young couple moving to philly which spot is best? (Philadelphia: apartment, to rent)

[samperÀ]

Hi everyone. My fiance and I are moving to Philly in a month. I am working at the old naval yard near the stadiums and she will be working in the city. We want to know which area would be good for us. We have two cars but could get rid of one if that's too difficult. She will have to walk alone at times so safety is huge. We are looking for 2BD/1+BA apt under 1800/mo. Heard good things about Northern Liberties,fishtown, queens village, manayunk, rittenhouse sq, and center city.

We really appreciate any feedback, were excited to move to Philly!

Thanks

[longtoe]

Hi SamperA-

I'm from Philly, but have been in NYC for the past 6 years. I've been recently looking to move back and buy in Philly so I've done ALOT of exploring. I'll give you my two cents, but there are definitely people who have been living there more recently and are more qualified to answer this question so take it with a grain of salt.

Two cars in Philly, assuming you actually want to be in the city and not the burbs, would be tough.

I'm not sure if your job requires you to have a car at work (construction, sales, etc.) but if not, you can probably take the Broad St line to the Navy Yard area. If you do plan to use the Broad Street line, Graduate Hospital and Bella Vista, both near the Lombard St. stop, would be good options. But if you are going to be on the Broad St. side of Bella Vista (that's the western part of BV) don't go too far south, things get a litte sketch. BV might be your best chance to get a place with a garage for your car.

Staying along the Broad St line you could move just north of GH and BV to Rittenhouse or Washington Sq which flank Broad St (and the Walnut Street subway stop), Rittenhouse to the West and WS to the east. These are extremely nice neighborhoods which you could probably afford at your budget, but parking that car might be tougher. Apts with garages are fewer and street parking can get scarce.

All of the hoods mentioned so far would be easily walkable if your wife works right in Center City.

Now, if you are driving to work you might want easy access to I-95 or the Schuylkill Expressway. No Libs is great for I-95, so is Queens Village and Old City. The Art Museum area is great for the Schuylkill and is a lovely area. It's been a while since I had to do the Philly morning commute, but I think I-95 might be the better option to get to the Navy Yard. However, Art Museum would be a much easier walk to center city for your wife. There's no walking to CC from No Libs or QV on a daily basis, the wifey would have to look into bus options.

At your budget, you can probably get an apartment in really any neighborhood and even have a $100/mo left to rent a nearby parking spot if it doesn't come with the apt. Rittenhouse and Old City might be cutting it close financially tho.

All the hoods mentioned above are nice and great for young couples in terms of restaurants, bars, shops, other young people.

Hope that's helpful!

[samperÀ]

Wow, thanks so much. What about Manayunk? It seems to be somewhat outside of the city, so I have two questions -

1. Is it a safe, quieter area?
2. Would parking be easier?

Really appreciate the help.

[irspow]

Look into close places like Delaware County and such. The city is a toilet. (Like most) Communities like Drexel Hill, Springfield, and many other close suburbs allow you to be in the city in minutes at a lower cost of living and without the city blight.

[samperÀ]

Will we be bored to death living in the suburbs? We are moving from Los Angeles suburbs, but we won't know anyone out in Philly. We were planning to move to the city so that we could have fun.
Thanks

[orrmobl]

Manayunk is for the post college party crowd but is all hills so winters there are brutal and your neighbors may be locals from way back who still drag their knuckles when they walk. That being said, it is the safest of the bunch...

If I were you, I would probably go with Northern Liberties but it can be a bit rough around the borders and late at night for a woman walking alone - but honestly I wouldn't recommend a woman walk alone anywhere in the city early morning or after dark anyway. It is an up and coming place with lots of hip cool places and people, just a really cool place to be.

I have heard great things about Bella Vista and Queen Village. Rittenhouse Square is well located and for the more affluent folks - and a tad on the older side of things.

I know people love the Art Museum area but I have always been a tad sketched out in that area as it is fairly close to bad sections on one side.

Olde City is for younger folks as well with its great selection of bars and restaurants, but can be loud at night as all the people walk from bar to bar...

Other areas further out but just as nice would be Bala Cynwyd, Belmont Hills, maybe Narberth.

I would not recommend the Delco burbs as its way more suburban and family oriented. If you want city fun etc you have to move to the city or out to places like Media, Conshohocken, Doylestown, West Chester (hard commute) and Phoenixville...

Collingswood, NJ may also be worth a look as places on the Jersey side can often be closer to downtown than those in the Philly burbs...

And you should read this entire thread and links to know what you are getting into! //www.city-data.com/forum/phila...ity-crime.html

[newmarlig]

Manayunk is in the city - just not center city. And it's Queen Village (not Queens). Good luck.

[samperÀ]

Thanks so much for the input everyone. I think were gonna go for manayunk assuming we can find a nice place in our price range.
I hope everyone in Philly is as nice as you all are!

[solibs]

Just to make a few corrections and add some nuance -

Originally Posted by longtoe

Two cars in Philly, assuming you actually want to be in the city and not the burbs, would be tough.

