Home buying in Garfield (Liberty, Bloomfield: crime, mortgage, squatters)

[metapostasy]

First of all, a big thanks to all the posters in this forum. It's an amazing resource.

We're thinking of buying, and looking at the east end of Garfield, around N Fairmount. In the day time, at least, it seems like a perfectly fine, if a little gritty, neighborhood. Kids playing outside, neighbors chatting, all that rot. Maybe it was just a nice day and it turns into Kandahar at night, but it seems perfectly livable. We'd like to buy a cheap place and spend time renovating it to our liking. We don't mind more transitional neighborhoods and would rather go easy on the mortgage and heavy on the personal touch inside. The neighborhood seems like it could get better, but is unlikely to get worse.

So, is my sense of the neighborhood generally right? Is this an area we can do alright in w/ a little common sense? And does anyone have any experience dealing w/ the fixeruppers? Are we more likely to encounter an empty, functional shell or a torn up squatters paradise?

We're young(ish), ignorant but open to adventure and elbow grease, and slowly fixing up a house is a very appealing prospect.

Thanks in advance.

[onwardandupward]

Your best bet is to drive around the area you are considering buying at night at different times, and on different days. That will give you a good sense of what you're in for. It is a transitional neighborhood, and you will need to keep your street smarts about you, but I personally think Garfield has very good future potential, and is definitely gong to get better, not worse. That being said, if you do renovate a home there, you need to be careful about tools, renovation supplies, etc. while the renovation is going on. It's not unlikely that a house that has been unoccupied has been stripped of copper plumbing, fixtures, etc., and you don't want that happening while you're working on it. There are a lot of positive things going on in Garfield, but you also need to make a careful assessment of the current situation.

[gameguy56]

On the plus side, it's very close to the East Liberty home depot!

[metapostasy]

Originally Posted by gameguy56

On the plus side, it's very close to the East Liberty home depot!

Absolutely. I think my motivation will increase by leaps and bounds knowing the materials are less than a mile away.

Really what I'm trying to get a sense of vis a vis Garfield is what does "bad" mean? Are there drug users? Drug organizations? Petty theft? Murder? There's a pretty broad spectrum between "grungy" and "Ciudad Juarez" that "bad neighborhood" really doesn't capture.

[gameguy56]

Originally Posted by metapostasy

Absolutely. I think my motivation will increase by leaps and bounds knowing the materials are less than a mile away.

Really what I'm trying to get a sense of vis a vis Garfield is what does "bad" mean? Are there drug users? Drug organizations? Petty theft? Murder? There's a pretty broad spectrum between "grungy" and "Ciudad Juarez" that "bad neighborhood" really doesn't capture.

Yeah, totally understood.

My experience living on the boarder of Bloomfield and Garfield, is that Garfield isn't really dangerous. Just really gritty. I've spent many late nights out in front of Garfield Artworks or Modern Formations on Penn Ave. and I've never really been bothered.

I don't know if it is different closer to east liberty, and further away from Penn Ave into Garfield.

Just my $0.02

[greg42]

Originally Posted by metapostasy

Absolutely. I think my motivation will increase by leaps and bounds knowing the materials are less than a mile away.

Sorry, this is of no help, but I'm getting visions of someone carrying a 2x4 down the street from Home Depot to their house.

[metapostasy]

Originally Posted by greg42

Sorry, this is of no help, but I'm getting visions of someone carrying a 2x4 down the street from Home Depot to their house.

Hey, in my time in China I regularly saw stalwart fellows with a refrigerator balanced on their bicycle. I see no reason to get an automobile involved.

[robrobrob]

A lot of people tend to be optimists on this site when it comes to urban neighborhoods. If you are going to buy a house there and spend some time fixing it up I would try and speak with some police officers that patrol the area. It only takes one house to ruin a block. When I was with the Public Defender's Office several years ago there was still a lot of crime there, in particular prostitution. Hopefully, things have have changed.