Moving to Philadelphia? Good? Bad? Ugly?

[Tobra]

You are contemplating moving from Oregon to Philly, are you insane?

[m21sniper]

Originally Posted by Tobra

You are contemplating moving from Oregon to Philly, are you insane?

I see you've been here.

[Paul_Heery]

Angela,

I was born and raised in Philadelphia. I still have friends and family down there. So, I am probably in that area twice a month.

Everything that has been posted previously is true. There are some things about the town that are great. Other things outright suck. There are certain parts of town that I would be hesitant to go to, other parts are very nice but can be very expensive. As examples, I went to Temple and was always looking over my shoulder and on guard when there. I also have a friend that lives in Rittenhouse Square. It is very nice, very expensive. But, he lives in a guarded doorman building and never goes further than two blocks from his place alone at night.

My sister has her offices downtown. She likes doing business in the area. But, she has a very big dog that she takes to the office with her every day and accompanies her when she is out on the street.

OK, now that I wrote all of that, I guess it does suck in Philly.

[UconnTim97]

Originally Posted by m21sniper

Jeez i don't consider any of those areas nice.

Nice areas would be places like Huntingdon Valley, South Hampton, Drexil Hill, places like that.

I was naming the nicer places with in the city limits. For my work, I have to live within the city limits, so I was just listing places we considered when we bought out house.

I had an apartment by the Art Museum for years, I wouldn't recommend that for anyone over 25. No parking, and when you do find a spot you are most likely going to lose a window. (high instances of smash and grab crimes)

Somerton is no different than Huntingdon Valley or South Hampton in my opinion.

[Tobra]

Originally Posted by m21sniper

I see you've been here.

I have been to Philadelphia, and have seen a lot of Oregon. Part of it is pretty desolate, but eastern Oregon is not what I think of when I think of that place.

[Kraftwerk]

I love visiting Philly.
(I have been in Brooklyn 20 yrs, watched it become gentrified)
I see Philly coming up..
gotta love the 'rough' edges tho..
there is some real lively ghetto there but also
a great deal of culture and history and good buildings.
It has been motto-ed: "the city that reads" & "the city of brotherly love"

[m21sniper]

Originally Posted by UconnTim97

I was naming the nicer places with in the city limits. For my work, I have to live within the city limits, so I was just listing places we considered when we bought out house.

I had an apartment by the Art Museum for years, I wouldn't recommend that for anyone over 25. No parking, and when you do find a spot you are most likely going to lose a window. (high instances of smash and grab crimes)

Somerton is no different than Huntingdon Valley or South Hampton in my opinion.

The nicest place in the city is Crestmont farms, in the far northeast. It's like an entire little self-enclosed suburb. It's right accross Knights road from Frankford Hospital Torresdale campus. I used to live there.

[m21sniper]

Originally Posted by Kraftwerk

I love visiting Philly.
(I have been in Brooklyn 20 yrs, watched it become gentrified)
I see Philly coming up..
gotta love the 'rough' edges tho..
there is some real lively ghetto there but also
a great deal of culture and history and good buildings.
It has been motto-ed: "the city that reads" & "the city of brotherly love"

It should really be called "the city that is only quiet when the criminals are reloading."

Philly crime stats(the figures for 2007 i don't have, but the murder rate has absolutely exploded in the last 1+ years)
(for years 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 and 2006)
Murder 309 288 348 330 377 406
The willful (non-negligent) killing of one human being by another.
Rape 1,014 1,035 1,004 1,001 1,024 960
The carnal knowledge of a female forcibly against her will.
Robbery 9,604 8,869 9,617 9,757 10,069 10,971
The taking of or attempt to take anything of value from the care, custody, or control of a person by force or threat of force.
Aggravated Assault 10,477 9,865 9,651 9,814 10,139 10,546
An unlawful attack or attempted attack upon a person for the purpose of inflicting severe or aggravated bodily injury.
Burglary 11,629 11,244 10,656 10,536 10,960 11,542
The unlawful entry of a structure with intent to commit a felony or a theft.
Theft 45,318 38,789 37,864 37,808 38,039 39,413
The unlawful taking of property from another without the use of force against the person.
Motor Vehicle Theft 15,527 13,302 13,934 12,587 11,420 11,655
The theft or attempted theft of a motorized vehicle.
Total 93,878 83,392 83,074 81,833 82,028 85,493

[UconnTim97]

Originally Posted by m21sniper

The nicest place in the city is Crestmont farms, in the far northeast. It's like an entire little self-enclosed suburb. It's right accross Knights road from Frankford Hospital Torresdale campus. I used to live there.

