Moving to Philly (Another one Sorry) (Philadelphia, Pittsburgh: real estate, apartments, rental market)

[ICarlin]

Hello,

I'll be using the template that was posted int he Sticky above about moving. Just looking for a little guidance on whereto move to. I will be relocating to Philly for work and my what will then be wife will be joining me at a job in either downtown or King of Prussia. Also to give you an idea my income will be between 45 (My base pay, I want to be able to live off my base without including my commission which will be another 20-40). My future wife than will be around 35-40 so a combine household of 75-80k.

All my answers will be in bold :-)

When are you moving? August
Where are you coming from? Pittsburgh, PA
Why are you moving? Work
Where will you be working? From home and on the road to areas as far south as Richmond and as far north as Augusta Maine.
Have you been here yet? I have been around Philly but never into downtown, plan on taking a visit there in June to get feel of the neigborhoods.

Will you buy or rent? Plan on renting, but looking at possibly buying if the bang for the buck is significantly better.
If buying, are you looking for a house or a condo? How much can you spend? If buying we would be looking for a house and would be looking at a price range between 150 and 200k.
If renting, are you looking for an apartment, a townhouse or loft? How much can you spend?In terms of renting we are really open to anything, prefer a townhouse or apartment. Rent wise we are looking between 1200-1300 in rent a month. The issue for us is parking, we will have 3 cars, my personal car and work car and my wife's car.
Do you prefer hi-rise or walk up? We would be open to either option

Do you have a preference of living in a NJ or PA suburb? PA Suburb since our vehicles are already registered in PA as well as other paperwork.

Are you married or single? Do you have children? Will be married then and no kids.
Do you prefer public or private schools?If we had kids probably public.
Do you have pets? 1 Cat and 3 Guinea Pigs(Noone has to know about the pigs.)
Do you want or need a yard? Prefer a yard, but not a requirement.
Are you keeping a car? Yes, 3 of them unfortunately.
Do you prefer bustling activity or calm and quiet? We prefer a little of both, we really like the idea of living downtown and be able to walk to a coffee shop or taking public transit to go to museums, but with our cars we probably think it's no feasible.

What do you want to be closest to?
Work For Wife's work yes, mine doesn't matter where.
Shopping Would like 30 minutes or less to shopping.
Basic services (supermarket, drugstore, etc.) Grocery Store, Drug Store, maybe a mall, authentic fod and not chain restaurants.
Nightlife Yes
Train or subway stations Like to be close but not a requirement.

Do you want to live with people of a similar age, race, religion or sexual preference or do you prefer a diverse neighborhood? Neighborhood is not of a huge concern as long as crime is low, also not sure what racism is like in Philly, but I am white and my wife is black, just want to keep out of any old boy neighborhoods if possible.

Coke or Pepsi? Curveball, Coke from fountain and Pepsi in cans/bottles.

If there is anything I missed please let me know. I know these forums are wonderful for helping get ideas of where to locate too. Since neither my wife nor I will know the area well, it will be useful to get some honest opinions on what type of life we could have in our price range and areas to live. Thank-you greatly in advance!

[MikeNigh]

I'm pretty sure you won't be able to live in the city with 3 cars. Is it possible to park or lend two of them to family?

[ICarlin]

I'm okay with not living in the city it's more of a dream. Unfortunately the car situation is stick one, since one is my work car I will be using it alot for driving for work purpose, but can't use it for personal use etc. I'm thinking of leaving my personal car behind at my parents for the first couple of months until I figure out what I wanna do with it. 2 Cars though would be required since I can't use my work car for personal use.

Edit: Also, I should note that we are both okay with not living in the city, were fine with suburban living as well.

[MikeNigh]

2 is possible. I suppose I'd recommend fishtown, fairmount, university city, or no libs.

[ICarlin]

Thanks Mike I'll take a look at those areas!

[NJhighlands87]

Second vote for Fishtown, some new properties even have a garage (urbanists shudder), though they might be a bit out of your range, doesn't hurt to check. If not in the city, Maybe Conshohocken? Much less densely-built than Philadelphia, so you might get a driveway, and still a few bars/restaurants to enjoy, plus train access to center city.

[pman]

the city's northwest, particularly east mt airy, might also be a good fit (particularly if you're going to buy). in the core it would be much easier to rent at that price range than buy

[lpranger467]

We live in Media which is between King of Prussia & Philly, its a very cute/quaint little town and is a direct stop on the regional train line. You will find several apartments in your rental range but frankly Philly real estate is pricy and 150-200 will be pushing it for Media, I do think nearby Springfield would fit the bill nicely though.

As to the racial climate, my marriage is exact same configuration and we have never felt anything but warm reception in all of Philly. I will say coming from Detroit that Philly seems to have much less tension in this area.

I think anywhere in Delaware County (called delco) like Media/Springfield/Conshohocken would fit your needs well.

[maf763]

Also look at Ambler. Train to CC or a 20-25 minute drive to King of Prussia for your wife, nice little downtown area with theater, independent movie house, and some shops, bars and restaurants. You can probably buy a rowhouse in that range, but I'm not sure about the rental market.

[ICarlin]

Thank-you everyone for your input especial regarding the racial climate as well. I really am thinking about the Media and also Amble areas as it could be close for either of my wife's jobs, with nice public transit to downtown.