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Hi everyone,
My girlfriend and I are moving to Philadelphia in August. I came across the city-data forum while doing some research and it looks like it's full of knowledgeable folks, so hopefully youse (trying to acclimate already!) can help us figure out what area might be best for us. We're 32 and 28 - young professional types would describe us best I suppose. We're not married (yet) and don't have kids, but we don't really go out clubbing or bar hopping either. I own a photography business and work from home most weekdays, and travel to weddings in the area on the weekends. My girlfriend is a social worker that will be working a 9-5 schedule M-F down near Broad St. and Passyunk.
Our ideal place to rent would be a small house or larger apartment with easy parking, in a "cute" or "cozy" area. We were thinking East Falls or Manayunk, but we're open to other areas as well. We'd like to keep the commute time to Broad and Passyunk close to 30 mins by car, and we've also considered somewhere closer to her work like Queens Village so she could easily commute by public transit, but we're not sure about the parking situation.
Parking is a concern of ours - I'll be holding client meetings at our apartment, so it's important that the neighborhood has a certain amount of curb appeal, and people coming over won't have to drive around looking for a parking spot for 20 mins or park 8 blocks away. We'll also (foolishly, perhaps) be keeping both our cars, at least for the time being. We've discussed downsizing to one car, but that would involve selling both our current cars and buying a new one. Keeping just one of our cars isn't on the menu (hers is not very reliable, and mine is a manual transmission which she can't drive).
We like to pretend we're not super picky, but really, we are. We're torn between downsizing into a smaller space, walking or taking public transit nearly everywhere, and living like younger city folk while we still can - or move to a larger place in a more suburban area and accepting that we aren't college students anymore...is it possible to have the best of both worlds?
When are you moving?
End of July/beginning of August this year.
Where are you coming from?
New Haven, Connecticut (East Rock neighborhood)
Why are you moving?
Girlfriend accepted a job offer, general change of scenery, we both have family in PA.
Have you been here yet?
Yes - my girlfriend went to school at Bryn Mawr College, and I have family in Havertown, so we've both been numerous times. Neither of us are super familiar with Philadelphia neighborhoods though.
Will you buy or rent?
Rent
If buying, are you looking for a house or a condo? How much can you spend?
N/A
If renting, are you looking for an apartment, a townhouse or loft? How much can you spend?
Do you prefer hi-rise or walk up?
We're looking to keep rent at or around $1200. A townhouse would be fantastic, a walk up apartment would be fine, and we'd prefer not to live in a high-rise (although we're not ruling it out entirely). Open floorplans are not ideal - we have two cats that we sometimes need to sequester if we're trying to cook/work/etc. without distraction.
Do you have a preference of living in a NJ or PA suburb?
If we go a suburb route, we'd prefer PA.
Are you married or single? Do you have children?
Unmarried couple, soon to be engaged (I'm assuming she'll say yes). No kids.
Do you prefer public or private schools?
N/A
Do you have pets?
Yes - two cats. See above.
Do you want or need a yard?
It would be a nice bonus, but not entirely necessary.
Are you keeping a car?
Yes - we're actually keeping both our cars for now, see above.
Do you prefer bustling activity or calm and quiet?
An in-between would be ideal. Having a walkable neighborhood would be great.
What do you want to be closest to?
Work
My GF will be working near Broad St. and Passyunk. We'd like to keep her commute under 40 mins max. I'll be working from home most days, so that's a non-issue.
Shopping
Would be nice, but not 100% necessary.
Basic services (supermarket, drugstore, etc.)
Again, a nice bonus but not 100% necessary.
Nightlife
We don't need tons of bars or clubs, but a couple restaurants within walking distance would be great.
Train or subway stations
This would be nice, we do plan on using public transit fairly regularly
Do you want to live with people of a similar age, race, religion or sexual preference or do you prefer a diverse neighborhood?
We'd like to be around people at least close to our age, late 20's to mid-30's. The rest doesn't really matter as long as our other criteria is met.
Coke or Pepsi?
Dr Pepper, baby
Thanks so much for all your insight, we really appreciate it!
If I were in your position, I would try as hard as I could to live in the city -- maybe Fitler Square or Old City, etc. It gives you that great city vibe and maximizes all the things you can do in a city. Now, it will be a stretch and you'll probably have to settle for a small place, and I don't know about the parking - there may have to be some sacrifice as far as the cars.
