I am moving to Philly for a new job and am contemplating putting a bid on a house in Southwest Germantown, near Pulaski and Fern Hill Park.
The neighborhood seems to be undergoing renovation and there are several other homes on the street that are currently being rehabbed. The house is exactly what I dreamed of and has been totally re-done while keeping many of the historic elements.
OTOH, I’m not sure about the neighborhood. There seem to be wonderful places to walk to (both historic and green) and it has some urban-ish charm next to urban decay.
Germantown is a very mixed neighborhood – and the mix can be block by block. When I was looking to buy in NW Philly, I decided against Germantown completely, as being too much in flux. (Female, single, white.)
My main concerns: feeling safe walking the dogs (I understand doing this at midnight is not a good idea); only having my car broken into occasionally; having diverse neighbors.
There are other neighborhoods that are safer. I don’t know anything negative about that specific corner of Germantown, but as I said, safe/unsafe can vary block by block, and can change on a block. I don’t recommend Germantown to a woman living alone (even with dogs).
East Falls, where I live, is equally convenient (15 minutes from Center City), and far more mixed demographically than it was when I moved here in '90 – a lot of the housing stock dates back to the '20s or so. As I said, I like it a lot. Mt. Airy is nice, but can be pricey. Manayunk is a mixed bag on prices, convenience [parking can be a PITA], etc., but is pretty safe. Roxborough is safe but a lot more of it is post-war housing stock. Feel free to PM or email me if you’d like to get in touch to discuss in more detail.
I’m coming from California, by way of a two-year sojourn in rural Ohio. I’ve taken a teaching job in Bucks County and am starting to lean toward a suburb up that way. OTOH, if I could find something in Mt. Airy or a similar 'hood, I might think about that. I don’t have a spectacular amount of $ for this adventure and I would like a safe and diverse neighborhood.
The downside – and it’s major – of living in Philly are the city wage tax and the cost of car insurance. I’m currently working up in Bucks County and may move up here if this job looks like it’s going to be a long-term thing. I looooooooove living in the city, but financially it’s a bit self-indulgent.
I second what twickster said. I used to do a lot of work in that area (five years ago) and that’s a tricky spot. There are really nice houses and apartments nearby and there are some really bad slums even closer. It’s the type of neighborhood I’d be sure to lock my truck up when I was there.
Just curious, what part of Bucks? (that questions is for both twickster and Jennshark.)
I moved from northeast philly almost ten years ago to Fairless Hills, Lower Bucks. I’d never move back although I admit that it’s not quite the same atmosphere that city living offers. But again, there’s a lot of the city life that I just hated. In my opinion much of the city has lost that charm that it had when I grew up…at least the outlying neighborhoods.
I’ll be working in Newtown and am okay with a commute of up to 25 miles (I used to commute in SoCal’s worst traffic). I’m going to start looking in Lower Bucks and possibly New Jersey. I don’t have the kind of $ that is going to get me much, but I need to feel safe in my 'hood.
Some new colleagues recommended neighborhoods in Trenton that are nice. What do yinze guys think? (My salute to Western Pa).
Oy! lives in Trenton – try PMing or emailing her, since I doubt she’s reading this thread.
PS: If you’d like to have dinner Monday, give me a shout. For that matter – give Oy! a shout on that as well – we could meet somewhere equidistant like Willow Grove or Jenkintown.
There are two Bristols: and both of them do the stomp. Borough, situated on the Delaware River, which is an older community with some lovely dwellings on Radcliffe Street, as well as row dwellings, and an area of crap, and Township, adjacent to the aforementioned Borough, along with Middletown, Bensalem, Tullytown Borough, a good portion of which is known as Levittown. Single family dwellings, and apartments are available, and the community ranges from very nice (I lived in a SFD for 15 years) with no significant crime, to ‘you don’t wanna go there unless you’re carrying a pistol’ after dark.
PM me if you like-born and grew up in Bucks, lived there until 12 years ago.
Trenton is right across the river from where I live. I’m not too sure about how the neighborhoods are laid out there though. Bristol, which is right next to my township, has higher taxes and worse schools. But there are nice areas of Bristol.
Newtown is above where I live, and more expensive. Newtown is nice though.
Twickster , I drive a little over 35 miles in your direction (to King of Prussia) everyday. I know what you mean about the commute. It’s starting to hurt, and if there are problems on the turnpike I’m pretty much screwed…which seems to happen more and more.
At least mine is a reverse commute – there’s literally three or four times as much traffic going in the other direction, and I can count on one hand the number of times the drive has taken significantly more than 65 minutes (a couple of times for weather, a couple of times for accidents on 309).
I’m tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiired and gruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuumpy
Borough, situated on the Delaware River, which is an older community with some lovely dwellings on Radcliffe Street, as well as row dwellings, and an area of crap, and Township, adjacent to the aforementioned Borough, along with Middletown, Bensalem, Tullytown Borough, a good portion of which is known as Levittown. Single family dwellings, and apartments are available, and the community ranges from very nice (I lived in a SFD for 15 years) with no significant crime, to ‘you don’t wanna go there unless you’re carrying a pistol’ after dark.