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Old 07-29-2012, 10:11 AM
 
Location: Philadelphia, PA
4,447 posts, read 3,975,384 times
Reputation: 3018

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We are currently living in Newtown Square however we are looking to apply to some schools in downtown Philly. If we get accepted we will want to move closer to the school however the most ideal location will end up being West Philadelphia (particularly west west philly). The last time I called an agent about this area he actually refused to even show us houses here.

What is the truth about West Philadelphia? From what I can see the houses can be quite nice for great prices.
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Old 07-29-2012, 12:08 PM
 
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Which exact area do you mean by West West Philadelphia? Overbrook is still relatively solid compared to other parts so maybe that would be a section to look at.
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Old 07-29-2012, 01:03 PM
 
Location: West Cedar Park, Philadelphia
1,225 posts, read 2,553,442 times
Reputation: 693
Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeNigh View Post
We are currently living in Newtown Square however we are looking to apply to some schools in downtown Philly. If we get accepted we will want to move closer to the school however the most ideal location will end up being West Philadelphia (particularly west west philly). The last time I called an agent about this area he actually refused to even show us houses here.

What is the truth about West Philadelphia? From what I can see the houses can be quite nice for great prices.
Your best bet is around University City in the Penn Alexander catchement.
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Old 07-29-2012, 02:12 PM
 
Location: Philadelphia, PA
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Ya I was thinking we may just have to save up for university city...
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Old 07-29-2012, 08:26 PM
 
Location: Philadelphia, PA
8,700 posts, read 14,605,100 times
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Most of West Philadelphia is actually not that bad... people give it a lot of crap and I don't understand why, it is nowhere near as bad as North Philadelphia, not even close.

University City is awesome. You can't beat Clark Park and Spruce Hill... easily some of the best neighborhoods in the city. Also, neighborhoods out by City Avenue are nice too, just a little too far from everything for me.

All in all University City is not ridiculously expensive, not as expensive as Center City.
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Old 07-29-2012, 08:58 PM
 
Location: Philadelphia, PA
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We toured philadelphia a little coming through west philly on market street. And the area seemed dense but not necessarily "bad". But we got trapped going around out of center city because the road that went north had no left turns. When we had to drive through some of north philly to get back that kind of freaked us out.
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Old 07-29-2012, 09:13 PM
 
Location: The Left Toast
1,303 posts, read 1,883,682 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeNigh View Post
We toured philadelphia a little coming through west philly on market street. And the area seemed dense but not necessarily "bad". But we got trapped going around out of center city because the road that went north had no left turns. When we had to drive through some of north philly to get back that kind of freaked us out.
Freaked y'all out? Why? lol
Do you plan to buy a home in West Philly? Will you be driving? Are you planning on attending Penn, Drexel, or St. Joes? If you want deep West Philly I suggest looking into Overbrook Park, Overbrook Farms,or Mantua ( Closest to Drexel or Zoo areas) outside of U-City I'd avoid the rest of it..
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Old 07-29-2012, 09:20 PM
 
Location: Philadelphia, PA
4,447 posts, read 3,975,384 times
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Originally Posted by BillyJacc View Post
Freaked y'all out? Why? lol
It was trashy. A lot was boarded up. Busted up 1980's cars and trucks driving around. The whole demeanor just fell right into the ghetto image.
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Old 07-29-2012, 09:47 PM
 
Location: West Cedar Park, Philadelphia
1,225 posts, read 2,553,442 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeNigh View Post
It was trashy. A lot was boarded up. Busted up 1980's cars and trucks driving around. The whole demeanor just fell right into the ghetto image.
There's some rough parts of West Philly for sure, although its way more mixed than North Philly is. Probably the worst sections are in Mantua and Kingsessing, although most would consider Kingsessing to be "Southwest Philadelphia". That's the area south of the Media/Elwyn tracks. A general rule is the further out you go, the worse it gets. The exceptions are Mantua which is in a ghetto bubble north of Powelton Village, and then good neighborhoods like Angora which are right on the edge of the city in the 60s numbered streets. Look around Spruce Hill and Cedar Park. They're in sort of the nexus of University City around Clark Park.
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Old 07-29-2012, 09:54 PM
 
Location: Philadelphia, PA
8,700 posts, read 14,605,100 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeNigh View Post
It was trashy. A lot was boarded up. Busted up 1980's cars and trucks driving around. The whole demeanor just fell right into the ghetto image.
70% of North Philadelphia is a ghetto and it is the worst area of the city. 100 times worse than West Philadelphia. Most of West Philly is not that bad. Center City is fantastic.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Marius Pontmercy View Post
There's some rough parts of West Philly for sure, although its way more mixed than North Philly is. Probably the worst sections are in Mantua and Kingsessing, although most would consider Kingsessing to be "Southwest Philadelphia". That's the area south of the Media/Elwyn tracks. A general rule is the further out you go, the worse it gets. The exceptions are Mantua which is in a ghetto bubble north of Powelton Village, and then good neighborhoods like Angora which are right on the edge of the city in the 60s numbered streets. Look around Spruce Hill and Cedar Park. They're in sort of the nexus of University City around Clark Park.
Agree and yes Kingsessing is technically Southwest Philadelphia. The neighborhoods along City Avenue are very nice too (Overbrook Farms, Wynnefield, etc. etc). Mantua is really not that bad anymore now that Drexel students are gentrifying the area. I would say Parkside/ West Parkside is a worse neighborhood.
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