Port Richmond- Up&Up or Down&Out (Philadelphia: to rent, condo)

[Tookarkus]

Hello city data posters,
I am a 27-year old man who just moved to Philadelphia with my new wife to become one of the managers of a popular local restaurant, frequented by the 'indie' crowd. I have spent the last 4 months renting in Northern Liberties, right off of Girard Ave, but I have been thinking of moving to a slightly less dense and hectic neighborhood.

I was looking at Port Richmond, after a few friends pointed me that way. All I know is that the neighborhood is the next neighborhood past Fishtown along the river, and is bordered by Kensington to the west. So what does this mean? Does the neighborhood have all the crime and open-air drug traffic of the crappy, un-gentrified parts of Kensington, or is it vibrant and revitalizing like Fishtown or the nicer parts of Kensington? The few people I've talked to say that is seems pleasant and well-maintained, but they have no idea which way they'd say the neighborhood is going. I've met three people who live there, on Chatham, Memphis, and Belgrade Street, seem to generally like it, and describe it simply as 'quiet'.

What do you guys think?

[frankgn87]

its just me but I don't think anywhere in PR is 'quiet"

[Phillyboy9088]

Noooo. Port Ricmond is dense population wise. It's one of the old blue collar riverfront neighborhoods. And yes there's a crime problem.

[kenzinger]

Originally Posted by Tookarkus

Hello city data posters,
I am a 27-year old man who just moved to Philadelphia with my new wife to become one of the managers of a popular local restaurant, frequented by the 'indie' crowd. I have spent the last 4 months renting in Northern Liberties, right off of Girard Ave, but I have been thinking of moving to a slightly less dense and hectic neighborhood.

I was looking at Port Richmond, after a few friends pointed me that way. All I know is that the neighborhood is the next neighborhood past Fishtown along the river, and is bordered by Kensington to the west. So what does this mean? Does the neighborhood have all the crime and open-air drug traffic of the crappy, un-gentrified parts of Kensington, or is it vibrant and revitalizing like Fishtown or the nicer parts of Kensington? The few people I've talked to say that is seems pleasant and well-maintained, but they have no idea which way they'd say the neighborhood is going. I've met three people who live there, on Chatham, Memphis, and Belgrade Street, seem to generally like it, and describe it simply as 'quiet'.

What do you guys think?

Depends on what you mean by 'quiet'. Port Richmond's main commercial strips, Allegheny and Richmond, while certainly well-stocked with small businesses (often owned by Polish immigrants), are not busy in the same way that the Piazza or Girard Avenue or South Street are. After dark, in Port Richmond, like any dense blue-collar neighborhood, you can hear kids shouting or old folks bickering or the guffaw of the good ol' boys; however, you will almost never hear gunshots or screams of pain or people brawling. The quality of life problems in Port Richmond are more akin to what you would find in a poor rural community than an inner-city ghetto.

As a Kensington resident, I can tell you that we've always envied the stability of Port Richmond. Port Richmond, while certainly working-class, has always been more respectable than Kensington, and it comes down to the little things- the marble stoops are not crumbling, the mortar between the bricks is always clean, and when Halloween comes around, houses are decorated with fall-themed garlands.

Port Richmond is not pristinely safe, but as much as you are likely to be stared down while walking through, it is highly unlikely you'll be robbed and even virtually impossible that you'll get harmed.

[PennKid]

I second what Kenzinger said about Port Richmond. In the last 5 years it's gone from a pocket of working-class but well-maintained rowhomes with a highly insular but also pretty vibrant almost 100% Polish-American population, to absorbing the overflow of Fishtown's gentrification transformation and slowly turning into a neighborhood for yuppies (hipsters, who I'd classify as younger, more left-wing, and less educated than yuppies, have gone to explore rougher terrain in Kensington). It is in many ways similar to Fishtown- the housing stock, the blue-collar history, the sense of neighborhood identity; the only differences are Port RIichmond's relative isolation (the blocks north of Allegheny are, truly, almost rural in their quiet), the legacy of Polish immigrants, and the slightly further distance from Center City.

[jennm59]

I moved to Port Richmond a couple of years ago, and to be honest, it's been nothing but good to me. I got a great house at a reasonable price in a safe neighborhood - and I can easily get to fishtown, nolibs, etc..without having to live in the hassle. I am a slight woman and can walk my little pup at 10pm easily without any hesitation - kids are still out playing, people are talking to neighbors, etc.

