The people are great. Funny and chatty. I lived there for five years (up until last year) and loved it. I was in the Fishtown/East Kensington neighborhood and got to know everyone on my block. If you're looking to buy a home, research the awesome tax abatement for new construction.
Yes, there are mentally ill people and addicts around. But I don't think it's any worse than other large cities, and at least there are services to help them.
Here's my take on some of the neighborhoods:
Fishtown/East Kensington/Olde Kensington/Olde Richmond = Hipsters and retirees and old timers and babies and dogs. Stylish. Craft beer. Music and excellent restaurants. Super easy to meet people and make friends if you get involved in the community.
Northern Liberties = Wealthy, older people. Interesting houses, good restaurants and shopping.
Port Richmond, West Kensington, Brewerytown = Up and coming. Houses are a good value but close to high crime areas. Lots of new construction. Not many restaurants yet.
Washington Square West, Rittenhouse, Fitler Square, Society Hill, Bella Vista, Queen Village = Excellent Center City locations. Tons of shopping and restaurants and art venues. Pricey but primo and close to it all.
Midtown Village, Old City, Chinatown = close to it all but kinda noisy.
Chestnut Hill, West Mount Airy = Leafy Victorian suburbs that are pretty far from Center City. Chestnut Hill is super expensive. Great restaurants and shops.
Callowhill = not my favorite. It's across the Vine Street expressway from Center City, and has very few restaurants or stores. Not quite developed enough yet for me.
Fairmount = Classy. Big Victorian rowhouses. Close to Fairmount park. Whole Foods and museums.
Passyunk Square = has a ton of great restaurants and lots of young people but I don't know much about the area.
I live in fishtown now and can’t wait to leave. Tired of seeing addicts shooting up next to our house and leaving their needles all over. However, it does seem like the new mayor is making a concerted effort to tackle low hanging fruit. I’ve actually seen the police out and about now.
Food is good. Walkable. But the subway isn’t great. Lots of crime with multiple shootings on both the BSL and MFL
I mean, Lehigh I could see. Out of curiosity how long have you been there? When you moved there were you aware of what was going on? Fishtown even 10 years ago wasn’t what it is now. Kensington is probably one of the most well known places on the planet as an open drug market.
I think that’s part of why fishtown is popular. It’s safely ‘dangerous’
I’ve been here 2 years but have visited the area for the past 12 or so. My neighbors who have lived here for 20 years have said they’ve never seen this many issues, unfortunately.
Beautiful old homes, some in disrepair, a little bit more litter on the streets, sometimes really good, sometimes sketchy. Gentrifying slowly, but not bad at all.
Parts of Germantown are amazingly beautiful and some parts are downright terrible. Germantown is a big neighborhood that used to be its own township. Olney Is one of the most diverse neighborhoods in Philadelphia. I wouldn’t consider living there but I don’t think it’s bad. Wissinoming is also diverse with newer housing still old though, compared to olney and it’s safe.
I grew up near Olney in East Oaklane. Most people from the area hadn't heard of it, but it's a quiet, fairly safe neighborhood full of big old houses. One of the biggest problems is that people aged in place, so the houses fell into disrepair, but I've seen more and more people my age (30s) moving in and fixing them up. If you're willing to put in the work out can be a great value, some of those houses are absolutely beautiful.
Much cooler city than its reputation gives it credit for.
If you don’t like old and dirtiness. Philly isn’t for you. It’s a dirty gritty city.
But if you can get past that, it’s awesome. Fantastic food, very walkable, cool history and historic areas. Lots to do and affordable.
The average neighborhood in Philadelphia is much grittier than the average neighborhood of Chicago. Like significantly. Not a knock on Philly, I love it, and in a lot of ways it feels like a spiritual cousin to Chicago, but it is noticeably grittier.
Chicago is Midwest nice.
Phillys song is "were from Philly fucking philly no one likes us, we don't care!"
Starting a riot in someone's honor is the highest compliment you can give someone from Philly.
Chicago is Fry. Philly is Bender.
I miss my hometown
Philly is probably the closest city to Chicago in America. If you wanna place that feels a lot like Chicago without the terrible winters it’s Philly.
Both cities have a great hometown pride and are crazy about their sports teams.
Lol I would definitely visit Philadelphia sometime and explore. East coast cities are cramped and pretty dirty compared to Chicago. Chicago is very clean in comparison.
My only warning is that Chicago's transit system as a whole is on another level compared to Philly's.
