Boston To Philly (Philadelphia, York, King of Prussia: appointed, apartment, for rent)

[tb582]

Hi guys,

My fiancee and I are going to be relocating to Philly for May 1st from Boston MA. I will be working in Center City and have one car. She will probably either be working or going to school in center city depending on how things turn out...

We are looking for a good area to get an apartment in, spending around 1,000.00 /per month for rent. It would be ideal for a 2BR apt, I have one car so I would need parking, and since we currently only have one car it needs to be close to public transportation so either I could get to work or she can go where she needs to. Most likely I will be driving my car to work so it is also important that traveling the subway or public transit is safe. Also if I could get an idea of the average cost of utilities?

Tony

[Ms. C]

have u checked the crime rate?

[newmarlig]

Originally Posted by Ms. C

have u checked the crime rate?

You are perfectly safe in and around Center City.

[NPDP]

Have you thought about Conshohocken?? There is a train route that goes right into center city. It is a smalller town, but has a main street with some fun bars/restaurants. My husband and I lived there for about 5 years and loved that we could walk to everything. The houses are close together so it has somewhat of an urban feel. It is also very convenient to the surrounding towns of Manyunk, King of Prussia (the mall), Valley Forge park. It is located about 15 miles west of center city. When I used to drive into the city it took about 30 minutes. We live in Mass now (soon to be relocating to NC), but I grew up in that general area, so if you have any other questions, i'd be happy to help.

[FindingZen]

These days, you will be lucky to find a 1B in Center City under $1000, let alone a 2B, thanks in part to the condo conversions. You may have better luck on the outskirts of Center City (e.g. Bella Vista, Art Museum Area, across the river University City). And more often than not, you will be renting in a converted home rather than a "traditional" apartment building. As mentioned before, Conshohocken and Manayunk may be more affordable options that feature a convenient commute to CC as well as a active neighborhood social scene.

Depending where you and your fiancee' live or work in CC, you will probably encounter the bus, the Market-Frankford Blue Line (known as "The El" to locals), the Green Line light rail trolleys and, to get to the stadiums, the Broad Street Line. Within Center City, all of these are as safe as Boston and any other larger city. Of course, street wisdom is always helpful, especially towards late night.

I recall paying an average of $70 a month for electric (including heat) for my 1B when I lived in Philly. The cheaper summers made up for the more expensive winters. (Full disclosure: I am not a cold-weather person so your mileage may vary.)

[gigibell214]

Have You Checked Out The Universiy City Area Or The Art Museum Area Of Philadelphia. Both Of These Areas Are Close To Center City, Very Nice Neighborhood For A Young Couple Who Like To Be Close To Nice Restaraunts, Bars, Nightlife And Schools. I Know A Lot About University City B/c I Grew Up There. You Are Close To Penn, Drexel, University Of Scienes. Public Transportation Is A Breeze. You Have Bus Routes, Trolley Routes And Train Routes To Center City. Not Much Off Street Parking But You Ay Get Lucky.

[NPDP]

Another place you might consider is renting somewhere on the main line (Bryn Mawr, Devon, Villanova)...I have no idea what the rent is on a 2 BR, but it is a nice place and provides an easy commute to CC. City Line Ave. is also nice. Best of luck!

[tb582]

Originally Posted by NPDP

It is a smalller town, but has a main street with some fun bars/restaurants. My husband and I lived there for about 5 years and loved that we could walk to everything. It is also very convenient to the surrounding towns of Manyunk, King of Prussia (the mall), Valley Forge park. It is located about 15 miles west of center city. When I used to drive into the city it took about 30 minutes. We live in Mass now (soon to be relocating to NC), but I grew up in that general area, so if you have any other questions, i'd be happy to help.

Thanks for your replies, we were down there this weekend and I think we have settled on an apt in Center City on Walnut St. Its not exactly what I was hoping for but I need to be down there for my job May 1st so we are kind of running out of time - The apartment is nice its just in an old building so it doesn't have all of the modern appliances/bathroom that I was hoping for. Honestly I'm a little disappointed in what we found in and around the city, we tried to go about 10 miles outside the city but that ended up to be a big mistake, we ended up in a horrible area looking at some lofts, which when we saw the pictures online they looked nice but the area sucked. Then we came back into the city and walked around for a while and it does seem like right in center city can be very nice. Especially where our apartment is located. Then another disappointing area but from the pics looked nice what down on North 5th street, we ended up quite a ways down say around 1100-1400- That was probably the worst area we saw, and I definitely felt uncomfortable walking around there.

Overall I think were we ended up finding an apt. is nice, my fiancee will be working on N3rd st, just about at old city we walked around there for a bit and that area seems safe to be walking around in we did not go any further down N3rd st as we figured it would eventually get worse as N5th did. Overall I'm disappointed in what we found, right now in Boston we live in Brookline, by the longwood towers, I was hoping to find a nice residential area in Philly like that but every time we tried to go outside the city it just kept getting worse. We did not really go over to the medical area where the university and hospitals are but I have heard that the area around Temple university can be a bit sketchy......

I hope its a good decision to move down there and that once we are there we can find an area similar to brookline/Newton, I'm hoping that we just kept going to the wrong areas....

[rainrock]

Walnut is safe pretty much the entire stretch until you hit say 50th street in West Phillly. So I wouldn't worry too much. 1400 block of N 5th street (egads) Should have went south much better neighborhoods imo. Sounds like you explored North Philly which can be a traumatizing experience to even the most hearty. Alot of New Yorkers are moving into Fishtown and nOrthern Liberties but they are much braver then the average bunch. The Temple area is sketchy. The University area you want to go to is University City(Phillys version of Cambridge) this is the campus of University Pennsylvania + Drexel. Directly west of Center City.

When you say you went 10 miles outside the city did you mean 10 miles outside center city? Philly is a huge town. 10 miles outside the city puts you in very suburban almost rural type setting.

I think you will grow to like the city but by the sounds of your uncertainty you might be better off living in one of the suburban Mainline towns(Narberth, Bryn Mawr, Bala Cynwd,Haverford,Ardmore,Villanova). Easy rail access into the city. I'm not sure exactly what Brookline is like but the Mainline suburbs sounds to be comparable. Nice tree lined suburban feel.

Best of luck

[tb582]

Thanks everyone for your quick replies, I do agree and think that it is much better especially for my fiancee to have a lesser apartment and a good area then the other way around.

I certainly hope that we just ended up looking in the wrong areas, Its tough when you don't really know anyone....

The apartment that we hopefully got is on the corner of Walnut and S 21st street.....

...I'll post more after my feiancee has a chance to view the thread