Latino Neighborhoods (Philadelphia, Erie, York: middle-class, apartment, rent)

[valpez]

I am considering relocating to Philadelphia, and I would prefer to live in a neighborhood that has a strong Latino culture.

Using this thread (//www.city-data.com/forum/phila...ve-philly.html), I made this list of suggested neighborhoods that have a Latino presence:
Kensington
Norristown
Frankford
Olney
Fishtown
"South Philly"

Of those neighborhoods, or any others that aren't on the list of course, which one would best fit the following criteria:
1. Low crime
2. Best access to public transportation
3. Max rent of $750 for studio or 1 bedroom apartment
4. Less than an hour from Center City

Thanks!

[bryson662001]

Port Richmond between Allegheny and Castor and Aramingo and I-95. This area fits your requirements better than anything on your list. It's not pretty and it tends to be a poor neighborhood but decent hardworking people and that is your budget. Aramingo Ave is a major shopping area with most of the big box and national chains, supermarkets, fast food etc. represented and everyone there speaks spanish.

[sweendog024]

South Philly east of broad street also might fit your criteria, start looking around the Italian Market (which has a ton of Latino stores these days)

[otters21]

Many parts of the Northeast are possibilities but please avoid Oxford Circle- Summerdale, Frankford, and parts of Castor Gardens and Lawncrest.

[vascomartin]

My neighborhood, Feltonville.

[PennKid]

Originally Posted by bryson662001

Port Richmond between Allegheny and Castor and Aramingo and I-95. This area fits your requirements better than anything on your list. It's not pretty and it tends to be a poor neighborhood but decent hardworking people and that is your budget. Aramingo Ave is a major shopping area with most of the big box and national chains, supermarkets, fast food etc. represented and everyone there speaks spanish.

While many of the workers along Aramingo are of Puerto Rican descent, the neighborhood you speak of (East Port Richmond) is one of the whitest in Philadelphia, of overwhelmingly Polish ancestry; recent upscale house construction means that it has gotten even whiter since 2000. I know because I hung out here all the time as recently as 4 or 5 years ago. In addition, the census tells me it is 96% white in 2010, compared to 92% in 2000.

You have to understand that in Philly, one minority face in a working-class white neighborhood was often enough for the white residents to get the perception that the neighborhood was turning over rapidly. The consequences of this were negative both for the white community as well as the minorities seeking a safer, integrated environment. That's not to say there aren't heavily Hispanic neighborhoods in the city. Here's a breakdown of sorts:

I would say there are four main types of Hispanics in Philadelphia- Puerto Ricans who live relatively insularly and keep deep connections to their heritage, Puerto Ricans who have assimilated into their Philly's neighborhoods mostly white or black working class culture, immigrant Mexicans, and immigrant South Americans.

One decent Latino neighborhood in Philly of the first type is the one around Norris Square in eastern North Philly, where gentrification to the south and east have forced the area to spruce up, without removing the heavily Puerto Rican residents there now. The parts by the park are beautiful.... Another example is 6th street in Northern Liberties from Spring Garden to Girard, which is the lone Puerto Rican holdout street in rapidly gentrifying NoLibs.

Further east, in a triange made by Front, Frankford, and about Erie to the North, you have the very poor, and very diverse (mix of Blacks, PRs, Irish, and Vietnamese) North Kensington community. The Puerto Ricans here are unlikely to speak Spanish and mostly identify with hip-hop culture. Juniata, to the North, just south of Juniata Park, is a more middle-class assimilated PR neighborhood.

In South Philly, you can find Mexicans on the side streets off Washington from about 13th to 5th, and then jutting further south around 7th and 8th Streets as far south as Tasker. Unlike Mexicans in cities like LA, the immigrants are scattered among Asian immigrants, working-class Italians, and hipsters, and they don't make up the majority of any neighborhood, but their presence is definitely felt. I think it's interesting that as a result of their integrated neighborhoods, their kids go to some pretty good public schools in South Philly, and their kids have excellent test scores, unlike their counterparts across much of the country. The young Chicanos here are more like their striving Asian counterparts than West Coast cholos....

Finally, in the semi-suburban NEast, you have a similar situation with South Americans, who are scattered amongst other immigrants, long-established lower-middle class Irish and Jewish whites, and newer lower-middle-class home buyers. The most will be found in the triangle made by Summerdale to the West, Tyson to the North, and Roosevelt Blvd to the East, and cut off by Oxford to the South.

I hope this helps. I am proud of the vibrancy of some of Philly's Latino neighborhoods, and just because they're relatively fewer in number than in New York, doesn't make this a bad city for Latinos at all. In many ways, it has allowed the Latino community to adjust to life better, when exposed to other groups around them....

[Sensei Han]

Don't do it.

[bryson662001]

Originally Posted by PennKid

While many of the workers along Aramingo are of Puerto Rican descent, the neighborhood you speak of (East Port Richmond) is one of the whitest in Philadelphia, ............

Although you sound like you know what you are talking about, I have to wonder where all those spanish speaking people on Aramingo Av come from. It isn't just the workers in the stores, it is also most of the customers. Why would they come from outside the area to work and shop there? I do know that the area to the south is Polish.

[PennKid]

Originally Posted by bryson662001

Although you sound like you know what you are talking about, I have to wonder where all those spanish speaking people on Aramingo Av come from. It isn't just the workers in the stores, it is also most of the customers. Why would they come from outside the area to work and shop there? I do know that the area to the south is Polish.

I think it's simply because Aramingo Ave is the closest shopping area to the large bloc of Hispanic neighborhoods to the north and northwest. It's a sad fact of urban commerce that few major retailers will open up 'in the hood'. For many of their shopping needs, Port Richmond's white shoppers prefer the shopping center south of Aramingo on the other side of Lehigh.