Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Wow, 4 things happened in TWO WHOLE YEARS? Thanks for warning me. You obviously didn't read my original post - I'm sure you'd be terrified of the neighborhood I live in now too. The only difference about my neighborhood is the "scary" minorities live among me - not a couple of blocks away. I don't mean to come off as naive - but since I've posted this I've been paying decently close attention to Philly Crime stats and comparing them to places I've lived - and I really don't see most of the city as that much different than anywhere else in America. Am I really supposed to be scared of being murdered? I mean SERIOUSLY? Not being murdered is one of the easiest things a person can do. Not to be ungrateful, but I don't know what you're trying to prove to someone who specifically said their not scared of living in the city because they've spent plenty of time living in the city. I'm really supposed to be scared of someone being shot outside of a bar? And inside a club? Seriously? If the same type of people go to clubs in University City that go to clubs in the college neighborhoods here, that makes it even less terrifying. The funniest thing about this nonsense is you don't realize the stereotype that you yourself are fulfilling - "oh man, this is the short list of things that happened here over the years, AND there's an intersection that looks scary, AND those criminals are coming from where black people live". The only actually negative thing I see from your post is that after all the years I've spent defending my own neighborhood here - and watching others defend theirs - from such type of insanity, I was hoping there wouldn't be the same type of fear-mongers in Philadelphia. Apparently that was too high of a hope. I'd offer you the advice of saving such insanity for someone who specifically says "i'm scared and am here to listen to ramblings that don't really say anything but will make me more scared". Not someone who says the opposite.
I'd like to offer everyone else who helped me thanks again though and sorry for getting angry in your forum -looking forward to moving to Philly this summer or fall.
Edit: Did you seriously mean 40th and market? I just looked at it on google earth and had a good laugh - but wanted to give you the benefit of the doubt that maybe you meant somewhere else. Not to say there's no crime there - I don't know anything about that specific intersection, but you specifically said it LOOKS hideous. Should I assume it's the fried chicken placeI'm supposed to be scared of, the bar that someone was probably shot in front of some time in the past 50 years, or the guy in the suit asking for directions? Has it drastically changed since the picture was taken, or did you mean a different intersection?
Last edited by FamousBlueRaincoat; 03-24-2010 at 05:22 AM..
Reason: adding a snark comment
1) All the areas you mentioned might work.
2) Since you don't have a car parking wouldn't been issue. Of the area you mention parking is much worse in South Philly including East Passyunk Ave in South Phila. which actually is one area that might work for you.
Parts of Mount Airy have what you want and also Univ. City. You're on the right track. I'd say Mount Airy is the most 'residential' (with also the least parking issue)
Fairmount MIGHT work, don't know that there A WHOLE lot of little shops there, though.
Parts of south Philly are very Italian, with butcher shops, bakeries, etc. (which I like) Who could live and shop there and never leave.
Don't know what the RENTS are, but there's always Chestnut Hill. (just north, and very close to Mount Airy. These two are the farthest from Center City (which is what 'downtown' Philly is called.
Heck, parts of the northeast may have what you want -- but that's VERY far from downtown.
(I know you don't have a car, but I gotta hit the parking thing one more time. I know you want to be near family. Would they ever come visit YOU? If so, how often? I've live in places where parking is a pain -- and had friends live in places where parking is a pain. No one wanted to go to the other's place because parking was such an impossible situation. Of course we DID visit, but you just had to gear up emotionally I'm also a drama queen.)
Also, what will you work professions be? Not your jobs now per se, but you went to college so what's the major and field you'd be looking for?
As I'm sure you know Philly is 'a city of neighborhoods.' And a neighborhood can give you what you want without being 'downtown.'
