Might be moving to Philly in the next 18 months for my job. Planning to buy a house. The office is located in downtown. I have narrowed down my choices to these neighborhood in no particular order. Looking for any comments, good or bad. Please let me know other places to consider. Thanks!

Roxborough

Chestnut Hill

East Falls

Fairmount-Spring Garden

Manayunk

quote:

Originally posted by ergoproxy:
Might be moving to Philly in the next 18 months for my job. Planning to buy a house. The office is located in downtown. I have narrowed down my choices to these neighborhood in no particular order. Looking for any comments, good or bad. Please let me know other places to consider. Thanks!

Roxborough

Chestnut Hill

East Falls

Fairmount-Spring Garden

Manayunk

Out of them, I'd look at Roxborough and Manayunk

What is your home budget going to be? Chestnut Hill is a very upscale and very expensive neighborhood to buy a house in. There are multi-million dollar homes all over that area. Manayunk also got very expensive and finding parking can be tough there.

Do you HAVE to live in Philly? Why not live in a nice suburban area right outside Philly, I think you'd have a better time:

Ardmore
King of Prussia/Valley Forge
Conshohocken

A bit further out but still quite doable to work in Philly are:

Phoenixville
Oaks
Collegeville
Royersford

I lived in Philly for forty years and I echo what PASig says. Fairmount-Spring Garden is convenient to center city, but that's about all it offers, IMO.

[/QUOTE]

Out of them, I'd look at Roxborough and Manayunk

What is your home budget going to be? Chestnut Hill is a very upscale and very expensive neighborhood to buy a house in. There are multi-million dollar homes all over that area. Manayunk also got very expensive and finding parking can be tough there.

Do you HAVE to live in Philly? Why not live in a nice suburban area right outside Philly, I think you'd have a better time:

Ardmore
King of Prussia/Valley Forge
Conshohocken

A bit further out but still quite doable to work in Philly are:

Phoenixville
Oaks
Collegeville
Royersford[/QUOTE]
Traffic sucks for the commuter out there. warminster,feasterville, Huntingdon Vally Yardley Newtown & Jenkintown should be in te mix as well.

Ditto the above. Unless you HAVE to live in Philly, or really like "city life", I'd look at the 'burbs.

You can easily take a train from any of the various stations on the Mainline to the city. You also can avoid having to put up with idiotic shenanigans like Philly's "soda tax".

The farther west you get, the cheaper the Mainline becomes.

Help guide us a bit more. Do like urban or trendy,
or prefer suburbs for family and schools? Need to have short commute or rail system travel ok??

Many live across river in NJ however if you are here, you would likely hate that.

quote:

Originally posted by preten2b:
Help guide us a bit more. Do like urban or trendy,
or prefer suburbs for family and schools? Need to have short commute or rail system travel ok??

Many live across river in NJ however if you are here, you would likely hate that.

You should be shunned at the mere suggestion.

DO NOT MOVE TO NJ!!!!!!!

Her's how fucked up the hole governemt is:
NJ Lawmakers Pass Big Marijuana, Vaccine, Driver's License Bills
NJ lawmakers passed 3 bills that may change many lives: legal marijuana vote, driver's license changes and vaccine exemptions. What's next?

https://patch.com/new-jersey/b...s&utm_campaign=alert

People are Fleeing this insanity and the taxes due to a criminals in nj are never enough $$$

Advice?

Don't.

My answer would depend on how old you are and how single.

Young dude? Manayunk and Fairmount can be a ton of fun.

quote:

Originally posted by sgalczyn:

quote:

Originally posted by preten2b:
Help guide us a bit more. Do like urban or trendy,
or prefer suburbs for family and schools? Need to have short commute or rail system travel ok??

Many live across river in NJ however if you are here, you would likely hate that.

You should be shunned at the mere suggestion.

Operative words were you would likely hate that. I sent as warning not suggestion.

Are you keeping your car?

What is the closest crossroads of your new office?

If money was no object, I'd ditch the car (as preferred method of transport) and live in one of the new apartment / condo towers. $4k a month will get you a very stylish pad, walkable to the office, shopping, eateries.

Thanks fellas. I would like to keep my cars, so a house with a garage is a must. I would not mind living in the suburbs if I can keep the commute to downtown under 45 minutes (if it is even possible). No spring chicken and happily married so nightlife/bars are things of the past. Nice restaurants and craft beers are a must though. Can’t do apt/condo living anymore. No NJ.

Anywhere in this rectangle might suit. West of City Line Avenue (U.S. Route 1) keeps you out of Philadelphia and changes your taxes. Wynnewood, Ardmore, Havertown, Haverford, Penn Wynne, etc The Coopertown development in the upper left corner is nice and somewhat insular, old, established. My wife and I looked at it but didn't have the resources at the time.

I've always been fond of the houses backing up to Cobbs Creek on Delmont Ave; Powder Mill Lane, with houses across from the creek and on up the hill, is nice. Smallish 1950s builds, I think. Very established secure neighborhoods. The other side of the creek is Karakung, with the light rail beyond (Norristown High Speed Line). That rail runs into 69th Street Terminal, which connects with the Market Frankford Elevated, giving you an alternative into town should you need it.

My s.i.l. & b. live about dead center; she commutes surface streets far into an underserved city community as principal of a school serving Spanish-speaking residents. My b., he commutes to the western suburbs closer to "Great Valley", a huge valley west of Paoli.

If your job in Philadelphia is in retail, be aware that Larry Krasner, the Philadelphia DA, has essentially legalized theft (as long as the value is less than $500.00) Thefts under $500 are summary offenses. The new policies call for charging and disposing of retail theft cases as a summary offense unless the item stolen exceeds $500. Summary offenses include loitering, jay walking etc. Summary offenses can be expunged with little difficulty. Retail outlets have been complaining loud and bitterly about the change. There has been an increase in theft and all crime in Philadelphia under Krasner.

Isn't Philadelphia exceedingly anti-gun?

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:
Isn't Philadelphia exceedingly anti-gun?

Meh, pretty much every blue collar guy I know has a carry permit. You’d think so from the city govt, but all my experiences have been positive. Been stopped by cops plenty of times while carrying, no issue.

PA is very pro gun overall.

However, I can see what happened in VA eventually happening here. The majority of PA is red state Pennsyltucky, with a big influence of Philly due to population.

quote:

Originally posted by ergoproxy:
Thanks fellas. I would like to keep my cars, so a house with a garage is a must.

Well forget most of the city of Philadelphia then. Most of it is street and parking lot/garage parking. Some of the newer construction homes MAY have a ONE CAR garage but it's not typical and they are very pricey.

You sound like you'd be better off in the burbs within a 45 min drive so that means (off the top of my head):

Abington
Glenside
Jenkintown
Elkins Park
Plymouth Meeting
Layayette Hill
Flourtown
Conshohocken
Ardmore
Media

You DO NOT want to live in NJ; the property taxes are INSANE and the Governor is as wacky left as California. You would not be able to CCW like you can easily do in PA either.

I lived in King Of Prussia and in Pottstown for more than several years. Commuter traffic is brutal. The Schykill Expressway is the worlds largest parking lot during commute hours for a reason.

My suggestion is living on the Mail Line with easy access to the Train. Plenty of parking at train stations.

Do be aware of the taxes imposed on people not living in Philly but working in Philadelphia.

Another thought, especially if you're not tied to driving to work, is to explore further west, or go south into Delaware. Lower taxes down there.