Can Anyone Name Some Cool Neighborhoods in Philadelphia? (York, Washington: apartments, for rent)

[NyWriterdude]

Originally Posted by Jeanie Beanie

If you're in NY, you're a quick train ride away. Come down for the weekend, come down for a couple of weekends. Scout around. Walk everywhere and see what place makes your heart sing.

Good idea.

[stuckinsj]

Wash Sq west is great. I currently moving there.... Close to restaurants (both cheap and expensive), reasonable rent, lots of community, close to food shopping, jobs, low traffic, very walkable, busy streets plus quiet streets.

[PHLondoner]

Originally Posted by rotodome

But yeah, I think that when you get into 21st Century Center City neighborhoods (which are great), there's not a HUGE difference in living in one vs the other.
CC is a relatively small area, and all of those neighborhoods are in close walking proximity to one another. No bad choice.

This is partially true. I live in Grad Hospital and whilst on the map Old City looks to only be about 1.5 miles away, it's like another world that i venture to only rarely. In fact, crossing broad sometimes seems like a massive mental moat. Visiting Fairmount? Fuhgetaboutit.

To the OP, I would look for the neighborhood that you love, with the amenities that you love, and a vibe that you're comfortable with--b/c you'll find yourself spending the vast majority of your time in it. Due to the lack of connective subways and easy-to-use RT, Philly is VERY neighborhood oriented.

[MikeNigh]

If you choose a neighborhood that doesn't have subway access then you should know that the buses run very frequently during commute times. So you should have no problem making it to work in most places.

[rotodome]

Originally Posted by PHLondoner

This is partially true. I live in Grad Hospital and whilst on the map Old City looks to only be about 1.5 miles away, it's like another world that i venture to only rarely. In fact, crossing broad sometimes seems like a massive mental moat. Visiting Fairmount? Fuhgetaboutit.

To the OP, I would look for the neighborhood that you love, with the amenities that you love, and a vibe that you're comfortable with--b/c you'll find yourself spending the vast majority of your time in it. Due to the lack of connective subways and easy-to-use RT, Philly is VERY neighborhood oriented.

I lived & worked in various neighborhoods in Center City for 10+ years, always walked to work, and very rarely ever took SEPTA to get around (unless going somewhere outside CC, or out of town), because walking was usually more convenient and quicker. Walking from one extreme diagonal to the other (ie: old city to fitler square) is a little bit of a hike, but that wasn't something that happened very often.

One down side of CC living that I can relate to is how I would sometimes without noticing it go literally for months without leaving a 10 block radius, which gave me this false boxed-in feeling.

[bryson662001]

Originally Posted by NyWriterdude

I'm not looking to recreate a NYC experience elsewhere, so any NYC neighborhood is at least somewhat irrelevant to me.

I am just trying to figure out what it is you are looking for. Example: If you said you really like the west village, then I could say you would probably like Old City north of Market. That is if you are serious.

[rotodome]

^ personally I would not draw that parallel.

[NyWriterdude]

Originally Posted by bryson662001

I am just trying to figure out what it is you are looking for. Example: If you said you really like the west village, then I could say you would probably like Old City north of Market. That is if you are serious.

I said what I was looking for in the OP. And I am not looking to recreate a NYC experience elsewhere. Why is that so hard to understand?

But put it like this. There is NO NEIGHBORHOOD in NYC that I CURRENTLY LIKE. THAT IS WHY I AM LEAVING!

So you can scratch any and all parallels to NYC off the LIST.

[NyWriterdude]

Originally Posted by stuckinsj

Wash Sq west is great. I currently moving there.... Close to restaurants (both cheap and expensive), reasonable rent, lots of community, close to food shopping, jobs, low traffic, very walkable, busy streets plus quiet streets.

Thanks. What's the rent in this area and what jobs is it close to?

[bryson662001]

Originally Posted by NyWriterdude

I'm a comparatively young male (under 40) who is thinking about moving to Philadelphia in the not too distant future. What are some nice neighborhoods in Philadelphia to live in?

I'm looking for places that are comparatively safe and reasonably well off.

I am not giving up yet. Probably 75% of the hundreds of neighborhoods in Philadelphia are"safe" and maybe 40% are "reasonably well off". "Nice" and "cool" are subjective terms that mean different things to different people. The Washington Square West neighborhood that someone recommended is 19107
Plug that zip into google and Trulia - Real Estate, Homes for Sale, Apartments for Rent, Local data using the rent option to get an idea of what's available.
Also look in www.4wallsinphilly.com Washington square west is listed as an area in Center City (Philly's downtown core)