I see it coming up. Look at the I-95 plans, and the expansion plans for the casino, and you'll see that it's going to get pretty nice up through Ann Street...and others are banking on it as well. As it stands, my house value actually went UP from when I bought it, and there are two new developments within a block from me. Stay below Aramingo, and before Allegheny, and the values are seemingly going up. My neighborhood is mostly older people dying off, with young families moving in, hipsters starting to rent, and two gay men across the street. I think there are incidents here and there of car stuff, but nothing like I have read about Northern Liberties - where you buy a $300K condo, and still a young guy gets shot in the neck.

For me, I can park easily, not worry about being safe, walk to two parks, have a 10-15 minute commute to work, can catch a bus if I want, and the trolley takes you to Girard if you want to go that route. It's like the Brooklyn of Philly. I really like it.

[Marius Pontmercy]

Port Richmond held out long enough to catch the new waves of suburban immigrants. One of my favorite neighborhoods in the city.

[bryson662001]

I occasionally shop in Port Richmond at the Thriftway (and gas at the Wawa) and it is certainly very blue collar and everyone seems to use access cards and the shopping center is dominated with dollar and thrift stores. I don't think it is in danger of turning into the next Society Hill any time soon. Having said that it also seems like a neighborhood where people look out for each other and would never dream of acting criminal or taking advantage of their neighbor. They also don't seem like the types who will abandon their neighborhood and allow it to decline. I usually leave there with a good feeling.

[jennm59]

I agree it is not the next Society Hill, but I think the communities in Port Richmond that border Fishtown are the ones expanding. I see Fishtown expanding into Port Richmond in the direction past Lehigh, Somerset, and up until Ann Street right now.

The Thriftway you refer to is on Aramingo Ave...and I agree with your assessment, Bryson. A lot of Access cards, etc..and to be honest, anything at or above Aramingo is usually pretty horrible. I think anything at or above Aramingo will remain pretty run down and I don't go there. It's the area below Aramingo that tends to have the development and be pretty decent and coming up. Above Aramingo tends to have the drugs, crime, etc.

My neighbors are still very blue collar (plumbers, electricians, etc..), but I've seen more and more hipsters/gays/etc...as my time there has continued. Just this week a tattoo artist and his son moved in on my block. It's cheap and safe by city standards, but it's pretty clear where the borders are. It's weird, they are like an imaginary wall of sorts - or, maybe the 'rough and tumble' regulars keep them out.

There were squatters in an abandoned house a block away from me, and the neighbor guys literally got together, called the police repeatedly, and got them evicted - which is tough to do in this city. It's now been fixed up by the bank and being sold.

[PennKid]

Originally Posted by jennm59

I agree it is not the next Society Hill, but I think the communities in Port Richmond that border Fishtown are the ones expanding. I see Fishtown expanding into Port Richmond in the direction past Lehigh, Somerset, and up until Ann Street right now.

The Thriftway you refer to is on Aramingo Ave...and I agree with your assessment, Bryson. A lot of Access cards, etc..and to be honest, anything at or above Aramingo is usually pretty horrible. I think anything at or above Aramingo will remain pretty run down and I don't go there. It's the area below Aramingo that tends to have the development and be pretty decent and coming up. Above Aramingo tends to have the drugs, crime, etc.

My neighbors are still very blue collar (plumbers, electricians, etc..), but I've seen more and more hipsters/gays/etc...as my time there has continued. Just this week a tattoo artist and his son moved in on my block. It's cheap and safe by city standards, but it's pretty clear where the borders are. It's weird, they are like an imaginary wall of sorts - or, maybe the 'rough and tumble' regulars keep them out.

There were squatters in an abandoned house a block away from me, and the neighbor guys literally got together, called the police repeatedly, and got them evicted - which is tough to do in this city. It's now been fixed up by the bank and being sold.

Two things- I would say because Port Richmond east of Aramingo is so stable in a blue-collar-kind-of-way, there is relatively little room for hipsters to move into. Think about Fishtown- while there is a scattering of hipsters throughout, the strongest concentration is along Frankford Ave, because that was the no-man's-land that separated it from Kensington. Now in Port Richmond, Aramingo is the no-man's-land, which would logically suggest that the next neighborhoods to gentrify would be the ones just west of it. I think that east Port Richmond- with its tremendously high homeownership rate and its almost suburban sense of insularity would appeal to a somewhat more professional crowd- yuppies more so than hipsters.

Now, west of Aramingo, there are also some stretches that resemble the east side's domesticity; these are the parts that are lucky to share the Richmond school catchment with the east side. North of Ann, Memphis, Agate, or even Tulip don't look too bad. It's only between the John Paul Jones and the Lehigh viaduct that it gets pretty sketchy.