Look, im not out to start a fight. You're obviously going to move here because you want to. People seem to not mind shootings, I however have an issue with them. That movie theater shooting happened only a half an hour before I was going to see a movie -(shooting happened at 6pm on a friday, my movie was at 6:30). That means I was only what, 15 maybe 20 minutes away from being there - and 2 people got shot! What if that had been me, and what if instead of hitting my shoulder, like what happened to the cop, it went a little more and hit my face, or my chest? But its ok, because shootings happen so It shouldn't matter that I could've died. You said you have a wife, I was thinking about what if that had been my sister there and she were shot and killed? - I would hope you and your wife wouldn't want that horrible situation to happen to either of you. If you could live in a nicer area, that is just as expenisve/cheap - why not? Why live out here where you know crime happens - and I read where you said you didn't mind it = but seriously, its not something to be taken lightly. Those students who have been shot over the years had families who had to grieve over them. Ask them, and they would not say that its nonsense.
and btw - DO NOT bring the minority issue, as a "minority" its upsetting that people can't seem to get around the race issue for everything. I don't care about who lives next to me, so long as they won't deal drugs to my kids, shoot me on a friday night out or stab me at 9 in the morning omw to work.
Selhars - Thanks. since the original post I've visited Philly and have a better idea of what I'm looking for - unfortunately there were a lot of places I liked so it wasn't narrowed down that much. I think most of Mt. Airy is out, because it is mostly residential, but a lot of Germantown is still in. In addition to a lot of West Philly, most of South, and a lot of parts of "near" northeast. The main reason we want to be closer to center city upon moving is we'll both be unemployed and it would probably be the most interesting part to just go explore while we have the time - but that's not the biggest deal in the world. I wouldn't really consider living there though, if for no other reason, to not be around the type of people who live there. Family will probably come visit once a month or so - but they spent 30 years living in Brooklyn and Queens, so I don't think Philadelphia will present any challenges that they have not already met. As far as jobs - we do the simple living thing, so it doesn't really matter. We both work menial jobs - yet have saved up so much money we don't know what to do with it - which is why we decided to use it to move to Philadelphia.
Unkind - It's cool - Look I'm not an expert on Philly, but from the outside I don't really know how to interpret what "the criminals are coming from west of 50th" or whatever was said other than that seems to be where a higher concentration of black people live. Maybe Philadelphia is different than other places I'm familiar with. Maybe random people are being targeted there. But that's not what happened in New York, or Reading, or out here in Minneapolis. And it sucks that people get shot - it really does - and I don't enjoy it - there have been two shootings in my neighborhood this this month. But unless you can convince me that random people are being hunted for sport - which would set Philly apart from every other city in America - it's just not something that me and my wife are possible of being scared of. Now as far as as crimes that we would like to avoid - burglary and street robberies and things that affect random people more - I've been studying the philly crime maps weekly on the police department's website - and based on those I can't really say there are a significant amount of neighborhoods I've said "wow, I'm not going to live there, because there are more robberies there". The only real outlyer seems to be "far northeast" where there is next to none of that stuff - which is nice, and it's good for people who live out there and are happy there, more power to them - but after having visited Philadelphia and done some extensive neighborhood tours, I have to say, it's just not somewhere I would consider living.
The only real outlyer seems to be "far northeast" where there is next to none of that stuff - which is nice, and it's good for people who live out there and are happy there, more power to them - but after having visited Philadelphia and done some extensive neighborhood tours, I have to say, it's just not somewhere I would consider living.
i agree with you on the "upper northeast". the northeast in general seems really disconnected to the rest of the city. and plenty of its residents would love for it to become a separate entity.
Quote:
A separate identity
Frankford and Cottman Avenues, a central location in the Northeast
In the 1980s, the Northeast developed along a separate path from much of the rest of the city. In addition to the racial differences mentioned above, the political climate in the Northeast was balanced evenly between Republicans and Democrats, while the rest of the city almost uniformly voted for the latter party.[15] As a result, many Northeasters became more and more discontented with the high city taxes and a perceived imbalance in the services they received for them.[16] This discontent grew to give rise to a secessionist movement, led by State Senator Hank Salvatore, among others. Salvatore introduced a bill in the State Senate to allow the Northeast to become a separate county called Liberty County, but the bill failed to progress beyond this stage.[16] As the Philadelphia economy grew stronger, and the most discontented people fled to the suburbs, and a new, more popular mayor, Ed Rendell, was elected the call for secession waned, and the section settled back into life as a part of the city.
