Can someone tell me about this area of Mount Airy in Philly? (Philadelphia: apartment complex, for rent)

[Cblueberry1]

Hi - I am going to be moving to the Philly area soon and found a possible ideal room for rent arrangement in East Mount Airy that, according to the map, is in the area of East Pleasant St, East Slocum St, East Meehan Ave, and Musgrave St. These are all streets in the area. Haven’t actually been out there yet- going out in a few days to look at it. Is this a safe area? I know East Mount Airy is supposed to be less safe, but I am from MD and don’t know much about Philly. It’s likely I will be coming home late some nights as I am a waitress. I am trying to do research but anyone’s opinion would be valuable. Thank you for any thoughts -

[bigfish1]

That area is generally considered to be the rougher part of E Mount Airy but really isn't that bad at least in my experience. However I feel like Marketstel would be able to give a more educated response.

[Muinteoir]

That’s the area by Pleasant Playground, yeah? I was just there a few weeks ago and my honest thought was how nice it seems. It’s not as affluent as West Mt Airy, but it is still nice. MarketStEl will surely have more details.

[KoNgFooCj]

That particular neighborhood is about 15 blocks west of where any large amount of crime happens. I just checked a chart and only 2 people were shot in that area the whole year.

[maf763]

It's an area seeing a lot of investment along the avenue, a block or two away, and flippers have had a field day because the housing stock is more modest in E. Mt. Airy. Two new apartment buildings have opened in the last couple of years and there is an Aldi's now under construction. More places have trickled down Germantown Ave from the Chestnut Hill/Mt. Airy commercial corridor, like the new Breakfast Boutique and Malelani Cafe. In that little section, you have a mix of longtime residents and new people.

[KansastoSouthphilly]

I think East Mt. Airy is every bit as great as West Mt. Airy with the exception of "dogtown" which is the area between Germantown Ave and Chew and between Gorgas and Upsal. This is the area you are looking at. I lived there for ~3 years. I love Mt. Airy but hated living there. I can't say that I ever felt unsafe there were just some quality of life issues with my disgusting neighbors. If you choose to live there I would first do you best to get a sense of who your next door neighbors will be. If they seem relatively normal you should be fine. The main problems are young kids riding bikes and causing problems and some drug dealing occurring at the apartment complex at Slocum and Musgrave and foot traffic related to that.


You don't want to live next to people like my former neighbors. They lived in a 3 bedroom row house but had a rotating cast of 12-15 people living in there at any given time. There would be at least 5 of they hanging out on their front porch at all times drunk and smoking weed. The sounds of screaming could be heard through the walls 24/7. They wouldn't put their trash in trash bags they would throw trash out their windows into their backyard. Often that trash would land in my yard. I would constantly find soiled underwear, used diapers, needles, expired pills, used paper plates, cigarettes etc. Just make sure you do your due diligence on your potential neighbors.


That said, the house was such a good deal I probably would have never moved if I had semi-normal next door neighbors. These were easily the worst people on the block if not the worst in all of dogtown. I loved walking to Maleani and would have loved it if the breakfast boutique was open when I lived there. There is a breakfast and lunch diner on Germantown and phil ellena that I would walk to and sit at the counter. There is also a charming coffeshop/baker just below Phil Elenna in an old one room schoolhouse building. Its also pretty easy to walk to the Mt. Airy's main commercial corridor.


Feel free to message me directly if you want to share with me specifically where you would be living.

[PurpleHydrangea]

I don’t think it be wise to live there and particularly coming home late at night.its the kind of place you to be very aware of your surroundings.

[Cblueberry1]

Hi guys - thanks so much for your answers. It’s really helpful. I ended up not choosing that area for reasons you guys stated. Thanks again - I’ll be searching for a good restaurant to work in now.

[MarketStEl]

Originally Posted by maf763

It's an area seeing a lot of investment along the avenue, a block or two away, and flippers have had a field day because the housing stock is more modest in E. Mt. Airy. Two new apartment buildings have opened in the last couple of years and there is an Aldi's now under construction. More places have trickled down Germantown Ave from the Chestnut Hill/Mt. Airy commercial corridor, like the new Breakfast Boutique and Malelani Cafe. In that little section, you have a mix of longtime residents and new people.

I didn't know the building with the Aldi on the street floor had already made it past the ZBA. I don't recall seeing any dirt excavated on its lot when I last passed that way early last week. I know the neighbors were all up in arms about it - because parking, and deliveries, and traffic, and design (the green wall won no points). It is a departure for Aldi in that it's their first Philadelphia-area store that's not a freestanding island in a parking lot but rather incorporated into a mixed-use building with the parking beneath it. Kudos to Aldi for that.

Sorry to hear about your experience in Dogtown, KansastoSouthPhilly, but I understand. I would, however, note that while that part of East Mt. Airy looks a little bedraggled, it's not unsafe. I'd second your "vet your neighbors thoroughly" recommendation, however.

I'd heard that Deirdre's Breakfast Boutique had opened in Mt. Airy but didn't know where it was. Malelani has been around for quite some time. I've been to Deirdre's Fern Rock location and was suitably impressed - so much so that when the Keystone Property Group building management at The Curtis said they were looking for a "breakfast and coffee" place to fill what up until the beginning of this month had been Cooperage, I recommended they give Deirdre's a call. I understand that a table at the Chestnut Hill location is a hot ticket. (The time I tried going up there, it was closed for vacation.)

[MarketStEl]

Originally Posted by Cblueberry1

Hi guys - thanks so much for your answers. It’s really helpful. I ended up not choosing that area for reasons you guys stated. Thanks again - I’ll be searching for a good restaurant to work in now.

And where are you looking to live now?