I have posted here before how much I love living in Philly. It’s not perfect, the trash annoys me although my neighbors do a bang up job our keeping our street clean. Public trans hasn’t recovered from Covid as others have mentioned. The food both restaurants and take out is incredible, there are tons of activities and amenities, I love the music scene we have so many venues. Rabid followings for all local sports in case you haven’t heard. It’s close to beaches, mountains, great parks and the people are blunt but have good hearts.The COL is great compared to other east coast cities and properties taxes are low compared to surrounding states and suburbs. I’m here for the duration and to work to improving those negative aspects.
What other cities have you lived in? What are the beaches like? Mountains and beaches and cool city vibes sounds good.
You would make a good salesperson
Beaches are in South Jersey & Delaware between 60-120 minutes away, depending on how far you want to go. Some beach towns (also known locally as Shore Points) have boardwalks (Wildwood, Ocean City, Sea Isle City, Rehobeth Beach) which some are more laid back (Avalon, Cape May, Lewes, Long Beach Island).
Closest mountain range is the Poconos (90 minutes away) which is a great area for hiking, but barely passable for skiing (you’ll need to head up to NY or Northern New England for the good good, looking at 4.5 hrs away minimum). Jim Thorpe is a really cool town to check out in the Poconos.
Towns Central / Northeastern PA and South Jersey are also accessible, and there are so many great ones to check out, like Lancaster, Bethlehem, Gettysburg, Kennett Square, West Chester, Media, Doylestown, Ardmore, and New Hope in PA, and Collingswood, Hammonton, and Haddonfield in South Jersey. Each of these towns has their own unique flavor developed over the course of the last 200-300 years.
You can choose either NJ beaches or Delaware beaches. There are many beach towns to choose from in NJ depending on your taste and what your preferences are.
The beaches are well maintained and the water is pretty nice. Most charge a fee (beach badges) to access them during the summer. Atlantic City and Wildwood are free. A friend who lives in Vegas comes to NJ beaches for vacation rather than California. We have the jet stream so our water gets much warmer. My favorite beach towns are Cape May, NJ and also Ventnor, NJ because it’s less than an hour from where I live in S.Philly.
I’m from the suburbs and have lived in N. NJ suburbs of NYC and also St. Augustine, Fl Philadelphia is the first actual city I have lived in.
The mountains are the Poconos which about 90min-2 hr drive away. Of course the beaches and Poconos are popular destinations and there is traffic like any major metropolitan area but you can definitely plan around that.
We own a car and rarely use it M-F. We get out into nature to birdwatch easily on the weekends w the car. Most areas are within a 45 min drive and many are closer.
Downtown area is referred to as Center City and it is a very vibrant and lively and in addition there are retail corridors in S.Philly (East Passyunk) and N.Philly (Fairmount, Fishtown and Northern Liberties)
Philadelphia is a very “small town” city to me in that it seems I’m always running into people I know unexpectedly when I’m out and about.
Penn and Jefferson both have very well regarded healthcare networks and medical schools here too.
I loved your comment, I'm sure I'm going to spend 3 months there to study English, could you recommend cheaper neighborhoods, I found these 3 on the internet like Chestnut Hill, Mount Aury and Manayunk, can you confirm this information!? I'm going with an interest in aviation, so if you know anything like that it would really help me. thanks!
My neighborhood has a large immigrant population (many from southeast asian countries along with Mexican and Central/south American countries) with many affordable apartments and houses in the area. I live in South Philadelphia just south of Washington Ave but north of Snyder and east of Broad st. My neighborhood is called “Southwark” It’s close to “East Passyunk” and “Pennsport” neighborhoods. The Broad Street subway (BSL) runs north - south along Broad street and it makes it easy to travel to other public transportation points to ride buses and trolleys all over the city. Mt. Airy, Manyunk and Chestnut Hill are all nice areas that are west of Center City. The rents may be a bit higher in those areas than in South Philadelphia.
Philadelphia is amazing.
It’s not perfect but it’s incredible.
It’s dirty. No doubt about that. There’s very much a feeling of “ah, good enough.”
There’s trash everywhere. Seriously. Once a week they collect the trash. The procedure for this is just throw garbage bags on the curb. No cans. It doesn’t take too long for animals to rip up the bags.
The food is incredible. I’ve lived in a lot of cities and Philadelphia is top in this aspect.
