Roaches in Philly - How common are they? (Houston: apartment, condo)

[Jaimes8a]

Hello. I am strongly considering moving to Philly. One aspect that does worry me are ROACHES - how common are they in Philly compared to other cities and/or regions?? How many of you Philly residents and ex-residents have (or had) them, and in what type of dwelling and area of the city do (did) you live?? How have you dealt with them?? Is Philly a prime breeding ground for them due to its old buildings, density, and row houses??

I'm thinking that I would probably end up living in a studio or small 1-bedroom apartment in one of the more central areas in Philly (but open to other nearby areas too). I'm looking to pay no more than $1000 with rents and utilities. What should I look for when checking out places to see that they don't have roaches??

Thanks!

[MikeNigh]

Roaches in general in the north are rare. Where are you moving from? Studios and one bedrooms are normally only available in the nicer buildings and neighborhoods.

[Jaimes8a]

Originally Posted by MikeNigh

Roaches in general in the north are rare. Where are you moving from? Studios and one bedrooms are normally only available in the nicer buildings and neighborhoods.

I'm moving from Houston. Yes, there are probably more roaches here, but somehow I've escaped them.

[pman]

There are a lot more roaches in houston...and much bigger. They're in philly, depends on the building though.

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by Jaimes8a

Hello. I am strongly considering moving to Philly. One aspect that does worry me are ROACHES - how common are they in Philly compared to other cities and/or regions?? How many of you Philly residents and ex-residents have (or had) them, and in what type of dwelling and area of the city do (did) you live?? How have you dealt with them?? Is Philly a prime breeding ground for them due to its old buildings, density, and row houses??

I'm thinking that I would probably end up living in a studio or small 1-bedroom apartment in one of the more central areas in Philly (but open to other nearby areas too). I'm looking to pay no more than $1000 with rents and utilities. What should I look for when checking out places to see that they don't have roaches??

Thanks!

I'm a condo owner in a older historic building. I have never seen a roach in my unit or elsewhere in the building.

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by Jaimes8a

Hello. I am strongly considering moving to Philly. One aspect that does worry me are ROACHES - how common are they in Philly compared to other cities and/or regions?? How many of you Philly residents and ex-residents have (or had) them, and in what type of dwelling and area of the city do (did) you live?? How have you dealt with them?? Is Philly a prime breeding ground for them due to its old buildings, density, and row houses??

I'm thinking that I would probably end up living in a studio or small 1-bedroom apartment in one of the more central areas in Philly (but open to other nearby areas too). I'm looking to pay no more than $1000 with rents and utilities. What should I look for when checking out places to see that they don't have roaches??

Thanks!

For a while there was some press about bedbugs being a big problem here. But I don't know anyone who's dealt with it.

[Sicilee]

Yes, there certainly are, but it does depend where you are. Did you do a search of the forum? See this dialogue, from just a few weeks ago. There might be other postings as well.

//www.city-data.com/forum/phila...d-roaches.html

[Burger Fan]

Originally Posted by MikeNigh

Roaches in general in the north are rare. Where are you moving from? Studios and one bedrooms are normally only available in the nicer buildings and neighborhoods.

Not in philly they aren't. extremely common. though they don't get as big as they do in the south.
Generally a sign of an unkempt/unclean building, though if you're in a rowhome it can be tough to keep them out if one or more of your neighbors has an infestation.

A good exterminator can get rid of them with an initial treatment, then come back about once a month to keep it that way. Made the mistake of moving to oxford circle for 8 months and had to deal with this.

[TimmyTightWad]

If you're moving to a rowhome I think it's not so much about where you are as it's about who your neighbors are.
Roaches are easy to get rid of if the homes on either side of you don't have them.

[MikeNigh]

Originally Posted by Burger Fan

Not in philly they aren't. extremely common. though they don't get as big as they do in the south.
Generally a sign of an unkempt/unclean building, though if you're in a rowhome it can be tough to keep them out if one or more of your neighbors has an infestation.

I've lived in the north and the south. In the north I have yet to see personally anyone who had a roach issue, or roaches at all. I've seen people have ants in the house during the summer. In the south I've regularly seen roach issues in even some of the best kept detached houses. Roaches are rare compared to the south and if you're moving to the city it probably won't be to a neighborhood unkept enough to have any likeliness of roaches.