Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Pennsylvania > Philadelphia
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 08-06-2017, 07:19 PM
 
Location: The Left Toast
1,303 posts, read 1,885,268 times
Reputation: 981

Advertisements

Quote:
Originally Posted by MarketStEl View Post
Anyone else here recall a Philadelphia magazine cover story titled

So you live in Castor Gardens/Oxford Circle?

The 18 months I spent as an Oxford Circle resident were an eye-opener.

You can still find remnants of the old Northeast, the vast in-city suburb that many white ethnics (mainly but not entirely Italian and Irish) moved to to get away from Them, throughout the district, but much of it has become a little United Nations, and few parts more so than Castor Gardens/Oxford Circle/Rhawnhurst.

24/7 transit service to this district, however, is inconvenient: it consists mainly of the 14 bus up Roosevelt Boulevard. Everything else disappears between 1:30 and 5 a.m.

2. The Northeast. We get it; you hate the Northeast. I didn't like the Northeast you describe either, but that Northeast is disappearing, and faster than you think (and the oldtimers would like). Some of the people active in performing the disappearing act are themselves children of the Northeast, like Mike Scotese ("Scoats"), the owner of the Grey Lodge Public House at Mayfair's southern tip ("giving Northeast-haters one less reason to hate the Northeast since 1997" and once dubbed one of the 50 best bars in the country), the Hop Angel Brauhaus in Fox Chase and a bar in Port Richmond whose name escapes me now (he's a really good guy, salt of the earth, and someone I'm proud to know) and Troy Everwine, who owns the Sawtown Tavern in Tacony (Scoats is a silent partner in this enterprise) and runs it with his same-sex partner, a (half-African-American, half-Native American) choreographer named Charles Tyson. Maybe you saw Inga Saffron's column on "middle neighborhoods," where she mentions the Sawtown? (We're supposed to meet there sometime for a beer, she and I.) And while the cuisine may not be "haute," it's increasingly diverse, as KansastoSouthphilly has already pointed out. (The Picanha Grill at Castor and Hellerman avenues may not quite be up to the quality level of Fogo de Chão, but it's also half the price, and the meat is very good - good enough for Craig LaBan to give the restaurant two bells when he reviewed it about a decade ago. There's a West African/Jamaican restaurant called Nanaa Xtra-O in the next block south that I never tried while I lived there, and there are Korean and (yes) Mongolian establishments on the same stretch of Castor. My experience of driving around the district was that all the congestion was found on Roosevelt Boulevard and I-95. Transit isn't as good as it should be, true - blame the oldtimers who killed the BSS Northeast Spur ("Boulevard subway") back in the 1950s when the city could afford to build it for that; as I've remarked on several occasions, "When the city could afford to build it, they didn't want it; now that they want it, the city can't afford to build it." But it does have nodes of walkability of the suburban-downtown style in places like Tacony, Mayfair, Fox Chase and Five Points, and the potential exists to create more (the new zoning district CMX-2.5 was created with streets like Castor Avenue in mind). A new Northeast is emerging from the ashes of the old one, and it's a completely different version of our vast in-city suburb. Now if they just could turn the Northeast's "downtown" - the district along Cottman Avenue from Roosevelt Boulevard to Castor Avenue - into something more like a real one, an admittedly tall order.



Yes, I believe it's "Oxford Circle" just a couple of blocks from the actual "Circle" & the Boulevard... As I was telling PHL, it's cool for me at this time, but if I decide to settle in Philly permanently then a spacious home further up that's a bit more sub-urbany just might be a fit for me.

As I took a few "Open House " tours I really came to like a few of these neighborhoods, the blocks and homes. I pretty much love the city and the variety it has to offer, and growing up here I can tell you of some bad experiences of quite a few of them....BUT.... I see that things can change in couple of decades. Sometimes good to bad , but in many cases bad to good. I guess it depends on who you ask.

I really like this place listed here, and considering my budget is $400K, it beats a lot of the options I'll have back in LA where I'd have to stretch my budget to at-least $700k for a decent neighborhood and some solid sq. footage. https://www.google.com/maps/@40.0737...7i13312!8i6656

Last edited by toobusytoday; 08-09-2017 at 06:48 AM.. Reason: No single listings please.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 08-07-2017, 01:46 AM
 
Location: Germantown, Philadelphia
13,961 posts, read 8,825,433 times
Reputation: 10265
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lenses & Lights. View Post

I really like this place listed here, and considering my budget is $400K, it beats a lot of the options I'll have back in LA where I'd have to stretch my budget to at-least $700k for a decent neighborhood and some solid sq. footage. https://www.google.com/maps/@40.0737...7i13312!8i6656
$375K for that? Such a deal!

That's not the sort of place I'd want - though given my love of barbecue, I probably should, for the kinds of places I like don't come with yards or charcoal grills - but it's in great shape and has a lot of amenities.

Last edited by toobusytoday; 08-09-2017 at 06:42 AM.. Reason: removed realtor listing
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-09-2017, 06:55 AM
 
13,248 posts, read 33,367,912 times
Reputation: 8098
My apologies for not looking at this thread before today. You may notice that there are no longer single listings of places for sale in this thread. They were removed because they are not allowed according to the TOS for this site. You may list addresses or use pictures, but listings themselves are not allowed.
__________________
Please follow THESE rules.

Any Questions on how to use this site? See this.

Realtors, See This.

Moderator - Lehigh Valley, NEPA, Harrisburg, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Education and Colleges and Universities.

When I post in bold red, that is Moderator action and per the TOS can be discussed only via Direct Message.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-09-2017, 10:05 AM
 
2,527 posts, read 2,640,365 times
Reputation: 1841
Bache Martin isn't the best Elementary school, but you definitely could do worse to answer an inquiry from earlier.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Pennsylvania > Philadelphia

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top