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Philly is kind of a mirage. On the surface it seems affordable with the average rent at around $1800. However if you drill down into neighborhoods you would actually want to live in its more like $2500-$2800. https://www.rentcafe.com/average-ren.../philadelphia/
Fishtown and Northern Liberties, the two neighborhoods I'd be interested in living in if I ever moved to Philly, both having rents at over $2K a month. Damn, was not expecting those prices
Pittsburgh is affordable it seems but walkable? It has a small downtown core but once you're outside of that it's like a scattering of small towns all lumped together over hills, not my idea of a walkable city.
Not surprised Chicago and Philadelphia are on here, can't go wrong with either city.
Buffalo is cheap af and underrated, crappy winters though
Pittsburgh does indeed have many walkable self-contained neighborhoods where you can live sans car or "car-lite". South Side Flats, Lawrenceville, Oakland, Downtown, the Strip District, Bloomfield, Shadyside, Allegheny West, East Allegheny, Squirrel Hill, Mt. Washington, and the Mexican War Streets all come to mind as premier urban neighborhoods with tons of walkability.
Fishtown and Northern Liberties, the two neighborhoods I'd be interested in living in if I ever moved to Philly, both having rents at over $2K a month. Damn, was not expecting those prices
I'll repeat to you what I've been trying to tell kyle19125 — those five digits, btw, are Fishtown's ZIP code; do they live here?:
If you cast your net a little wider, you will probably be able to find an apartment you like in a neighborhood you will like at a rent that's more reasonable.
In your case, I'd suggest looking in East Passyunk in South Philly. The heart of this neighborhood has a Walk Score of 99, equal to that of any Center City neighborhood, and the dining and shopping scene along the street that gives the area its name, East Passyunk Avenue, is IMO every bit as good as that along Frankford Avenue in Fishtown.
This 2018 article gives you a quick feel for East Passyunk:
And while the anchor feature I wrote for the 2022 Real Estate Issue focuses on the suburbs, you will find at the very end summaries of some of the most walkable neighborhoods in Philadelphia outside Center City (there are several):
I mean, you're probably not going to walk into even Old City from Fishtown regularly. Northern Liberties, maybe, but that neighborhood's pricier than Fishtown. In which case, why not cast your net a little wider?
The difference being you have to take some form of transit (regional rail mostly) to reach "downtown" with a median of $1500 versus Chicago where you're already there. https://www.apartments.com/apartment...7rh1x2xJmngr-O
Your link is NOT showing any neighborhoods/apartments that are part of Chicago's "downtown." These are all North Side neighborhoods that are north of downtown. Technically in the southern portions you could walk to downtown, but almost anyone in these neighborhoods would use public transit (L or bus).
Downtown Brooklyn, Williamsburg, Greenpoint, Fort Green, Dumbo, Bay Ridge
Long Island City Queens, Flushing, Downtown Jamaica Queens, Jackson Heights, Astoria
In the metro area outside of NYC
Jersey City, NJ
Hoboken, NJ
Stamford, CT
Downtown Newark, NJ
Downtown White Plains, NY
Downtown New Rochelle, NY
Downtown New Haven, CT
South Norwalk, CT
Jersey City, Stamford, Hoboken, and Norwalk are very very expensive.
New Haven is outside NYC realm.
Although, White Plains, New Rochelle I agree with... even places like Morristown.
I thought I had responded to this thread a month or so ago. I've lived in Chicago and currently St. Louis.
Chicago is definitely a world class city that is under rated. I personally would rate it 2nd best city for urban living.
St. Louis offers an urban experience on a much smaller scale. I personally wouldn't want to live in a smaller metro. I do enjoy my life here. I think it should be in the top 10 for urban affordability.
I thought I had responded to this thread a month or so ago. I've lived in Chicago and currently St. Louis.
Chicago is definitely a world class city that is under rated. I personally would rate it 2nd best city for urban living.
St. Louis offers an urban experience on a much smaller scale. I personally wouldn't want to live in a smaller metro. I do enjoy my life here. I think it should be in the top 10 for urban affordability.
I think this is a good list.
I agree that it's a good list, except I don't think Cleveland should be ranked that high. I'd put St. Louis and Milwaukee above Cleveland for starters. Although is Cleveland much cheaper than those places? That's the only reason I could see it would rank higher.
Pittsburgh does indeed have many walkable self-contained neighborhoods where you can live sans car or "car-lite". South Side Flats, Lawrenceville, Oakland, Downtown, the Strip District, Bloomfield, Shadyside, Allegheny West, East Allegheny, Squirrel Hill, Mt. Washington, and the Mexican War Streets all come to mind as premier urban neighborhoods with tons of walkability.
Oakland, Bloomfield, Shadyside & Squirrel Hill are the only ones I would consider walkable where people who don't have a car would find it easier to reside FT. The rest are either too hilly to walk or ghetto. I liked nearby Dormont but those hills wore me out.
Quote:
Jersey City, NJ
Hoboken, NJ
Stamford, CT
Downtown Newark, NJ
Downtown White Plains, NY
Downtown New Rochelle, NY
Downtown New Haven, CT
South Norwalk, CT
As far as bang for your buck goes, I think Tacoma is definitely up there. It's much less urban and much smaller than Chicago, Philly, and even Pittsburgh. It is however part of a much larger metro area which offers anything you could want. My reasons for putting it in the top is of course affordibility, and also it does offer an urban experience. The transit is good, it has a street car which has been expanded and is set to open next year, it offers urban districts outside of downtown, each with it's own personality, Tacoma has a relatively mild climate compared to East Coast or midwest cities, it rarely snows but you have access to winter fun in the nearby Cascade or Olympic mountain ranges, you have direct access to Puget Sound beaches, watersports, fishing, World Class parks (see Pt. Defiance), out standing museums, a thriving artist communtiy, quality food, and rich history. Not to mention, it's absolutely stunning and is about 20 miles closer to Mt. Rainier than Seatle which makes for an epic backdrop.
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