Thinking of moving back to Philly and buying property (Riverwards, Northeast) (Philadelphia: for sale, hair salon)

[Bacon21]

I made a post here a wee bit over 2 years ago asking about the prospects for Tacony. I wasn't serious about buying then, but I just wanted insight about the future of the area come the time I do decide to buy. Well forward to a little over a year ago and I moved to York County PA for the company I work for, and I absolutely hate it here for a multitude of reasons, and this is not the forum for me to gripe about my disdain for life in York County PA. All I'll say, is the cost of living here is increasing exponentially and the costs are quickly outweighing the benefits. So, I wanna come home and buy a somewhat affordable home.

Tacony would have been my first choice. I rented on the 6900 block of Keystone Street and I loved it there. For my intents and purposes, it's absolutely the perfect neighborhood. Most of my friends and family are in New Jersey and it was just so perfect and convenient to be on the bridge or 95. I'd be in Camden county within minutes. Anything I could possibly need to purchase is within minutes. It was cheap and affordable to live there. Should my car ever break down I could take the train to work in NJ. Unfortunately, everyone I talk to says Tacony is going own the tubes and I don't wanna wake up one morning to a full blown Kensington atmosphere on my front step. When I drive down Torresdale Ave, it's nothing but Day Cares and hair salons. It has not much going for it. In it's current state, it's perfectly acceptable to me, but who knows what the future will bring.

South Philly was suggested (I have friends there), but it's expensive, the parking sucks. I've been there, and just the number of street and parking signs alone stress me out. It's nice but I won't move there.

Port Richmond was suggested. I've scoped the area and looked at housing and I have questions. First, the guy who suggested PR (who lives there) said don't buy anything south of Ann Street or west of Belgrade Street. I thought the cutoff line for the riff raff was Aramingo Ave? Is Somerset Street questionable even past Aramingo? I thought the area was drawing a lot of people. Why are there so many houses listed for sale rather cheap south of Allegheny compared to North of Allegheny? Is Port Richmond at risk of declining like the lower Northeast is? I would imagine it wouldn't with gentrification moving upward, but then again, why such low property values, well, South of Anne Street and west of Belgrade?

Would I be completely insane for buying a house closer to Kensington in spite of the chaos happening near Somerset Station? Because I'm not rich and you can really get a deal in that area. And yes, I understand WHY you can really get a deal, but could it one day change? And that brings me to two other neighborhoods of interest. Frankford and Juniata Park. I'm well aware these are not good places, especially Frankford. But I keep hearing talk of it turning around one day. The neighborhood interests me soley because of it's close proximity to I-95 and the bridges. I-95 and the bridges mean everything when I come back. How likely am I to get my door kicked in and my property ransacked if I move to Frankford South of Frankford Ave? Same if I find a really good deal in Juniata? My Budget is sub 200k so these neighborhoods routinely pop up.

I know Bridesburg is an ideal choice, but it's expensive. I keep looking though. It would be pretty perfect.

"If New Jersey means so much to you, why don't you just move to New Jersey?". I'm from New Jersey. This is NOT the forum for me to gripe and complain about New Jersey Politics.

If you read all that, Thank you!

[Tweb66]

Oh I think Port Richmond is about to blow up (in the good sense). I was at a bar there a few months ago, full of early 20s, poor, hipster types. Say way you will about them but that describes Northern Liberties in like 2003, and Fishtown 10 years later. Gentrification will continue to spread. Only area in Philly that doesn't fit that bill I think is in the Northwest which is doing well despite being far from Center City.

[Truth11]

Only a true native Philadelphian would want to move back to this is all I can say...

[Bacon21]

Originally Posted by Tweb66

Oh I think Port Richmond is about to blow up (in the good sense). I was at a bar there a few months ago, full of early 20s, poor, hipster types. Say way you will about them but that describes Northern Liberties in like 2003, and Fishtown 10 years later. Gentrification will continue to spread. Only area in Philly that doesn't fit that bill I think is in the Northwest which is doing well despite being far from Center City.

I think most of the city will revitalize and improve over years and decades. It's not an overnight thing. As the population increases, so will the population of folks who envy what you can find in Europe, walkable cities where you can build community with your neighbors and not have to live an isolated life in a suburban strip mall hellscape. Will the suburbs die? No of course not. The majority of folks are born there and don't wanna leave that environment. But a growing number of people go to places like Madrid or Paris (or any European city), see the benefits, and think "We have cities right here that we can do that with, we just have a bigger cleanup effort". I think it'll take decades, but I believe one day our cities are going to be much more family friendly again.

