Moving to Philly, any input GREATLy appreciated!

RDT

RDT

Joined
Dec 17, 1999
Messages
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My Pregnant wife, my 6 month old son and I are packing up and leaving the homeland for "greener" pastures in the Philly Burb area. We are scheduled to view about 20 houses next week and hope to choose something VERY soon. We've heard all sorts of Pro's and Con's to each neighborhood.

Anyone from Philly here? We are looking for a "progressive" area, with at least some cultural stimulation and diversity. With good clean streets and homes and people. A Family oriented but young-ish area with low crime and Nice homes with big yards.

Not far from or within short distance from music, art, etc.

If anyone is familiar with Brooklyn, something equivalent to Bay Ridge's Shore Road area sort of. Or even Park Slope. We grew up in a Ghetto and these neighborhoods were where we wanted to move to, but the prices are now passing a Million dollars which is Waaaaay too much for us.

So we decided to move near to the nearest big city and start fresh with the safety of our children ever in mind!

Any input is greatly appreciated.

Thanks R
 
RDT said:
Anyone from Philly here? We are looking for a "progressive" area, with at least some cultural stimulation and diversity. With good clean streets and homes and people. A Family oriented but young-ish area with low crime and Nice homes with big yards.
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In Philly, are you kidding... :D Had to say that, sorry...

I live in the 'burbs, near Fort Washington. Have some great restaurants, theaters, etc. going on around here. And you can catch a train, or drive, downtown in 20 min or so.

..Dwaine
 
UDDwaine said:
In Philly, are you kidding... :D Had to say that, sorry...

I live in the 'burbs, near Fort Washington. Have some great restaurants, theaters, etc. going on around here. And you can catch a train, or drive, downtown in 20 min or so.

..Dwaine
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Thanks bro! I haven't heard of Ft Washington? I gotta look it up! Take care...R
 
Not to dampen your spirits or anything,but I spent a couple of days in Sept of '05 in the Philly area.I hadn't seen much of the city for awhile so we did a little looking around while we were there,we didn't find much that looked good.The downtown is looking pretty good,but you can't live there.The rest of the neiborhoods looked pretty bad.My ex's Brother has lived there for about 20 yrs,but he moved north about 20 miles and commutes.If you stay on the north side,Norristown,Ft Washington,they aren't bad,I don't know about prices and like the previous post said,you can be downtown in 20 min in decent traffic.
 
ive lived in the burbs of philly for a long time. i live about 15 minutes north of fort washington in montgomeryville. as dwaine said there are lots of good restaurants and the city isnt far from there. areas more north such as new town are developing really nicely. real estate up that way is rather expensive but the area is gorgeous. any other ?'s ask away

six
 
Thanks guys! Much obliged. We are looking at places in the following:
Mt Airy (East and West)
Norristown
Abington
Drexel Hill
Darby
Folsom
Willow Grove
Lansdowne
Lansdale
and a few other places I can't remember.

What do ya think?
 
Good Ole' Philadelphia, The City of Murderous Hate.

With crime rates three times higher than the national average, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't move there.

Moving from NYC? Philadelphia's murder rate is twice as high as New York City's.

If I were looking for a nice safe place to move my family to, I'd be looking at small towns in the Plains or Midwest. The Rocky Mountains if I could afford it. Heck, even Albuquerque has less crime than Philly.

I know you didn't ask, but that's my two cents anyway.

Good Luck and Best Wishes,
-Bob
 
A good friend of mine moved back to VT from Philly in 1987 because they were tired of hearing gunfire every night and having their white kids harassed by the black kids.
 
Bob W , you're making it sound worse than Camden !! But Philly has deteriorated....RDT, I was born and raised in Bay Ridge and it was a fine place then but the ethnic makeup has changed .
 
RDT said:
Thanks guys! Much obliged. We are looking at places in the following:
Mt Airy (East and West)
Norristown
Abington
Drexel Hill
Darby
Folsom
Willow Grove
Lansdowne
Lansdale
and a few other places I can't remember.

