I can hear your reply now..."Not for a million bucks a month!" Kind of the way I feel about Portland these days...

Though I currently live in Los Angeles,I grew up just outside of Phialdelphia - right by Valley Forge park - and have great memories of the area. Most of my family still lives in the Philly area and I enjoy visiting (though don't make the trip very often). I'm a bit surprised at the general dislike extended toward Philadelphia and find myself seeing the city in a manner much more like Robert Adams. I never lived in the actual city, pretty much always took the train when going in to town. Maybe it has gotten worse or I am wearing rose-colored glasses when looking back to my youth.

I don't consider Valley Forge "Just outside the city".

About 15 miles? Certainly the Philadelphia area. When I lived there it was pretty easy to take public transit to the city - that was some time ago so much may have changed.

You can take public transportation, but i don't know that you would want to. The demographics of philly and the surrounding areas have changed much in the last 15 years.

15 years ago the neighborhood i'm in was solidly middle class blue collar and almost overwhelmingly white folk. Crime was very low.

It was always ugly though. And the weather is not good no matter where you live in this area unless you're a fan of oppressive humidity in the summer and freezing rain in the winter.

I'm sorry to hear that. I have great memories of growing up near Philadelphia.

No change, I live in the same general area and I take Septa into the city quite a bit, it's no problem at all (train). Takes under an hour - to me that's a commutable distance, but everyone is different.

The VF area is still very nice...

VF is quite nice.

Live a few hours S. of Philly. Been only a few times. In laws lived in West Chester for maybe 8 yrs or so.

Areas around West Chester, Lancaster, Hershey, Bucks County and the like have some of the most beautiful roads through rolling hills of farmland. Central to a lot of neat places too like DC, Baltimore, NYC, beaches, etc. etc.

That said you couldn't pay me enough to live/work in or very near to Philly. Dunno what murder rates actually are but watching the news doesn't make me think they're low.

oh and i would offer that with certain exceptions (lewes being one) Delaware would make a west coaster suicidal in a matter of months.

LOL

I moved to Delaware from Hawaii. It did take some adjustment.

I am a philly boy. (relocated to West Norriton)

If you are working in Philly, you will be hit with the income tax anyway. So get a place in the Suburbs. To work in philly is OK, Market st is cool with ok night life. Trains everywhere :D, but the best part is going home. ;)

In Philly proper:
Not a big Fan of NE philly (maybe some one else can give an accurate desc: Spanish required in some neighborhoods)
Not a big Fan of South Philly (ever hear of Triple parking? pockets of good and bad (dont even get me started on the Geno's and Pats Steaks crap))
Avoid South West and Port Richmond (my son lives in PR...avoid it)

Roxborough / Manayunk is OK
East Falls is OK (I remember when I wouldn't dare go into EF 20 yrs ago)

Please note, OK does not equal Great.

Lunch in the Summer time... Ahhhhh.

I sometimes wonder why I love it here. We used to live in the city in Queen Village on 2nd and Cathryn and really liked it a lot. Once we got married, we moved to the main line area. We live in Devon and I commute in to Market East using the R5, and it's pretty simple actually. No problems parking at the station either. We chose this area for the schools which is the best in the area (T/E).
Our PCA region is Reisentotter and overall it's a great group, the tracks are not too far. In fact Philly is a great central location when it comes to visiting NYC, AC, DC, Baltimore... One major complaint is Rte 76 and the PHL airport, always a delay flying in or out but you get used to it.

Palumbo,
I'm with you, I grew up in South Philadelphia and have since moved to the western suburbs a few years back. Like any major city you need to know where to go and where to avoid. "City street sense" is required.
Would I move back to SP? Not likely, but would consider moving to center city as an option, absolutely!
There are so many areas in the western suburbs that are great places to live. Devon, Malvern, Rose Tree, Kennett, Media to name a few and all are within reach of down town Philly. There seems to be great center city condo deals currently with the market and in my IMO they could uptick if you are in the right area. Good oppurtunity if your in the market.
Not sure you can compare moving from Oregon to a city like Philly or NYC, just two different life styles IMO.
MSniper23...would your secret "cheese steak place" be around Front and Snyder in SP?
If it is....I agree there is none better! If not, you need to check it out to compare with your spot.

There is no way in hell i'd live in the western burbs. The road infrastructure is utterly insufficient for the volume of traffic that it has to handle.

And the cops in some of those little townships, like abington for instance, make nazi's look friendly.

I also do not get manayunk in the slightest. It's tiny rowhomes jam packed together with very little parking and the whole neighborhood is built on a very steep hill.

I could not even imagine living in that environment. The one area where the NE is the clear hands down winner is in BREATHING SPACE from your neighbors.

Funny thing - I spent 4 months in Eugene, OR and I couldn't wait to come home!

I haven't left yet either, for whatever reason. I guess it's what i know....

Every time i come back from vacation the trip from the airport up I-95 North totally depresses me.

Your area is really nice, but the roads...ugh. I am sure you have tried to traverse I-76W or 73 during rush hour. Not pretty.

too late to help SmileWavy, (funny? ironic?) but i stumbled onto this thread while looking for mechanics in philly . . .

moved here in 2006, center city home with backlot parking

i rent a 1 car garage in the burbs for winter storage, and general home storage

walk to work:D

lots of small local restaurants, BYO drink, so cheaper prices, and good food.

*the burbs turned me down . . . i bid on a house and someone beat my price

schuylkill river trail, running, biking, 8 mile loop, extends the 40 miles to valley forge park. which is huge. wissahickon river very close to the city too. once you get to bucks country and similar areas in other directions lots of good quiet roads too.

10 minutes to amtrak, 20 to airport

in addition to all the big hall culture mentioned earlier(theater, classical music), lots of rock music. lots of big gigs start their tours in philly to warm up for NYC and stuff.

all kindsa food everywhere... washington ave, chinatown. greek, mexican taco trucks. turkish. all sorts of asian. Italian everywhere. french, big and small. chinatown. even a kosher deli or two. barbeque.

schools.... yeah, a couple of hard to get into schools in the city, but the burbs more if this is a consideration

the crime is there, like other cities. the deficit the city has is there, like other cities/states. some neighborhoods are really bad, and philly is a city of good and bad areas. and the areas are rather small. but it is liveable and can be pleasant too....