If, however, you just can't swing it, and can't make all the sacrifices you'd have to make to get into that area, Manyunk is also a good choice (although again budget and parking are always the big issues). Look maybe if there's anything in Bala Cynwyd, or Ardmore. Conshohocken would be a good choice, too.
Any further out and I think you're getting too far out for your situation.
I agree with chicagoliz. I live in Passyunk Square and it's a great place to be. Bringing two cars on that budget may push you outside of that area though. Fitler, Old City, Bella Vista, Queen Village, Passyunk Square, etc. are all a bit too expensive when you include the cars. And they all have terrible parking. One car? Maybe. Two? good luck :-) If downsizing to one car is possible, I highly recommend it. You could then spend more on your rent, and if you decided to live in one of the close-by hoods, your fiance could walk to work.
I do think Manayunk or somewhere else with good Regional Rail access would work well if two cars is non-negotiable. You could just connect to the BSL down to Snyder. 40 mins might be tight though when including the transfer.
My initial reaction was to suggest Passyunk because it has pretty much everything you're looking for, but the parking issue. You may be able to look into getting a paid spot - not sure what the lot situation is down there but I'd look up private companies like Parkway. That location really would be your best bet if you could figure out the parking situation.
Manayunk will be much of the same issues with parking plus the added commute time. Your gf does NOT want to do that drive during rush hour, trust me. Definitely over 40min and that's without the usual daily accidents on 76. Could do SEPTA but as others noted, with the transfer it'll push you over that time limit as well. I have my car in a lot in Manayunk and pay $65 per month. If you have people constantly coming and going trying to find parking, that may be an issue.
You may want to look at Fishtown and Northern Liberties - that would be 30-40min on SEPTA (MFL to BSL) depending on whereabouts exactly.
Hi everyone,
My girlfriend and I are moving to Philadelphia in August. I came across the city-data forum while doing some research and it looks like it's full of knowledgeable folks, so hopefully youse (trying to acclimate already!) can help us figure out what area might be best for us. We're 32 and 28 - young professional types would describe us best I suppose. We're not married (yet) and don't have kids, but we don't really go out clubbing or bar hopping either. I own a photography business and work from home most weekdays, and travel to weddings in the area on the weekends. My girlfriend is a social worker that will be working a 9-5 schedule M-F down near Broad St. and Passyunk.
Our ideal place to rent would be a small house or larger apartment with easy parking, in a "cute" or "cozy" area. We were thinking East Falls or Manayunk, but we're open to other areas as well. We'd like to keep the commute time to Broad and Passyunk close to 30 mins by car, and we've also considered somewhere closer to her work like Queens Village so she could easily commute by public transit, but we're not sure about the parking situation.
Parking is a concern of ours - I'll be holding client meetings at our apartment, so it's important that the neighborhood has a certain amount of curb appeal, and people coming over won't have to drive around looking for a parking spot for 20 mins or park 8 blocks away. We'll also (foolishly, perhaps) be keeping both our cars, at least for the time being. We've discussed downsizing to one car, but that would involve selling both our current cars and buying a new one. Keeping just one of our cars isn't on the menu (hers is not very reliable, and mine is a manual transmission which she can't drive).
We like to pretend we're not super picky, but really, we are. We're torn between downsizing into a smaller space, walking or taking public transit nearly everywhere, and living like younger city folk while we still can - or move to a larger place in a more suburban area and accepting that we aren't college students anymore...is it possible to have the best of both worlds?
When are you moving?
End of July/beginning of August this year.
Where are you coming from?
New Haven, Connecticut (East Rock neighborhood)
Why are you moving?
Girlfriend accepted a job offer, general change of scenery, we both have family in PA.
Have you been here yet?
Yes - my girlfriend went to school at Bryn Mawr College, and I have family in Havertown, so we've both been numerous times. Neither of us are super familiar with Philadelphia neighborhoods though.
Will you buy or rent?
Rent
If buying, are you looking for a house or a condo? How much can you spend?
N/A
If renting, are you looking for an apartment, a townhouse or loft? How much can you spend?
Do you prefer hi-rise or walk up?