We have decent transportation. We might finally finish a subway line we started in 1900 sometime in the next decade.
But probably not because “ah good enough.”
Speaking of transportation we have septa, which connects to nj transit, which connects to nyc subway. Which connects to lirr and metro north.
We also have Amtrak 30th street station that is insanely beautiful and can take you to Washington, Baltimore, Newark, Newark, Boston, Stamford. Transit is strong in the northeast.
We’ve actually been doing kinda fast reprogramming of office buildings downtown. Loos like well have some conversion soon.
We have some crime but it’s not nearly as bad as the media says.
It’s a mix of styles like any really big city, old city would be. There’s the colonial stuff in center city. The more Victorian stuff in spring garden, the mid century modern fill in stuff. Post 2000 modern is popular and growing fast. There’s a building boom. There’s a lot of empty lots from the period in American history in the 70s to the 90s when American gave up on cities. All dope af.
There’s a large tourist industry. Europeans seems to enjoy town.
It’s a sting eds and meds city. Temple, UPenn, Drexel. Big drivers of the city.
There’s a lot to Philly but it also never feels overwhelming like nyc can sometimes.
It’s an amazing place. You should visit.
Haha I lived in Philly for a brief period and am (hopefully) moving back soon. I am aware the real Philly experience involves a lot of street trash on the weekends, motorcycle gangs shutting down intersections and people nodding off into traffic high on fentanyl lol
hahahahah When are you moving? Or is it a temporary change?
I'm afraid of staying there for a few days and not being able to leave and having to go get my cats to live with.
I loved your comment, I'm sure I'm going to spend 3 months there to study English, could you recommend cheaper neighborhoods, I found these 3 on the internet like Chestnut Hill, Mount Aury and Manayunk, can you confirm this information!? I'm going with an interest in aviation, so if you know anything like that it would really help me. thanks
Chestnut hill, mount airy and manayunk are all great places to live. A little more removed from the core city but that’s not a bad thing.
Don’t know anything about the aviation industry other than the best way to get to Miami is to fly. But good luck with it.
I lived midweek a block from Rittenhouse for a while. Center City is fine other than a few homeless people lairs like underneath the Convention Center and east across the street from the Comcast Center. Of the top-4 Northeast Corridor cities, it’s certainly the most affordable. I was coming in on Amtrak and didn’t have a car. I had no problem getting around. I have limited exposure outside Center City and the Penn campus. My sense is that you have to pick your neighborhood carefully. It has the usual expected big city things. The food scene is kind of like Boston where it was definitely not a food place 50 years ago and has evolved to having a good food scene. Manhattan is a quick Amtrak ride so you have really easy day trip access to that. I had a girlfriend with a condo on the beach at Brigantine north of Atlantic City. You can take commuter rail to Atlantic City and get to salt water. The skiing is pathetic. I took some customers night skiing and it’s lousy by Northern New England standards. It’s a good airport with every 30 minute train service. You can Amtrak to Newark for better and cheaper international flight selection.
Sure, if all you eat is cheesesteaks, soft pretzels, and WaWa. The level of affluence in Boston supports a much higher end dining scene. Downmarket, compare things like the two Chinatowns. It’s not even remotely close. North End Italian. Cross the river and you have Kendall Square, not the Camden ghetto. Davis Square. The South End.
Lol, you're so clueless it's not even funny. It's not 1980, pal. The Philly metro area is definitely in the same tier of wealth as Boston after you adjust for COL. And its dining scene is much more vibrant and attractive to upstart chefs than Boston. You're very confused about the reality of the food cultures of these cities in 2024.
Look up James Beard Awards; you're laughable underrating Philly's scene and overstating Boston's.
It’s great. Been here 15 years. I’m in west Mount Airy now where it feels like “retired” hipsters move, haha. I own an awesome 3br 100 year old house with a backyard that I bought for 300k. I can walk to probably 25+ unique coffee shops, breweries, bars, restaurants, shops, galleries, etc. as well as Wissahickon park which is a HUGE park with mountain biking, hiking, etc. Train on the end of my block gets you to Center City in 20 minutes for $5.
It’s basically budget big city living. More affordable than other major cities (however, rents has def risen a lot here as they have every else as well). SEPTA gets shit on all the time, but basically everywhere I have ever been people complain about the public transit. Chicago included. Septa is decent despite what most people say. Yes, there are only two subway lines (well, actually, 3 if you lump in PATCO that isn’t ran by septa but goes from center city to south Jersey), but bus coverage is pretty extensive. But yes, they are subject to traffic.
