have many friends or family left there, see that it's been overrun by guidos and i'm a lot less interested.

I would consider leaving Philly for only a handful of other US cities and only if I had a good job lined up there.

More recently, and a lot more seriously, I've considered looking for work in Chile (lots of work in my field since the earthquake) as well as in Argentina and Uruguay (yes, I speak Spanish). Earthquake in Chile aside, things are going pretty well in all those countries. If I moved to South America it would be temporary. I wouldn't sell my house. Not sure how I would handle the culture in the long term and Chile and Argentina don't have great reputations when it comes to political stability. Argentina isn't great when it comes to economic stability either but i'll take the gravy while it's flowing.

Spain is my first choice for moving anywhere. When I go to Spain I usually don't want to come home so I would hope a move there could be long term to permanent. The only problem - the economy is so bad there right now that work in my field went from shooting fish in a barrel to "we'll pay you to go back to your own country." over the course of a year.

Canada is a serious contender. The cold is an issue but one I could probably overlook for the right job. Still, I would only be interested in Toronto, Vancouver or Calgary. Australia also has a lot of work right now for me but the 24 hour flight (vs. 6 hours to Madrid or Vancouver) makes it likely that it would be short-term. It would also only be if I could get work in one of the 5 major cities. Immigrants usually get stuck in the boonies where most Australians don't want to work.
Believe it or not, aussie culture might be another sticking point to a long-term stay.

[FindingZen]

Well as many of you may have noticed, I moved from Philly to the DC area before I joined City-Data.

One reason was to advance my career. For one, I enjoyed living in the city and it seemed like most of the job growth was happening out in the suburban areas where mass transit was sparse at best. While there is a King of Prussia equivalent out here as well - Tysons Corner in Virginia - there are also more jobs closer to the urban core as well.

Another reason was to advance my a personal relationship. Not that there weren't/aren't any lovely ladies in Philly, but this one happened to be in a place that I had thought about moving to for a while.

The final reason was that I'm only a fan of three out of the four seasons...and I've grown to resent autumn because of what it leads to. By Philly standards, winter is about a week shorter down here on average. Of course, that worked out for me real well this winter. The game plan now is to get to the point professionally where we have the option of moving somewhere even milder by the end of the decade.

All of that said, I'm still fond of my hometown. I always enjoy visiting but, as I said in my "24 hours" thread, I would consider moving back only if I had the disposable income to "winter" somewhere else.

[GraysFerryB4]

I lived in Grays ferry all of my life. Up til 27 with my parents and then in a house that was in our family. I fixed it up and enjoyed the block where I lived. Sadly, the once great area has been taken over by...you guessed it: "disadvantaged people". So disadvantaged that they cannot clean, turn down their radios, put out trash on the day its due out, discipline their children or respect the fact that they are living off tax money and in close proximity. That is not ALL of the "disadvantaged people"; but about 8 out of 10. My 83 year old parents, (on a fixed income), can somehow do so much more than 20 somethings in need of hand outs. We moved to Collingswood and enjoy the proximity and convenience without the problems. We are NOT "care free" as we pay exhorborant property tax and don't know our neighbors either. I miss that. I believe in the city but I feel it needs to be more PROactive instead of REactive to some of its issues. My partner has no desire to live there unless he has a moat and fire breathing dragon outside the row home.