Point Breeze- A Good Neighborhood? (Philadelphia, Chester: affordable apartments, rentals, safe neighborhood)

[MB1562]

Hi, my boyfriend and I are currently looking to move into Philadelphia from Delaware County once we graduate college. I've been doing a lot of searching around Craigslist and various other apartment sites, and I keep coming across nice, affordable apartments in the Point Breeze neighborhood. We are both pretty familiar with the neighborhoods in Center City and Old City, but many of the rentals there are at the upper end of our range, and we'd rather live a little farther out (but not too far out) in order to have more disposable income to enjoy the city. Is Point Breeze a relatively safe neighborhood? I'm not expecting it to be perfect, but not on the level of North Philly or anything. We'd both be working in Center City/University City, and would need to be relatively close to subway/bus/trolley as we won't have a car. Any advice/help would be greatly appreciated.

[LibraGirl123]

A recent thread on Point Breeze:

//www.city-data.com/forum/phila...still-bad.html

Point Breeze is an area that's being gentrified...but it's not quite "there" yet. I would say the safest part of the neighborhood is called Newbold: Washington Ave. on the north to Wolf St. on the south; Broad St. on the east to 18th St. on the west.

[ThomasDarcy]

The northern part of Point Breeze has some nice parts, but it can be block by block. You might also try the southern part of "Graduate Hospital", the neighborhood directly to the north of Point Breeze (Washington Ave is the dividing line). Graduate hospital is fancier/more expensive, but the southern part might still be in the budget range you are looking for.

[pman]

point breeze is very much like north philly

[MikeNigh]

To my understanding university city is the cheapest neighborhood. It's best to scratch all questionable / bad neighborhoods off the list.

[MB1562]

The part of Point Breeze that keeps coming up in my apartment searches is the northern section, very close to/on Washington Ave. I've looked on Google Maps and the part I am looking at actually looks decent, although I know G-Maps isn't always the best indicator. Our top budget would be $1,500/month, but we are trying to avoid going anywhere near that, even if it means living in a gentrifying or "not quite there" neighborhood. I've lived in Chester the past 4 years, so sketchy neighborhoods don't scare me much.

Does anyone else have other suggestions for relatively affordable neighborhoods in or near Center City (besides University City)?

[Pine to Vine]

Originally Posted by MB1562

Does anyone else have other suggestions for relatively affordable neighborhoods in or near Center City (besides University City)?

On the north side, you might see how far your money goes in Fishtown or Kensington, just above Northern Liberties. As others have noted with regard to Point Breeze, Fishtown and Kensington can also vary greatly block by block. That said, I think Fishtown in particular is further along in its gentrification than Point Breeze, along with less neighborhood resistance to change.

[MikeNigh]

Originally Posted by MB1562

The part of Point Breeze that keeps coming up in my apartment searches is the northern section, very close to/on Washington Ave. I've looked on Google Maps and the part I am looking at actually looks decent, although I know G-Maps isn't always the best indicator. Our top budget would be $1,500/month, but we are trying to avoid going anywhere near that, even if it means living in a gentrifying or "not quite there" neighborhood. I've lived in Chester the past 4 years, so sketchy neighborhoods don't scare me much.

Does anyone else have other suggestions for relatively affordable neighborhoods in or near Center City (besides University City)?

The closer to washington and broad the better. I think you should compromise in space though. For a couple your most economical choice is probably a one bedroom. Only other suggestion is manyunk. Point breeze is cheaper than most of the suburbs in philly.

[Thankyoux2]

We drove by this area that was a total ghetto one day on our way from rittenhouse to BJs thru the city. Finally I decided to see what this neighborhood was called and checked my google map. You guessed it, I was in point breeze. Fwiw we are living in old city and find it a bit stuffy and touristy and are moving to university city because it's got a lot if young families. Check out cedar park area. I just saw a place on Saint Bernard street in your price range and you'd be right on the trolley line to center city while also being close to cafés. If $1500 is a struggle for you, I'd not go over 1200 and would look maybe in Italian market area and cedar park. Jmo, I've only lived here 4 months myself.

[pman]

Originally Posted by MB1562

The part of Point Breeze that keeps coming up in my apartment searches is the northern section, very close to/on Washington Ave. I've looked on Google Maps and the part I am looking at actually looks decent, although I know G-Maps isn't always the best indicator. Our top budget would be $1,500/month, but we are trying to avoid going anywhere near that, even if it means living in a gentrifying or "not quite there" neighborhood. I've lived in Chester the past 4 years, so sketchy neighborhoods don't scare me much.

Does anyone else have other suggestions for relatively affordable neighborhoods in or near Center City (besides University City)?

if you live in chester few places probably scare you. pb is a lot like brewerytown in north philly, troubles but improving. the attraction is the reasonable prices and location.