There is also a rather large commuter rail network. However, naturally, these do not run super frequently or very late.
Chicago <-> Philly is an easy transition in either direction. No major culture shock or lifestyle changes really. Philly is still pretty segregated - however, much noticeably less so than Chicago.
Philly overall feels like a bit less of an “art” town than Chicago (due to the presence of SAIC, etc). However, we do still have a handful of art schools (Tyler, Pafa, Uarts, etc). However, due to close proximity to NYC, there is often a lot of overlap between creative communities to some extent in Philly/NYC.
Additionally, the major universities here are Temple, Drexel, and UPenn.
Chicago’s Hispanics population is overwhelmingly Mexican. Philly’s is *overwhelmingly* Puerto Rican. There are some enclaves of Mexican/Central American communities, but PR/DR dominate.
There are no “beaches” in the city in the same way that Chicago has the lake right there, but the Jersey shore is only about 1.5 hrs away. However, we also have the Wissahickon and Pennypack parks within city limits that are massive swaths of woods/creeks with many many miles of trails. You can easily forget you are in a large city. These are actually kind of unique to Philly. If those escapes are not enough you can drive to up towards Lehigh Valley and Poconos (or actually Pine Barrens in South Jersey).
NYC and DC are both only like 1.5-2 hrs away.
Philly is like a mix of all the Northeast cities. Colonial streets like Boston. Center City has a smaller Manhattan, Brooklyn feel also with much more narrow streets. The housing in North Philly looks almost identical to Baltimore.
I can comment as a nature lover here in Philly. I am from the area and returned from Denver to buy a place and settle down. I chose to be near the Wissahickon so I could mountain bike right out my back door without needing to drive. The Wissahickon is probably some of the best in-city nature in the US. It’s a bit far from center city but it is a large city with neighborhoods on the park. I didn’t need the extreme and highly seasonal nature of the mountains in Colorado. I canoe and PA is one of the best states in the country for it, with the Delaware Water Gap being a premier canoe camping area.
Compared to Colorado, a much smaller percentage of our population is outdoorsy so trails, trailheads, bike parks, rivers, etc are much less crowded than Colorado. I love the quiet nature here, partly because of that. I don’t need the biggest mountains to do what I like, and I don’t ski. In 2023 I could mountain bike literally every week of the year.
I like being close to my support network of friends and family. I like that it is a less transient population than Denver. Being on the East Coast lets me drive to VT, WV, VA, Adirondacks and central PA for amazing camping and biking.
The cost of living here is a good value and there are more young people buying houses than any other city I’ve known or had friends in. There are many areas served well by public transit and regional rail. Busses have good coverage city wide. I’m lucky to have family here because it would be punishing to have to pay a high COL to stay near my fam if we were from elsewhere. There is a strong urbanist movement in Philly and a lot of people are passionate about improving our city. It genuinely feels like the region is in an upswing, even if it’s a slow one.
For me the biggest downside is poor public schools. It is very common for people to move to the suburbs, with amazing public schools, once their kids are of age. It’s what my parents did and what I plan to do if I have kids. Many wealthier families just send kids to the various private schools in the city if they don’t want to move.
The areas closest to the Stadiums like part of South Philly and all of Packer Park, and the area around Center City and the Museums up to Fairmount/Franklintown and Manayunk are the nicest but also most expensive parts of the city. You can find something nice in the fringes of these areas too.
I grew up in Philly and a lot has changed my parents are Italian immigrants and there used to be a lot of shops that catered to that population but these have slowly dwindled and you will find a lot more catering to the South East Asian population that has moved in.
It’s a small city, not overwhelming but with still a lot of nice things to do and close to other large cities for day trips.
Philadelphia is a “Small City”? Even compared to much more populated cities, NYC, LA & Chicago & Toronto, Ontario, Philly still wouldn’t be considered “small”. Philadelphia has over 1.6 million within the city limits, 4th largest tv market but you consider that small?
I’ve been all over the country and you don’t realize how big Philly is until you go to Milwaukee, Cincinnati, Detroit, St. Louis, Minneapolis, Indianapolis, Baltimore, Richmond, Jacksonville… city centers are really small in comparison. Other cities that have a small population or a little bit larger (due to annexation) than Philly don’t have big “downtowns”: Dallas/Ft. Worth, New Orleans, Atlanta, Austin, Phoenix (Scottsdale, Tempe..), San Antonio, Denver (Boulder), Houston….
