Philadelphia: sleeper hit? (Reading, York, Franklin: crime, home, quality of life)

[ForgotTheMilk]

Hello all, I'm from Texas and I recently attended a convention at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. I stayed outside of downtown (Chestnut Hill) and took the train in to get a sense of what moving around in the city would be like, and enjoyed downtown and Reading Terminal Market while I was there. I know this isn't representative of the everyday experience, but I'm looking for new place that isn't as sprawly and car-centric as the Sunbelt cities, and Philadelphia is comparable in terms of COL.

Comparable COL to Dallas, Atlanta, etc
Northwest Regional reach to other NE cities like DC, NYC and Boston
Winters aren't quite as bad as Boston, though I realize this will be an adjustment
Rich historical sites that other, more newly-built cities don't have
Sports teams, concert tour visits, cultural attractions that come along with being a long-established major city

Question is, what am I not considering?

I didn't give biking a shot in the city, and moving away from car use generally involves picking up in biking in some sense. I'm a single guy and I don't have a need for a tremendous amount of housing space in the near future, which is why people typically move down south. I'll almost certainly be bringing my own remote job with me. NE has a reputation for rudeness, but it didn't bother me when I visited PHI or Boston, so I think this is just a perception, or I can deal with it.

A potential negative is a lack of options in terms of green space and outdoor activities; I'm not a hunter/fisherman, which is kind of the default around here, and lean more towards hiking and mountains.

[FindingZen]

One negative that some may point out right away is the spike in crime in the city. The same is happening in most major cities, however, although Philadelphia may still be an outlier among them. Although Center City (what we call downtown) is a wealthy area, people from all walks of life pass through and unfortunately there have been a number of incidents here, some of them fatal. If you have a decent amount of street wisdom and avoid areas where trouble is most likely to occur, you will be okay.

For biking, you were in an ideal spot as Chestnut Hill is adjacent to Wissahickon Park and its various biking/walking trails. There are also a number of dedicated and shared bike lanes in and around Center City so that a theoretical commute to work or play in the urban core is feasible.

I spent two years in Dallas and there is a difference in retail/restaurant hospitality...but if you visit establishments frequently enough here, you'll become like family.

For the mountain experience, you'll need to head out to the Poconos approximately two hours north of the city. It's best known for skiing during the winter but you can hike there in warmer months as well. Others here may be more knowledgeable about other hiking options in the state and region.

[MarketStEl]

Northeasterners do have a reputation for brusqueness bordering on rudeness, and Philadelphia sports fans have a particularly notorious rep for bad behavior — even though the incident happened more than 50 years ago, when the Eagles still played at Penn's Franklin Field, they still talk about how Eagles fans pelted Santa Claus with batteries from the stands during one game when the team was stinking up the place.

But I've seen surveys in several travel magazines that give Philadelphians very high marks for hospitality, friendliness and (wait for it) honesty (one such survey involved a tester deliberately leaving a wallet on a bench in a train station or airport and seeing if it got returned).

There are definitely places where you can go hiking in the Poconos — and also closer to the city, though they will lack mountains. But several of them are creek valleys ringed by steep hills, like the aforementioned Wissahickon valley in northwest Philadelphia; Ridley Creek State Park in Delaware County near Media is another park of this type, one that's very popular with hikers.

Again, no mountains, but there's a huge state forest in the Southern New Jersey Pinelands that you can also get lost in: Wharton State Forest, which also contains within it a village with an iron foundry dating back to before the American Revolution.

[Tweb66]

On the sports front, I will say, I have been wearing Pens gear around town for years. No one has given me grief, in fact I get "lets go Pens" chants pretty much everywhere I go. That might be an outlier though, like, what could a Flyers fan possibly say to me?

[Redddog]

Pro tip:

Leave your Cowboys gear in Texas.

lol.

[ForgotTheMilk]

One negative that some may point out right away is the spike in crime in the city. The same is happening in most major cities, however, although Philadelphia may still be an outlier among them. Although Center City (what we call downtown) is a wealthy area, people from all walks of life pass through and unfortunately there have been a number of incidents here, some of them fatal. If you have a decent amount of street wisdom and avoid areas where trouble is most likely to occur, you will be okay.

