Philadelphia vs Lakewood WA (living, cost, better, crime)

[looneytic81]

I have an offer in both locations, am torn between the two and would love to hear anyone's opinion. I would live in the Northwest/West Lakewood/Steilacoom area in Washington or Spruce Hill in Philadelphia, PA. to be close to where I work and have thoroughly researched apartment costs, anaylzed other expenses and worked out the math, including taxes in each location. I am a 36y/o single white male who prefers city life, sitting outside a cafe or restaurant on a warm day, and typical, European, gastronomic offerings such as breads, cheeses, pastries, cuisines etc. I prefer sunny, very warm, clear skies over cold, wet and overcast.


Philadelphia Pros:
City - never get bored, teeming with life, so many options
International Airport with cheaper and shorter flights overseas
Closer to my family, still a 1.5hr flight
Close to NY and DC

Cons:
-More crime - I don't care for it's reputation for crime
-worse air quality
-no vehicle, but don't need one and am used to not having one, i'll be biking about a mile to work




Lakewood Pros:
-a bit more money - about $2k p/y more in "go and have fun" money
-better air quality
-less crime
-Not far from Tacoma/Seattle
-scenic beauty
-will have a vehicle

cons:
-far from anywhere I'd want to go, except Hawaii, and maybe some national parks
-further from family, but only a 4hr non-stop flight
-live in the burbs


Thank you for your replies.

[mhays25]

Lakewood Wa? It's totally suburban, plus the charm of being just outside a massive military base with all the crapholes that entails. (There are nice corners of Lakewood, but you're still navigating suburban crap to get there, and forget about walking to anything.)

[looneytic81]

BTW I live and work in a small suburban town in the Midwest and I would consider either location a huge step up in terms of money and location.

[thedirtypirate]

I am bias so of course I would suggest to come here, but Spruce Hill is a good neighborhood in the blossoming University City district. Clark Park is a nice feature of the neighborhood. A lot of cool old Victorian houses.

[fluffydelusions]

I lived in the Philadelphia suburbs for a year before moving to Washington. They are both (obviously) very different. Philly is one of the biggest cities in the country and has all the amenities to go along with it. Lakewood, Wa is a suburb with a population of ~58k outside of Tacoma. TBH, reading your post sounds like you want Philly more. Also:

"I prefer sunny, very warm, clear skies over cold, wet and overcast"

You definitely want Philly as the majority of the year in Lakewood would be wet and overcast.

[Edward234]

Lakewood is kind of a suburban hellhole and is dominated by the military presence. Not high crime but not necessarily low either and there are definitely some run down parts of town.

You'd be close to Tacoma, which is a cool blue collar city with a lot of potential (it used to be kind of ghetto in sections but has improved a ton in the last decade), so that's a plus.

How much do you care about hiking and nature, because that's a definite advantage over Philly.

But Philly has so much more culture and gives you a big city experience (sure, you'd have Seattle not too far, but it's not like you're going to be able to enjoy it ever day or even every week.) Philly will be far more intellectually stimulating than a generic, somewhat run down suburb filled with military.

How about actually living in Tacoma and commuting to Lakewood. Tacoma has some fun neighborhoods, an urban feel downtown and a lot of character and older architecture. As an alternative suggestion, DuPont is also military heavy but has a more planned community feel downtown with some restaurants and bars and residential units right downtown. I'd recommend it over Lakewood as well.