We're looking to keep rent at or around $1200. A townhouse would be fantastic, a walk up apartment would be fine, and we'd prefer not to live in a high-rise (although we're not ruling it out entirely). Open floorplans are not ideal - we have two cats that we sometimes need to sequester if we're trying to cook/work/etc. without distraction.
Do you have a preference of living in a NJ or PA suburb?
If we go a suburb route, we'd prefer PA.
Are you married or single? Do you have children?
Unmarried couple, soon to be engaged (I'm assuming she'll say yes). No kids.
Do you prefer public or private schools?
N/A
Do you have pets?
Yes - two cats. See above.
Do you want or need a yard?
It would be a nice bonus, but not entirely necessary.
Are you keeping a car?
Yes - we're actually keeping both our cars for now, see above.
Do you prefer bustling activity or calm and quiet?
An in-between would be ideal. Having a walkable neighborhood would be great.
What do you want to be closest to?
Work
My GF will be working near Broad St. and Passyunk. We'd like to keep her commute under 40 mins max. I'll be working from home most days, so that's a non-issue.
Shopping
Would be nice, but not 100% necessary.
Basic services (supermarket, drugstore, etc.)
Again, a nice bonus but not 100% necessary.
Nightlife
We don't need tons of bars or clubs, but a couple restaurants within walking distance would be great.
Train or subway stations
This would be nice, we do plan on using public transit fairly regularly
Do you want to live with people of a similar age, race, religion or sexual preference or do you prefer a diverse neighborhood?
We'd like to be around people at least close to our age, late 20's to mid-30's. The rest doesn't really matter as long as our other criteria is met.
Coke or Pepsi?
Dr Pepper, baby
Thanks so much for all your insight, we really appreciate it!
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but $1200/month isn't going to work for you in the city (cars or no cars) unless you want to be in a somewhat dicey neighborhood. Might consider Dickinson Narrows or possibly Point Breeze (both conveniently located to where you need to be and have decent parking), but, as stated above, they're not exactly the safest and most aesthetically-pleasing locations. Really depends on your level of comfort in urban areas. You might be able to get something in deep Pennsport (around Emily St. area), but that's iffy at your pricepoint and parking is pretty brutal.
If I were in your position, I would try as hard as I could to live in the city -- maybe Fitler Square or Old City, etc. It gives you that great city vibe and maximizes all the things you can do in a city. Now, it will be a stretch and you'll probably have to settle for a small place, and I don't know about the parking - there may have to be some sacrifice as far as the cars.
If, however, you just can't swing it, and can't make all the sacrifices you'd have to make to get into that area, Manyunk is also a good choice (although again budget and parking are always the big issues). Look maybe if there's anything in Bala Cynwyd, or Ardmore. Conshohocken would be a good choice, too.
Any further out and I think you're getting too far out for your situation.
Actually it would be just as smart, or smarter, imo, to simply move to Passyunk Sq or Bella Vista so their commute would be very little. The big hurdle would be parking.
Actually it would be just as smart, or smarter, imo, to simply move to Passyunk Sq or Bella Vista so their commute would be very little. The big hurdle would be parking.
Yeah, but it's going to be difficult with their budget. They have motorized vehicles, they don't need to live right on top of sweetheart's work.
My initial reaction was to suggest Passyunk because it has pretty much everything you're looking for, but the parking issue. You may be able to look into getting a paid spot - not sure what the lot situation is down there but I'd look up private companies like Parkway. That location really would be your best bet if you could figure out the parking situation.
Manayunk will be much of the same issues with parking plus the added commute time. Your gf does NOT want to do that drive during rush hour, trust me. Definitely over 40min and that's without the usual daily accidents on 76. Could do SEPTA but as others noted, with the transfer it'll push you over that time limit as well. I have my car in a lot in Manayunk and pay $65 per month. If you have people constantly coming and going trying to find parking, that may be an issue.
You may want to look at Fishtown and Northern Liberties - that would be 30-40min on SEPTA (MFL to BSL) depending on whereabouts exactly.
Yeah, there aren't many if any options for paid parking within Passyunk Square unfortunately. It would probably need to be outside of the neighborhood, and the cost would most likely be high. That would definitely put a dent in the $1200/month limit. Although, if they really wanted, they could try to go with a residential permit. With two cars, that wouldn't be very fun. Getting rid of one car would go a long way. And walking to work would dramatically reduce the number of times parking needs to be dealt with.
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