I'm not a true native Philadelphian, I'm a native New Jerseyan. But I came to Philadelphia and saw massive potential there.

[PHL10]

Originally Posted by Truth11

Only a true native Philadelphian would want to move back to this is all I can say...

You mean as far as the violence and crime? Philadelphia has had a high crime rate since I was born 50 years ago and I was a young adult during the early 90s when murders were at record highs. A hand full of years ago there were 250 murders per year, now it’s 500. So 250 was ok but 500 is just not acceptable? Would 325 be ok? If crime and safety are your number one issue, no big city in this country is going to be a good fit for you. All things considered, the long term outlook for Philadelphia still looks very good, something I couldn’t really say in 1990.

[AshbyQuin]

Originally Posted by PHL10

You mean as far as the violence and crime? Philadelphia has had a high crime rate since I was born 50 years ago and I was a young adult during the early 90s when murders were at record highs. A hand full of years ago there were 250 murders per year, now it’s 500. So 250 was ok but 500 is just not acceptable? Would 325 be ok? If crime and safety are your number one issue, no big city in this country is going to be a good fit for you. All things considered, the long term outlook for Philadelphia still looks very good, something I couldn’t really say in 1990.

That's false. Boston, DC, and NYC have lower homicide/crime rates than Philadelphia. The only thing keeping the city afloat is the affordability relative to other NE cities. If Philadelphia's housing market skyrocketed to NYC prices there would be no reason to move there.

[Truth11]

Originally Posted by PHL10

You mean as far as the violence and crime? Philadelphia has had a high crime rate since I was born 50 years ago and I was a young adult during the early 90s when murders were at record highs. A hand full of years ago there were 250 murders per year, now it’s 500. So 250 was ok but 500 is just not acceptable? Would 325 be ok? If crime and safety are your number one issue, no big city in this country is going to be a good fit for you. All things considered, the long term outlook for Philadelphia still looks very good, something I couldn’t really say in 1990.

That's laughable as well as untrue,and just an excuse to ignore the elephant in the room.

It's a common fact that there is a such thing called a crime factor...heck do you even read the actual city data website?

I lived in unquestionably safer places before here,I also work in one now. They still exist. It's just a shame that city people will try to deny this to the ends of the earth.

[thedirtypirate]

Originally Posted by Truth11

That's laughable as well as untrue,and just an excuse to ignore the elephant in the room.

It's a common fact that there is a such thing called a crime factor...heck do you even read the actual city data website?

I lived in unquestionably safer places before here,I also work in one now. They still exist. It's just a shame that city people will try to deny this to the ends of the earth.

That 100% misses the point of what PHL10 meant. In 1991, the violent crime rate in Philadelphia was nearly double. The city was still losing jobs and the population was still nosediving.

Enough of the Rosie glass nostalgia. City's and neighborhoods change. Tacony has become marginally less livable than in previous generations. Mayfair has got a lot worse in terms of QOL imo. I know MarketStEl will want to chime in and say something about immigration to there, but frankly that doesn't change the fact that the QOL has declined and it's less livable.

I said it before, but I think there is a fairly large niche of people, very possibly like the OP, who find the different factors of affordability, live style, and general vibe of Tacony to be highly appealing. Bridesburg too. My neighbor is trying to sell his house for an absurd amount in South Philly. I'm very curious about the offers he gets. Point being, a lot of first time homebuyers are locked out of a lot of neighborhoods and being pushed into places like Kensington and Point Breeze. Tacony is becoming a viable option imo.

[Truth11]

Originally Posted by thedirtypirate

Point being, a lot of first time homebuyers are locked out of a lot of neighborhoods and being pushed into places like Kensington and Point Breeze. Tacony is becoming a viable option imo.

Why be in the city at all? I'm seeing alot of the surrounding areas...Marlton,Glenolden,Upper Darby etc being populated with Philly people.

[JamesJay64]

Originally Posted by AshbyQuin

That's false. Boston, DC, and NYC have lower homicide/crime rates than Philadelphia. The only thing keeping the city afloat is the affordability relative to other NE cities. If Philadelphia's housing market skyrocketed to NYC prices there would be no reason to move there.

Inversely, I'd say the ONLY thing holding the city back/keeping it affordable is crime. There are plenty of good things about it, which is why it still continues to (slowly) grow and never experienced population exodus on the level of many other American cities.