Yeah, that's what everyone's knee-jerk reaction as well, but I'm not a small guy, and I've been in some rough parts of Dallas, Austin and Houston, so it doesn't strike me as a top concern as much as it (justifiably) would for other folks.

I spent two years in Dallas and there is a difference in retail/restaurant hospitality...but if you visit establishments frequently enough here, you'll become like family.

What brought you back?

There are definitely places where you can go hiking in the Poconos — and also closer to the city, though they will lack mountains. But several of them are creek valleys ringed by steep hills, like the aforementioned Wissahickon valley in northwest Philadelphia; Ridley Creek State Park in Delaware County near Media is another park of this type, one that's very popular with hikers.

Thanks for the tip, I suppose the Appalachian trail is still within reach as well.

Leave your Cowboys gear in Texas.

Don't need to worry about that

[KansastoSouthphilly]

I recently moved (after 15 years) from Philly to a small (but happening) town in Western New York State but I still think Philly is a great option. Just make sure you pick where to live deliberately. Getting from one section of the Metro to another can take hours. You can really cramp your quality of life if you don't consider things like your commute, grocery shopping, where you want to go out etc. That is the aspect of living in Philly that I was happy to leave behind. Small things like going out to eat, going shopping at a target, visiting friends would often feel like a big ordeal. But maybe that's just me getting older and grumpier.

[bridge12]

Originally Posted by KansastoSouthphilly

I recently moved (after 15 years) from Philly to a small (but happening) town in Western New York State but I still think Philly is a great option. Just make sure you pick where to live deliberately. Getting from one section of the Metro to another can take hours. You can really cramp your quality of life if you don't consider things like your commute, grocery shopping, where you want to go out etc. That is the aspect of living in Philly that I was happy to leave behind. Small things like going out to eat, going shopping at a target, visiting friends would often feel like a big ordeal. But maybe that's just me getting older and grumpier.

Depends on where your friends live and the amenities are. I'm within a few blocks of all the shopping I need. Most of my friends live in Center City, Fishtown or South Philly. So getting around to see everyone is super easy. I can't imagine if I lived in the suburbs how annoying it would be to have to shlep around in the car to do every single errand. I feel like the suburbs would cramp my QOL way more than the city.

[Redddog]

Originally Posted by KansastoSouthphilly

I recently moved (after 15 years) from Philly to a small (but happening) town in Western New York State but I still think Philly is a great option....

Where in NY? I'm from Roch.

[KansastoSouthphilly]

Originally Posted by bridge12

Depends on where your friends live and the amenities are. I'm within a few blocks of all the shopping I need. Most of my friends live in Center City, Fishtown or South Philly. So getting around to see everyone is super easy. I can't imagine if I lived in the suburbs how annoying it would be to have to shlep around in the car to do every single errand. I feel like the suburbs would cramp my QOL way more than the city.

I never lived in the philly suburbs, though I did live in Mt. Airy for about half of my time in Philly. However, I generally agree which is why I emphasized the importance of being deliberate where one lives. The problem, as I experienced it, was as I get older friends start to disperse and visiting your friend in New Jersey, Ambler or Media is often extremely inconvenient in a way that is not necessarily experienced in other metro areas. when living in Mt. Airy I met my (now) Wife. We loved taking of advantage of Philly's amazing restaurant scene. Typically this meant driving (or ubering) to Center City, Fishtown, and South Philly which could easily take an hour to get to despite only being ~9 miles away. We were uninterested in moving to any of those places because (1) we enjoyed living below our means in Mt. Airy; (2) we were uninterested in the lack of green space and (3) it would have meant a nightmare commute for her. If the above scenarios don't apply to you and you are confident yours friends will never move then by all means move to South Philly or fishtown. I certainly loved my time in East Passyunk.

I am not saying this to bash philly but as something that should be kept in mind when deciding whether or not to move here. If you want to live without a car in Philly you have to be very deliberate about where you choose to live and consider what your day to day life will look like. What will your route home look like? Are you comfortable taking the bus and subway? Are the type stores you regularly go to in a convenient location of where you will be everyday? Similar questions need to be asked if you are planning on moving WITH a car as well? If you like to frequently go to target at 8pm on a Wednesday is it going to bother you that you may have to park several blocks away when you come back? Etc.