Thinking about Philly.... (Philadelphia, Houston, Lincoln: real estate, rent, crime rate)

[Randomdude]

So, Philly is on a short list of places Im considering moving. The low cost of living, tolerable crime rate for a large city, and better salaries then where Im at are attractive.

So, some facts

- White male, 27 and darker skinned Dominican female, 25 (its very important that interracial couples be accepted in the area we go to)

- We are both professional. She will likely be transfering through Bank of America, and I am in Accounting/Finance and will likely come jobless due to the difficulty of getting out of state employment in this economy. If anyone else is in accounting/finance and give me a first hand picture of the prospects, that would be great.

- We have two cats, and two cars

- We are very interested in live entertainment and cultural stuff within walking distance, but we are far more concerned about safety. She is a scaredy cat, and I will not put her in a neighborhood where she has to feel scared. We both love Manhattan, and if we could find someplace similiar to that, it would be great.

- We are fairly price conscious. We would like to keep rent below $1000 a month is possible, preferrably with utilities, and it must accept cats obviously. We also would prefer something that gives us two parking spots, or a very cheap second one. We are not very interested in giving up our vehicles.


All that said, what areas/buildings, would be good for us to look? If you can provide links for any information, that would be great.

[Eyes]

I suggest you invest in your future and come spend a long weekend checking out the area.

Try the Penns View hotel .. Front St at Market .. in old city ... my personal

Do lots of online research .. first .. and don't assume you will be jobless.
There are quite a few firms that may use your services.
Wilmington DE is a massive banking center .. due to tax benefits. .. a 30 minute drive.
You may not need any cars .. or maybe only one.
Philly has fairly good transportation, taxi's and Flex Car/ Car Share .. cars by the hour.

Just like Manhattan .. Philly has good and bad areas .. you can rent in your price range .. but 2 cars may break the budget .. parking can be a bite and in some areas that bite may be in you pocket.

[Jfoldno7]

If safety is a bigger priority than walking distance to culture and live performances you should look at Mt. Airy (especially West Mt. Airy) and Chestnut Hill. These are very safe areas in the NW section of the city which would definitely be accepting of an interracial couple. There are cultural events up that way but certainly nothing like Old City or Center City. I bring the Mt. Airy/Chestnut Hill areas up because you mentioned two cars and these are areas that will more easily accommodate that.

Also safe but less convenient for having 2 cars are East Falls and Manayunk.

Come on up for a visit and check out some areas for yourself. There is a very different vibe throughout Philly depending on what neighborhood you are in.

[Randomdude]

Originally Posted by Eyes

I suggest you invest in your future and come spend a long weekend checking out the area.

Try the Penns View hotel .. Front St at Market .. in old city ... my personal

Do lots of online research .. first .. and don't assume you will be jobless.
There are quite a few firms that may use your services.
Wilmington DE is a massive banking center .. due to tax benefits. .. a 30 minute drive.
You may not need any cars .. or maybe only one.
Philly has fairly good transportation, taxi's and Flex Car/ Car Share .. cars by the hour.

Just like Manhattan .. Philly has good and bad areas .. you can rent in your price range .. but 2 cars may break the budget .. parking can be a bite and in some areas that bite may be in you pocket.

1. Im not interested in driving to Wilmington, DE for employment. I would prefer to be 10-15 minutes from my job due to medical issues.

2. I have done a decent amount of online research- this is part of it, however, that can only reveal so much, and a couple day visit can only reveal so much as well. Id rather have the input of people who spend every day in the city.

3. I do understand we may not need 2 cars, but if I want to move from Philly, I dont really want us to give up 2 fully paid off cars and then end up moving somewhere we need them. Philly is going to be a leap of faith for us. We know we hate where we are, we know there is no good employment prospects, and the rent and real estate are overpriced heavily. We dont, however, know that we will be happy where we choose to go.

4. I understand there is good and bad areas. That was one of the original points of my post, to figure out what those are.

[Eyes]

Pennsport
Bella Vista
Art Museum
Northern Liberties
Fishtown
Graduate Hospital

Might have living space for $1000.

All in a circle around Center City .. near museums, restaurant, theartre, parks, public transportation, Car/Share and highways
Parking will probably be on the streets ..

Please note that Philadelphia can change in one city block as to foot traffic safety.
Even the Vatican is subject to crime.

If your cars are that important you may want to live further out from center city ..
The NorthEast .. Suburbs .. or New Jersey.

It just seemed to me your description sounded like center city ..
You may be able to park the 2 cars in center city for $1000. and have some change.
You will not be able to live there and have cars ...
I wish you good hunting ...