I'm not sure if your job requires you to have a car at work (construction, sales, etc.) but if not, you can probably take the Broad St line to the Navy Yard area.

If you're living in the city and one of you is working in Center City there's no need to have two cars. You'll find it to be an unneeded expense and, depending on the parking situation in your neighborhood, maybe even a nuisance.

The Broad St. Subway ends at Pattison Station - which is about a mile short of most offices in the Navy Yard. There are special shuttle buses and SEPTA also runs a bus between Pattison and the Navy Yard.

If you live in South Philly the Navy Yard and Center City are really easy bike rides.

If you do plan to use the Broad Street line, Graduate Hospital and Bella Vista, both near the Lombard St. stop, would be good options. But if you are going to be on the Broad St. side of Bella Vista (that's the western part of BV) don't go too far south, things get a litte sketch. BV might be your best chance to get a place with a garage for your car.

Bella Vista is between 6th & 11th St. between South and Washington. Hawthorne runs 11th to Broad. Hawthorne had a lot of empty lots and vacant buildings for a while (back about 8 years ago) but a lot of it had to do with lawsuits between developers and the city. That's over now and there's been a lot of building there in the last 4-5 years. Hawthorne isn't as nice as BV but it's getting there and actually, the further south you go into and beyond Hawthorne the nicer it gets.

Anywhere with a 3 block radius of the Lombard/South subway stop would be a fine place to live. With your budget you might even want to look into the newly built 777 S. Broad - it has off street parking and is close to the subway.

Staying along the Broad St line you could move just north of GH and BV to Rittenhouse or Washington Sq which flank Broad St (and the Walnut Street subway stop), Rittenhouse to the West and WS to the east. These are extremely nice neighborhoods which you could probably afford at your budget, but parking that car might be tougher. Apts with garages are fewer and street parking can get scarce. All of the hoods mentioned so far would be easily walkable if your wife works right in Center City.

While you can definitely afford a place in Center City at your budget (go for it!) you couldn't afford to park two cars in CC and it might be tough to swing even one.

Now, if you are driving to work you might want easy access to I-95 or the Schuylkill Expressway. No Libs is great for I-95, so is Queens Village and Old City. The Art Museum area is great for the Schuylkill and is a lovely area. It's been a while since I had to do the Philly morning commute, but I think I-95 might be the better option to get to the Navy Yard. However, Art Museum would be a much easier walk to center city for your wife. There's no walking to CC from No Libs or QV on a daily basis, the wifey would have to look into bus options.

This really depends on where in CC she's working. When I used to work at 5th & Chestnut I would walk home from work to my apartment near 10th & Washington. I only took the bus to work in the morning because i was always running late. Then I realized riding a bike took 1/4 the time of walking and was usually just as fast as the bus.

Fairmount, Spring Garden and the Parkway are nice areas but I wouldn't recommend living there if you're commuting to the Navy Yard. That will get old fast. Manayunk is even worse. You don't want to have to drive through Center City, every morning and every afternoon at rush hour. You don't want to live in Manayunk anyway. It's great if you're single, just out of college, working in the suburbs and scared of "the city." If you scored less than 3 out of those 4 you'll hate it.

My suggestion - keep one car and find yourself a house to rent in Passyunk Square or East Passyunk Crossing. Basically anywhere between 10th & Broad from Washington down to Snyder. Lots of restaurants, bars, shops, groceries, easy subway access, and roughly halfway between Center City and the Navy Yard. The area between Broad & 18th from Snyder down to Pattison are also really nice neighborhoods but not as young and hip as the Passyunk area.

If you have to drive to work then also look into Northern Liberties. 95 will get you to work quickly and the El will get your lady to her office quickly.

[GraysFerryB4]

I second SOLIBS advice. First of all, your wife "walking alone at night" would be a target in NoLibs if you are from outsie the area. I have to caution you that most Philly neighborhoods change quickly within a few blocks so avoid being an "ipod walker" if you do not know your surroundings. Where you guys are both working, Manayunk would be a nightmare; its west of the city and cut off by way too much traffic. My suggestion would be east passyunk crossing; the area around Pats n Genos but somewhat more souuth of the city. You will not see too many new developments but more rehabs of older townhomes. You could walk to cc/ bike or drive to work and still be around a vibrant, young community. Parking will or may be street/permit. Kinda tough for 2 cars but do-able. Hawthorne and Newbold (both S. Philly areas) are improving but still not good for "walking at night" or parking 2 cars (double the chance of break in...all too common).
My other suggestion would be where I live in Collingswood, NJ. It is 15 mins to CC and take you about 1/2 hr to the navy yard by transit (12 minutes by car). It is diverse, artsy and very outside LA like with a San Fran vibe. It would also be better if you guys are thinking of children soon. Philadelphia is NOT good for public schools. You would have to do more research to find charter schools and Catholic schools ($$$) for safety.