Moving to Philly, job in North Philly, where to live? No car. (apartment, house)

[rosetattoo1976]

I'll be moving to Philly in a month or so, and taking a job in North Philly, on W Hunting Park Ave, close to the Edison High School.
I do not and will not have a car, so will be looking for an apartment in an area with good public transit to get to and from work each day, sometimes early AM, sometimes later in the evening.

No kids, I'm single, no car, no need for super fancy, but I like to like my neighborhood, be able to walk to the corner store at night, go to close by places to eat, have a local bar or two, etc... It's important to me to like my neighborhood and be a part of it.

Obviously, safety is a factor. I have always lived in cities and am not a newbie at this - grew up in DC long ago, have lived in many major cities. But I do want to live somewhere I feel fine walking my dog at night, etc..

I'll add that I'll be making about $50K, so looking for something around $1200 at max probably. When in NY, I lived in Greenpoint, when in SF, the Mission and the Richmond, and in Boston the North and South End, Allston and JP - so if that helps, those are the types of neighborhoods I like.

any help would be great, thanks!

[rosetattoo1976]

Not much action on this thread, but I'll add that it looks like my main bus lines to work will be the 47 or the 57. I'm looking at areas like Italian Market, Northern Liberties and Bella Vista. Since I don't know Philly well at all - just visited once for the job interview for a few days the other week, any advice would be well appreciated.

thanks!

[thwanko]

I've never had to make that exact commute, but from my experiences the 47 feels really slow and I would not recommend taking it daily from South Philly unless you can get work done on the bus or something like that. Depends on your tolerance for longer commutes of course. The 57 will probably be comparable. Living in the Northeast and taking the 56 could also be an option?

[rosetattoo1976]

Thanks for the reply thwanko!

As for NE, I did look around - any specific neighborhoods of mention?

[pman]

Live north of market near the 47 or 57 if you want to live on those routes. For the 57 you might even love north of girard

[thwanko]

Originally Posted by rosetattoo1976

Thanks for the reply thwanko!

As for NE, I did look around - any specific neighborhoods of mention?

Well, the 56 goes through Tacony and Frankford, along Torresdale ave.

Frankford is usually considered a rough neighborhood and it probably wouldn't pass your dog walk at night test, although I can't really guess how you will perceive safety in a given place.

Tacony could be an option. I'm not personally very familiar with it, but someone in another thread on the first page just bought a house there, and could tell you more.

These neighborhoods are not very hip in the sense that areas like the Mission are, so if that is important I would rule them out.

[Golabki]

Originally Posted by thwanko

Well, the 56 goes through Tacony and Frankford, along Torresdale ave.

Frankford is usually considered a rough neighborhood and it probably wouldn't pass your dog walk at night test, although I can't really guess how you will perceive safety in a given place.

Tacony could be an option. I'm not personally very familiar with it, but someone in another thread on the first page just bought a house there, and could tell you more.

These neighborhoods are not very hip in the sense that areas like the Mission are, so if that is important I would rule them out.

Tacony isn't that great and it's getting worse. I wouldn't recommend moving there to a civilized person.

[rosetattoo1976]

thanks for the replies - this is really appreciated.

I've looked Northern Liberties listings, I know that is not the NE persay - but it seems to be in my price range and on the bus lines. I guess I have to admit that a hipster neighborhood is probably what I would want, since it passes the walk around at night, have local watering holes, etc.. test. I don't want to end up in a purely residential area, since part of moving to a new city is making new friends and meeting new people. The comparison to the Mission in SF is appreciated for suggestions, twanko, seems like you get what I'm going for a bit.

Am I on the right track there? Other suggestions from folks that don't live in Philly but claim to know it were Fishtown, Bella Vista and Italian Market. It seemed like Bella Vista and Italian Market were a bit off the commute path - from what I tested on Google Maps, it would be about an hour bus ride, where NL would be about 30 minutes. Fishtown I haven't looked into much, but will if it's suggested.

[kyb01]

Originally Posted by rosetattoo1976

thanks for the replies - this is really appreciated.

I've looked Northern Liberties listings - seems to be in my price range and on the bus lines. I guess I have to admit that a hipster neighborhood is probably what I would want, since it passes the walk around at night, have local watering holes, etc.. test. I don't want to end up in a purely residential area, since part of moving to a new city is making new friends and meeting new people.

Am I on the right track there?

Yes.

It's not purely residential and has plenty of watering holes.

[phillydominican]

Well the area your job is in is a low-income Puerto Rican/Hispanic area, especially going south it gets more "sketchier" to say the least. You can look in the Northeast for safe affordable neighborhoods, and perhaps take the bus to work.