Should I Sign My Life Away in Bridesburg? 80,000 (Philadelphia: safest neighborhood, high school)

[lmike6453]

Hey everyone first time on the site and first post here /wave and yes I did search before posting this but want some more details about my worries.

So the place I'm looking at mortgaging is only a whopping 80,000 in Bridesburg by Simon and James St scroll down for map. I work in Center City.

I read that Bridesburg west of I-95 isn't so good compared to east of I-95.
I read that Bridesburg is a strange duck neighborhood..does that mean weird?
Do I have to worry about getting shot or stabbed?
Do I have to worry about vandalism/robbery?
Do I have to worry about parking?
Do I have to worry about flooding?

Basically how is the area from your spectrum of view and why do you see it that way(lived there before or just drove through)?

Thank you all in advance as you are my only source for an opinion of the area

[pman]

In my experience its.pretty safe, isolated, and white. Theres only a small sliver west of and the highway has cut it off. If you feel comfortable there its probably a good move. Dont think its going downhill.

[frankgn87]

depends.. If you have school age kids I would stay far away from the city... Otherwise, Bridesburg is okay but for a little more you can live in a safer, cleaner area in the burbs

[PennKid]

Originally Posted by lmike6453

Hey everyone first time on the site and first post here /wave and yes I did search before posting this but want some more details about my worries.

So the place I'm looking at mortgaging is only a whopping 80,000 in Bridesburg by Simon and James St scroll down for map. I work in Center City.

I read that Bridesburg west of I-95 isn't so good compared to east of I-95.
I read that Bridesburg is a strange duck neighborhood..does that mean weird?
Do I have to worry about getting shot or stabbed?
Do I have to worry about vandalism/robbery?
Do I have to worry about parking?
Do I have to worry about flooding?

Basically how is the area from your spectrum of view and why do you see it that way(lived there before or just drove through)?

Thank you all in advance as you are my only source for an opinion of the area

Ill try to answer your questions part by part.

Bridesburg west of I-95, 'Frankford Valley' isn't bad at all, either, it just doesn't have much of a neighborhood identity compared to East Bridesburg. Both are statistically some of the safest neighborhoods in the city.

Bridesburg has a very insular neighborhood culture, so if you are not from there, it may take some time for residents not so much to accept you, but simply to understand the world you are from... this is what is meant by 'Strange Duck'.

No, you will not get robbed.

No, you will not get strangled.

Parking can be tight on small side streets.

Your basement may indeed flood sometimes.

My views of Bridesburg come from my experiences hanging out there in high school in college... being an immigrant from Poland, I bonded quickly with the few Polish kids in my high school, who tended to live either in Bridesburg or in neighboring Port Richmond. It tells you something that on many nights we considered ourselves the worst hooligans in Bridesburg... because we were lighting sparklers in the street.

Bridesburg barely mentally registers as Philly. It sort of feels like a small town somewhere in rural upstate PA or NJ floated down the river and lodged itself by an industrial patch in Philly; if you forget about the factories on its outskirts you would think corn grows on the other side of the Regional Rail tracks. It is quiet. It is insular. It has friendly-enough neighbors who sometimes lack a certain... refinement. It is very, very white- that is probably the one thing people know about it in Philly. It is by no means party central... if you dare to play your music loud enough it is heard on the streets, be ready for an old woman to give you a stern finger-wagging.

I hope this helps. I tried to be honest. It is a very nice neighborhood, probably one of the greatest ones in the city to raise a family. It can also be a boring neighborhood. Decide for yourself which is more important.

[Truth11]

Originally Posted by lmike6453

So the place I'm looking at mortgaging is only a whopping 80,000 in Bridesburg by Simon and James St scroll down for map. I work in Center City.

I read that Bridesburg west of I-95 isn't so good compared to east of I-95.
I read that Bridesburg is a strange duck neighborhood..does that mean weird?
Do I have to worry about getting shot or stabbed?
Do I have to worry about vandalism/robbery?
Do I have to worry about parking?
Do I have to worry about flooding?

Basically how is the area from your spectrum of view and why do you see it that way(lived there before or just drove through)?

I like your title 'signing your life away'...very fitting;

We moved to Bridesburg from south Philly in 2007 due to rising costs and as for your questions...

Strange duck...you could say that,but what Philly neighborhood isn't.
Getting shot,probably not...stabbed,only if you go to the problem bars late at night.
There are occasional waves of vandalism and car break ins...there was another forum for the neighborhood which verified this but the site is off and on due to problems maintaining it. There is a small paper called the Bridesburg Bulletin which also gives the happenings around.
Parking is probably the biggest problem,as with most areas of the city...never did I think I'd end up living on 'Main Street USA' with constant traffic flow for such a small back street.
Flooding is usually minimal.

[boxercrew4]

Originally Posted by lmike6453

Hey everyone first time on the site and first post here /wave and yes I did search before posting this but want some more details about my worries.

So the place I'm looking at mortgaging is only a whopping 80,000 in Bridesburg by Simon and James St scroll down for map. I work in Center City.

I read that Bridesburg west of I-95 isn't so good compared to east of I-95.
I read that Bridesburg is a strange duck neighborhood..does that mean weird?
Do I have to worry about getting shot or stabbed?
Do I have to worry about vandalism/robbery?
Do I have to worry about parking?
Do I have to worry about flooding?

Basically how is the area from your spectrum of view and why do you see it that way(lived there before or just drove through)?

Thank you all in advance as you are my only source for an opinion of the area

If you have no problems with ..., Bridesburg is fine. The old original Polish people are very nice, but are dying off and trash is moving in. If you are a professional who works in center city, you will be treated as an outsider. In fact, I once had a neighbor ask me where I worked and when I replied 17th and Market, the response was all the way down there..as if I had said North Pole. If the housing prices hadn't dropped so much since I bought mine 4 years ago, I'd be long gone by now. The only thing the people around here care about is A. You are not black B. You sweep your sidewalk. They don't mind screaming conversations across the street to each other, that their kids are on drugs or in rehab, or that their family fights spill out into the street. For an example, We had a new neighbor move in next door. He seemed ok, divorced guy in late 30's. Asked to use our lawnmower a couple times. One night, he knocked on our door late at night and offered to thank us. He whipped out a rock of crack and asked if we wanted to come in and smoke it with him. If that is not your thing, run for your life from Bridesburg. PS I've lived in the city most of my life, there are better area's but you will pay a higher price for them.

[FindingZen]

It would appear that the OP has made up their mind since their post almost three months ago.

Closed.