I'd try South Philly then....you've got a WHOLE LOT of area and neighborhoods, depending on how close who want to be to a certain action and feel. There's deep south Philly. Then there's close to CC South Philly.
There's north and South of Washington Avenue (Graduate Hospital on the west side, Queen Village on the East_...there's east and west of Broad... Antique Row, there's east and west of Passyunk...north and south of Snyder or Oregon...east or west of Moyamensing.....
NORTH of Market...the Art Museum Area.
Mount Airy and Chestnut Hill ...near Wissahickon, near Valley Green...near Chew, Henry Phil-Elena, Walnut Lane....They're all on the north west side of the city......Try those areas....Not near CC but if you live near a train station just one ride to get to CC.
a little late in reading posts. hopefully u are settled in now !
" closer to 600 the better. I understand this narrows down the field a lot. That's the point. I have no qualms with moving somewhere closer to 700, and taking a year to find a place of better value, but the cheaper we live to start out with the better off we'll be."
sorry to be negative, but the prices u listed are a "fairy tale", absolutely nothing near that in the North East major cities ! I am in a mostly black, latin small city in North Jersey and I pay over $1300 for a 2 BR and rent is raised every year ! there are no bargains such as u are seeking. If one were to find a "room" to rent in someone's house, (which is rare since people no longer wish to rent rooms in their homes, it would be about $800 a month. I think that u must revamp your thinking as far as rent.
a little late in reading posts. hopefully u are settled in now !
" closer to 600 the better. I understand this narrows down the field a lot. That's the point. I have no qualms with moving somewhere closer to 700, and taking a year to find a place of better value, but the cheaper we live to start out with the better off we'll be."
sorry to be negative, but the prices u listed are a "fairy tale", absolutely nothing near that in the North East major cities ! I am in a mostly black, latin small city in North Jersey and I pay over $1300 for a 2 BR and rent is raised every year ! there are no bargains such as u are seeking. If one were to find a "room" to rent in someone's house, (which is rare since people no longer wish to rent rooms in their homes, it would be about $800 a month. I think that u must revamp your thinking as far as rent.
good luck.
This was a decade ago and I lived an entire eon in Philadelphia and left and have settled elsewhere. Use some sense.
The rents I paid in that time was 900 for a 1 BR in Rittenhouse (found it on a lead seeing a 700 1 BR in West Philly, same property managers - wound up moving downtown to not need a septa pass), 700 for a 1 BR in Germantown, and 850 for a big 1 BR in Mt. Airy (which was my favorite of the three, an entire floor of an old big house - I lived there for 5 years up until earlier this year).
Last edited by FamousBlueRaincoat; 09-26-2019 at 09:35 AM..
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I'm also a drama queen
I think most of Mt. Airy is out, because it is mostly residential, but a lot of Germantown is still in. In addition to a lot of West Philly, most of South, and a lot of parts of "near" northeast. The main reason we want to be closer to center city upon moving is we'll both be unemployed and it would probably be the most interesting part to just go explore while we have the time - but that's not the biggest deal in the world. I wouldn't really consider living there though, if for no other reason, to not be around the type of people who live there. Family will probably come visit once a month or so - but they spent 30 years living in Brooklyn and Queens, so I don't think Philadelphia will present any challenges that they have not already met. As far as jobs - we do the simple living thing, so it doesn't really matter. We both work menial jobs - yet have saved up so much money we don't know what to do with it - which is why we decided to use it to move to Philadelphia.
