Lesbian "white girls" looking for a safe area in Philly (Conshohocken: living, gay-friendly)

[Eyes]

.. head to center city and have meals and/or drinks in places between 11th st to 18th street .. Chestnut to pine
There are some places where you can get the real scoop as to where you will be happy and welcome.
The area is teeming .. diverse .. and is also the heart of the gayborhood
You will be surrounded by Jefferson ... Pennsylvania ... HUP and Hannaman Hospital-S
It is a very busy area but .. you won't NEED a car .. you can join ZipCar and use taxi's .. it will be cheaper than a car. If you want to shop at a big food market .. walk or take the bus and get a cab back .. cheaper and easier than trying to park.

And you are right .. there are some areas that you would stick out like a glow lite .. But not in or near center city.

[solibs]

Originally Posted by frankgn87

keep in mind that if you make say... 60k a year and live IN the city you will pay about 2300 a year in city wage tax + you may double your car insurance.. (at least this was our experience) that more then pays for ALL your higher nj property taxes.

Except it doesn't really because your property taxes should be, at most, $2000 per year (mine are a little less than $500) and you won't need two cars anymore (or any car at all).

[FindingZen]

I'd say that the heart of the "gayborhood" - primarily Washington Square West - might be a little further east: maybe 8th to 13th Sts. The north/south boundaries are about right. It also might be a little tough finding a 2BR/2BA in their range, though. I do agree that the OP and her partner should feel comfortable through virtually all of Center City.

Originally Posted by Eyes

.. head to center city and have meals and/or drinks in places between 11th st to 18th street .. Chestnut to pine
There are some places where you can get the real scoop as to where you will be happy and welcome.
The area is teeming .. diverse .. and is also the heart of the gayborhood
You will be surrounded by Jefferson ... Pennsylvania ... HUP and Hannaman Hospital-S
It is a very busy area but .. you won't NEED a car .. you can join ZipCar and use taxi's .. it will be cheaper than a car. If you want to shop at a big food market .. walk or take the bus and get a cab back .. cheaper and easier than trying to park.

And you are right .. there are some areas that you would stick out like a glow lite .. But not in or near center city.

[chessimprov]

DE and Montgomery county are also worth looking into in addition to Lower Bucks

[john_starks]

gayborhood is overrated

[solibs]

Gayborhood ~ Juniper to 11th from Chestnut to Pine.

[Eyes]

Originally Posted by Tone509

I'd say that the heart of the "gayborhood" - primarily Washington Square West - might be a little further east: maybe 8th to 13th Sts. The north/south boundaries are about right. It also might be a little tough finding a 2BR/2BA in their range, though. I do agree that the OP and her partner should feel comfortable through virtually all of Center City.

I am not suggesting only this grid for living ..

I would think they could find a place to live for the 1/4 mill plus they say is the budget.
I am saying they will find like minded people who can offer more detailed info in the areas I have mentioned.
The area you mention is fairly new in the scheme of the gayborhood.
There are plenty of areas that ring center city that are great and convenient.
In the city a single block either way can be good or not so much.

[FindingZen]

Originally Posted by Eyes

I am not suggesting only this grid for living ..

I would think they could find a place to live for the 1/4 mill plus they say is the budget.
I am saying they will find like minded people who can offer more detailed info in the areas I have mentioned.
The area you mention is fairly new in the scheme of the gayborhood.
There are plenty of areas that ring center city that are great and convenient.
In the city a single block either way can be good or not so much.

I see what you're saying now. I don't know how the gayborhood was defined before I strolled through it starting in the mid-90's but you may well be right. In any case, we definitely agree that Center City - and possibly some periphery neighborhoods - would be comfortable as a whole.

[frankgn87]

$60k a year for one person is not that much. Id bet they make more then twice that with both working.. Then the city wage will kill ya. Like it did for us..

something to think about

Originally Posted by solibs

Except it doesn't really because your property taxes should be, at most, $2000 per year (mine are a little less than $500) and you won't need two cars anymore (or any car at all).

[solibs]

Originally Posted by frankgn87

$60k a year for one person is not that much. Id bet they make more then twice that with both working.. Then the city wage will kill ya. Like it did for us..

something to think about

I'm guessing you meant that $60k/year for a couple is not that much. The median household income for the metro is ~$55k/year. That means that half the households make less.

Making $120k/year would put you in at least the top 20% of households in the metro.

If, for the sake of argument, you and your partner make $100k/year then you're paying $3900 in wage taxes. Assuming that you're living in an older property that doesn't have the 10-year tax abatement and you're paying $1500/year in property taxes - That puts you at $5400 for the year . . . for the city tax burden. Based on a 1/4 acre suburban lot and a $300k house on it, that sounds about average to me for a suburban property tax bill.

The time and money I don't spend every year on maintaining my yard more than makes up for the extra sales tax you pay in the city.

Now, subtract the cost of owning a second car - which, even if you don't drive it much, should still run you about $6000/year and you've neutralized your tax burden altogether. AAA Newsroom (http://www.aaanewsroom.net/main/Default.asp?CategoryID=4&ArticleID=437 - broken link)

Unless you're working the suburbs or at odd hours you can get rid of both cars and pay the annual fees to join both PhillyCarShare and Zipcar and use them both heavily and you should still be ahead an additional $3000.

To be honest, my first 6 months in the city I wasn't really happy to be here and was thinking about moving back to Collingswood. After the first year the place had grown on me and after 18 months I couldn't imagine moving back to the 'burbs.

I'm a reasonably intelligent guy, as are most of my friends. We all live here by choice. If it wasn't clear to me that there was more money in my pocket at the end of each year and that my QOL wasn't better overall, I would have left a long time ago.

All that said - the city isn't for everyone and, from the sounds of it, the OP would be happier in a place like Collingswood or Narberth.