Indeed, it is one of the better areas in the city. One of the few left. Now it seems the further you get from center city, the better. The lower Northeast seems to be getting worse by the day.

Why did you move?

[carambola]

so angela, you know what we think.
how important would taking this job be to your career?
what would your criteria be as far as commute, type of dwelling, housing prices?
give us a little more info and we'll see if our braintrust can help you out.




chris, from the jersey shore

[Jim727]

Ugly.

I moved from a burb of Philly to just north of Medford. Best move ever. Wouldn't even think of doing it in reverse.

NFW.

[m21sniper]

Originally Posted by UconnTim97

Indeed, it is one of the better areas in the city. One of the few left. Now it seems the further you get from center city, the better. The lower Northeast seems to be getting worse by the day.

Why did you move?

I was a kid, lived there with dad for a while.

The lower northeast is flat out ghetto now.

[sailchef]

Forgetting about all that’s been said about The City of Philadelphia, first you need to decide if this job offer is really going to be a good move. Better future, better money, whatever. If the job itself warrants the move then everything else is just Logistics.

There are plenty of towns within a short easy commute (30 minutes) of Philly that would be good places to live. You buy a second car (beater) to drive into the city and leave the Porsche parked somewhere else.

[UconnTim97]

Originally Posted by m21sniper

The lower northeast is flat out ghetto now.

I couldn't have said that better myself...lol.

I'll have to get out before that happens on the Far NE.

[m21sniper]

Originally Posted by sailchef

Forgetting about all that’s been said about The City of Philadelphia, first you need to decide if this job offer is really going to be a good move. Better future, better money, whatever. If the job itself warrants the move then everything else is just Logistics.

There are plenty of towns within a short easy commute (30 minutes) of Philly that would be good places to live. You buy a second car (beater) to drive into the city and leave the Porsche parked somewhere else.

Not within 30 minutes of center city where she'll be, not in rush hour traffic. 60-90 minutes, yes.

30 minutes, no way. Especially to the west of the city traffic is horrible beyond comprehension.

[m21sniper]

Originally Posted by UconnTim97

I couldn't have said that better myself...lol.

I'll have to get out before that happens on the Far NE.

Some of the burbs up to our North are really bad already. Bensalem and Bristol both have some really bad sections. Even Southampton/Trevose has some really dumpy section 8 apartment complexes.

Out west there are bad parts in Jenkintown/Roslyn too, and the local roads are completely insufficient for the volume of traffic going out that way.

Traffic wise the main problem with the NE is that the Roosevelt Expwy(US1) was obsolete the day it was opened. There are redlights every couple hundred yards the entire length of it, and stupid cross-overs with 6 lanes in each direction. On top of it they made the whole thing a "safety zone" so that the fines are doubled and moved the Philly Highway patrol onto it. Red light cameras abound.

[reed930]

I was born and raised in the Philadelphia area. I have also travelled extensively and spent three years in DC for school. I've always told people that unless you're from here, there is no reason to stay here.

It's not a horrible city--really not any worse than many other former industrial/manufacturing cities. It's just that there's not much to recommend about it. It was a whole lot prettier before the urban sprawl of the past thirty years but I guess that goes for most places.

I've always thought that Philadelphia had all of the negatives of a big city, e.g. crime, congestion, fiscal, governement services, but without many of the benefits. Big town problems, small town mindset.

I work at 12th and Market, just down the street from a methidone clinic. The parade of misery I see on a daily basis makes me almost weep. It makes me sad to say this, but Philadelphians are some of the ugliest--in every sense of the word--people that you'll ever meet. Welcome!

[pwd72s]

So Angela, made your decision yet?

[TimT]

This is a funny thread... not that I know anything about Philly...

But the chips fell.... and my latest assignment lands me in Spanish Harlem every day...

I guess this part of NYC has been cleaned up... no a care in the world working here

[Laneco]

Originally Posted by pwd72s

So Angela, made your decision yet?

Oh most definately, Paul, most definately... What an eye-opener...

angela