[Eyes]

Originally Posted by Jfoldno7

If safety is a bigger priority than walking distance to culture and live performances you should look at Mt. Airy (especially West Mt. Airy) and Chestnut Hill. These are very safe areas in the NW section of the city which would definitely be accepting of an interracial couple. There are cultural events up that way but certainly nothing like Old City or Center City. I bring the Mt. Airy/Chestnut Hill areas up because you mentioned two cars and these are areas that will more easily accommodate that.

Also safe but less convenient for having 2 cars are East Falls and Manayunk.

Come on up for a visit and check out some areas for yourself. There is a very different vibe throughout Philly depending on what neighborhood you are in.

All Fabulous areas ...
Winters with a car in some areas can mean .. you are best not driving .. Manayunk and Roxborough .. can be worse than a luge.
If the area is hilly you will want to know about plowing ...

[Randomdude]

Originally Posted by Eyes

All Fabulous areas ...
Winters with a car in some areas can mean .. you are best not driving .. Manayunk and Roxborough .. can be worse than a luge.
If the area is hilly you will want to know about plowing ...

I may not neccessarily even drive at all while Im there. However, Id still like to have my paid off car if I do want to leave. If I find I really love Philadelphia, and dont want to go anywhere for a long time, I may dump the car, but not at first.

[Randomdude]

Originally Posted by Eyes

Pennsport
Please note that Philadelphia can change in one city block as to foot traffic safety.
Even the Vatican is subject to crime.

There is tolerable crime (an occasional assault, mugging or defacing of property), and then there is intolerable crime (gun fights in the street, gangs walking through/operating all hours of the day, prostitutes, etc).

Originally Posted by Eyes

If your cars are that important you may want to live further out from center city ..
The NorthEast .. Suburbs .. or New Jersey.

I will not live in New Jersey, ever. I would prefer to stay inside Phildelphia.

Originally Posted by Eyes

It just seemed to me your description sounded like center city ..
You may be able to park the 2 cars in center city for $1000. and have some change.
You will not be able to live there and have cars ...
I wish you good hunting ...

$1000 a month? Ha, I guess city center wont be for us!

[bamba_boy]

We are also a mixed couple - I'm white and my wife is an African-American from the Philadelphia area. She grew up in Camden County just across the river and many of the suburbs with the exception of the city of Camden (99.999% black, .001% Hispanic, 0 white) are mixed and quite nice and quite reasonable (probably within your price range). Might be a bit boring according to your criteria. Her family was originally from GermanTown in close in city of Philadelphia and most of them are still there. I've visited twice and felt quite safe as a middle-aged white guy. Lots of restaurants, shops, racially mixed church we attended, clubs, trendy little shops.

Like someone else mentioned, things change block to block. Parts of GermanTown are like Chelsea or SoHo in the 70's or currently emerging Brooklyn, but nearby areas might be fringe ghetto. Need to do a little walking around and get the feel for the 5 or 6 block radius of apts that you're looking at. I'm guessing that that slight seedy factor (not enough to bother me personally in the least - just gives it a patina of "character") might keep the aptartment rents within your tolerance (really yuppie parts of Phila area expensive).

I've never lived there but I got a good feeling about Philadelphia from the visits. I just don't like the cold. (We settled down in Houston next door to Palm Trees!).


GermanTown (in northwestern Philadelphia)'s most famous resident (born and bred):

Bill Cosby

Originally Posted by Randomdude

So, Philly is on a short list of places Im considering moving. The low cost of living, tolerable crime rate for a large city, and better salaries then where Im at are attractive.

So, some facts

- White male, 27 and darker skinned Dominican female, 25 (its very important that interracial couples be accepted in the area we go to)

- We are both professional. She will likely be transfering through Bank of America, and I am in Accounting/Finance and will likely come jobless due to the difficulty of getting out of state employment in this economy. If anyone else is in accounting/finance and give me a first hand picture of the prospects, that would be great.

- We have two cats, and two cars

- We are very interested in live entertainment and cultural stuff within walking distance, but we are far more concerned about safety. She is a scaredy cat, and I will not put her in a neighborhood where she has to feel scared. We both love Manhattan, and if we could find someplace similiar to that, it would be great.

- We are fairly price conscious. We would like to keep rent below $1000 a month is possible, preferrably with utilities, and it must accept cats obviously. We also would prefer something that gives us two parking spots, or a very cheap second one. We are not very interested in giving up our vehicles.


All that said, what areas/buildings, would be good for us to look? If you can provide links for any information, that would be great.

[akorosdc]

I'd say check out West Mt. Airy or parts of Germantown. Chances are, you won't be able to walk to entertainment, but it won't be far away. Germantown Avenue has some good restaurants, coffee shops, etc, and Center City would only be 15-20 minutes away via Lincoln Drive. Parking will be a lot easier than Center City, and the neighborhood is pretty diverse and accepting. It's also pretty safe, so she shouldn't be scared. It's definitely more of a residential area, but I've always loved it there.