Moving to Philly to work at URBN HQ. Where should I live and will I need a car? (Philadelphia: apartments)

[FashionSchoolDropOut]

Hi! I have been reading a lot of the advice this forum has given other people who are new to the area and I know you will have equally helpful answers for me, so thank you in advance. I am planning my move to Philadelphia where I will be working at the Urban Outfitters headquarters. It's located in the ship yards. Will I need a car in order to get to this area everyday? I currently don't have a car and would prefer to keep it that way, but if I have to have a car in order to get to work I supposed that might allow me to live in a cheaper area outside of the city. Either way, which neighborhoods would you recommend for a 23 year old single girl who has just graduated from art school and is making 40k? I would like a one bedroom or a studio and would prefer to socialize with professionals as opposed to college students. I don't have any pets and I favor modern, clean design. I recently lived in NYC and was less than happy to be paying $1400/month to share a pretty run-down apartment with two other people. I am looking forward to living in Philadelphia which overall seems to allow for a higher quality of living and I would greatly appreciate being steered in the right direction for my apartment hunt.

[drive carephilly]

You don't need a car to get to the Navy Yard. It's not really ideal but basically you take the subway to the end of the line and then hop on the shuttle for the last 3 or 4 minutes. If you don't mind walking it's about a 15 minutes from the subway.

If you lived in South Philly you could easily bike it 9-10 months per year and dispense with the hassle and cost of the train.

I would look for an apt. in South Philly around the Snyder stop on the subway. Anywhere between Tasker and Oregon would be fine. It would be a 15 minute bike ride and if you wanted to take the train/bus combo about 20 minutes.

Anyway, in that general area, East Passyunk Ave. is where the action is so the closer you live to there the more you'll pay but we're still only talking $600 to $650 to share a pretty nice house with one roommate. One bedroom apartments and studios are a little harder to come by in South Philly - just because of the nature of the housing stock - but the nicer places run about $800. If you don't mind dated interiors you can rent a 2 bedroom house for $900-$1100

[RightonWalnut]

You don't need a car, but it can still be a pain to get there without a car. The Broad Street subway stops at AT&T Station at the Sports Complex, and since the Navy Yard is a still new, up and coming burgeoning business district, there was never really any incentives for SEPTA to expand the Broad Street line down to the Navy Yard until now. However, because SEPTA is disgustingly underfunded by both the state and federal government, there is not much they can do now and it could be years (possibly longer) until the Broad Street line is extended.

There is a shuttle that runs between the Broad Street Line AT&T Station and the Navy Yard, or you could walk from AT&T Station, or live close by and ride your bike to work as suggested above. Or, you could just drive. There is plenty of parking in the Navy Yard, but the problem would be finding an apartment with off street parking, since street parking in the city can be a major pain. There are apartments listed that have off street parking, but you likely will be paying for it (like an extra $85 a month).

As a general rule of thumb, you don't want to dedicate more than 28% of your annual salary to rent. So if you are making $40k a year, I would suggest an apartment costing no more than $900 a month. This is certainly doable in South Philadelphia, West Philadelphia and Lower North Philadelphia, but it pretty much rules out Center City unless you have roommates to live with.

Given the criteria you listed, I would say South Philadelphia is certainly the best bet for you. Most of South Philadelphia is great, just stay out of Point Breeze and Gray's Ferry and you'll be fine.

I would suggest trying to find roommates. This will enable you to live in a nicer place, and for relatively cheaper.

Any more questions feel free to ask.

[scosm]

According to the Navy Yard Master Plan posted by KidPhilly in the Philadelphia 2035 thread (check it out it is pretty interesting), only 10% of Navy Yard workers arrive by mass transit. I thought the number would be higher, but it seems super easy to commute there by car as parking is easy and convenient to highways. I think that Septa just stopped their subway-Navy Yard bus and the Navy Yard instituted its own shuttle so maybe that one will be more efficient.

South Philly is not exactly the home for "modern, clean design" you are looking for so you might end up sacrificing there, but it would definitely give you bang for the buck and being on the Broad Street Line and in between Center City and and work would make a lot of sense if you do commute by public transit.

[pman]

it's not terribly convenient to get there by septa for anyone that doesn't live off the broad st line so it's not surprising. I'd recomend center city which is pretty easy to live in with out a car. you can either take the subway and transfer or catch the navy yard shuttle at market east station

The Center City Express shuttle runs between Center City (stop is located on 10th Street bween Market and Filbert Streets) and points throughout The Navy Yard.

The Navy Yard | Philadelphia, PA - Visiting, Parking, Shuttles
you should be able to find a decent apartment for $1400/mo and not share it. outside of center city, south philly is the easiest place to live without a car....particularly near broad st.

[drive carephilly]

Transit ridership for the navy yard isn't really that low considering that the regional average is 15%, there's no rail station at the navy yard so everyone going there has to transfer, and it has it's own exit on 95.

It's really not difficult to get to, it's just sort of detached from the rest of the city because of I-95 and FDR Park/the Stadiums.

It's only 1-2 miles from most of South Philly and 3 miles from Center City . . . and you definitely don't need a car to live in either of those places.

You said you lived in NYC - so just think of the Navy Yard as Red Hook. The subway doesn't go there but people sure as heck still get to the IKEA.

[rotodome]

Originally Posted by drive carephilly

You said you lived in NYC - so just think of the Navy Yard as Red Hook. The subway doesn't go there but people sure as heck still get to the IKEA.

Maybe the Navy Yard can have its own quasi-free ferry like RedHook IKEA does. Not a bad idea

[pman]

Originally Posted by rotodome

Maybe the Navy Yard can have its own quasi-free ferry like RedHook IKEA does. Not a bad idea

id guesa that would be a drpa project