What do ya think?
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i live in lansdale actually, great little town. theres a taste of everything here. philly is a good 35 minutes away. there arent any crummy areas to speak of. i am very familiar with willow grove, norristown and abington as well. any more questions ill just keep this one bookmarked or shoot me an email.
 
Thanks Fellas! On my way there tomorrow and gonna look in all those areas. I'd move to the Mid West but I really do need the stimulation of a sub urb or city near by at least. The occasional gun shot doesn't bother me, happens all the time in my area and I feel safe there. BUT, the mind is on the lil' ones now and more space for a good price.

With Philly city near by whatever suburb we move to, the wife & I can find good paying work more easily than if we were in a small town far away from the familiarity of a city.

So far it seems we've narrowed it down to a few places:
Abington
parts of My Airy
Lansdowne
Coatesville
Darby
Norristown
and the outskirts of the north western Philly city limits where it's more suburban looking.

Mete, some of what we have been seeing looks a lot like Bay Ridge actually. Bay Ridge is still a great place(though it has changed drastically) to live, actually a little better I think. Getting chased by gangs of "Cugines" (Cugino) when I was a teen because I didn't look like them wasn't fun. That doesn't seem to happen any more. It's still very clean comparatively and the Real Estate is through the roof! in the Multi Millions down by Shore Road.

My wife when we were dating lived in Bay Ridge and when I started staying at her place I was surprised to hear it called "Gay Ridge"...LOL with actual Gay Bars and a noticeable Lesbian community.
 
I used to live in Philly. Now I live in Norman, OK. It's a college town 30 min. from a large city. That's a formula that works for me. Wild horses couldn't drag me back there again.
 
555 said:
being from PA, a word for Philly, Commute.
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Meaning, find a place far from Philly in the Country or Burbs? That's basically what we are trying to do. Staying about 30-45 minutes from the City but it does seem that some of the Burbs around Philly are also pretty ghetto. I heard alot of mixed things about places like Drexel Hill. The houses look incredible! and the prices are awesome but apparently much of DH is very dangerous and not very family friendly but for a few small spots.
 
RDT, let me see if I have this straight now. You want to move "to the nearest big city" and you're telling me you have the safety of your children (and presumably your pregnant wife) in mind? :eek:
 
i was thinking of the crime in and around that city.
maybe it's just me but cities are not a place to live or raise children for that matter.
that job must be really good to draw you to that city.
although it is Very left there and sounds like what you are looking for.
for me it's a duck out of water thing.
 
Fudo, you just don't understand. Most smaller places out West (and down South) just don't have any "culture" ... or what passes for culture in some other places. :D
 
It may be a little too far for a comfortable commute (although you can get SEPTA trains a little down the road and drive to Center City)but New Hope has all the retaurants and kulcha, in the form of art galleries, antiques, clubs and the like that you could ask for, in a funky small downtown with more rural environments not far away at all. Decent schools, too, from what I gather. Plus, you can hop into NJ nearby to catch the train to the city with about a twenty-twenty five minute ride(start early, though, because the traffic is murder)

It's expensive, though, even by the pricey standards of most of Bucks County. Prices in the area have really blown up the last few years, even in parts if the city, but it may have topped out this year. And compared to Brooklyn/NYC it may seem pretty reasonable, but check out the schools carefully. Things seem to vary greatly from town to town.

Anyone here from Manayunk? IIRC there's a big restaurant and upscale area there now, too, no?
 
Unless you have to live in PA, consider commuting from suburban Wilmington DE just down the road. My father and sister have commuted from there at various points in thier careers. No sales tax and there are nice suburbs north of Wilmington proper with good access to I-95 to get to Philadelphia for work or cultural pursuits. This also within easy access of the Philadelphia airport, sports complex amongst other attractions. Wilmington itself has its own minor league ball club and some nice Brandywine Valley attractions.
Worth checking out.
 
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