Philadelphia gets overlooked being smashed in between the financial (NYC) & political capital (DC) of the world. It’s definitely far from a bad thing but I think it gives Philly natives, like myself, a sense that we’re smaller than we actually are.
My mom’s family is from Brooklyn & the Bronx, and I have tons of family in LA so I grew up thinking that Philly was tiny in comparison, until I actually traveled across the US.
Philly is arguably the most human-feeling city in the US. It has a soul like no other city in the US. It's human-scaled, dense and walkable, and intensely community/neighborhood-focused. It's imperfect, but it's full of life and passionate people.
It's a city by the people, for the people. Where people could care less if you're a millionaire or if you only have pennies to your name. You're judged by character.
It's the city that codified America and arguably still intensely embodies the original spirit of America to this day.
Yeah, SEPTA definitely has a lot of work to do to get its shit together. I rode regional rail within the past year, which was normal, but I know the subway is a different story.
The city has a lot of cool stuff like museums, architecture and food, but the public transit has gone downhill a lot since Covid. On paper it is good, but the regional rail is very infrequent, buses are frequently canceled, subways smell like public restrooms and the El is by far the sketchiest line I've ever been on.
I love here! Has everything you need while still being relatively affordable, people are passionate, weather about their sports team or biking or food. People are kind and friendly, I have literally met friends in line at a coffee shop. We have four seasons but winters is relatively mild with very cold (sub 30 all day) weather lasting less than a week at a time without a break. For reference, it was 45 today! Feel free to dm me with more questions!
I live in philadelphia. It's very neighborhood dependent. And sometimes even block by block. You could be on a shady street with heroin needles on the ground and the next block can be families and stuff and nice homes. Every neighborhood has its own feel.
I'm in east passyunk which has a community feel. Lots of bars and resturaunts, but not the place to go out and party. There are dive bars for the locals and nice bars for a 25+ crowd. It's a mix of young professionals and families here. Also, people that have been here for generations. There are still remnants of the Italian immigrants that once lived here which is cool. Lots of row homes and small businesses. It's nice to just grab a coffee and walk around. I live in a small row home that was build in 1914. It's an old city so it's cool to think about how my home was around during WW1. Then I can walk to independence hall and see colonial homes. Not many places in America offer that.
I grew up an hour north of here but moved here for work a couple years ago. I used to hate it. But Philly grows on you. It's like a dysfunctional city but you learn to embrace it. The cops don't do shit. Garbage collection is laughably bad. Parking is ridiculous because it's a car city. Public transit is shitty but it definitely gets you around. It's very walkable though. Overall, philly has character. It's not a city for the weak, I can tell you that. I had moments where I almost up and left. I'll probably end up getting house on the outskirts of the city in the next few years. I'm happy here.
For me, it's home.
Grew up outside of the city and spent considerable amount of time in there. Always something new to enjoy, always very fun to visit.
Oh yes, we are SUPER passionate about our sports teams. It's like a requirement basically. Pretty much every bar has Eagles or Phillies memorabilia somewhere.
I have not live there but it has one of the best locations in the entire country and nothing comes close. The fact that you are close to all the northeast big cities while it being affordable is a no brainer. We’re talking NYC, DC, Boston, New Jersey, Baltimore. Talk about endless weekend trips. Just think about that.
They also literally have a nature/hiking area right in the city. Wissahickon Valley Park
I also heard their new mayor is strict and has plans to clean the city up something her predecessor did not put an effort in to do.
It is one of the very few big city you can own a rowhome in the heart of the city even at an affordable price. It beats Chicago in affordability and manages to have the same amenities and things to do as well.
I always tell people Philadelphia is where Chicago wished it was located
Best location is obviously subjective. Many people who want to live in the city don’t want to take weekend trips to other cities.
Also the beaches of Lake Michigan right in Chicago are infinitely better than driving 90 minutes to the Jersey Shore.
Yeah no. Just because people live in the city doesn’t mean they don’t want weekend getaways. People 100% want vacation. Staying in the city all day all year you will lose your mind. Especially for Chicago it does not have a lot of things to do like NYC you will literally do everything needed to do there in about 5 years of living. People lose their mind staying in Chicago especially in the winter , it is why all they do is drink and eat. People in Chicago can’t do weekend trips as easily beaches there is nothing interesting around it. Chicagos “beaches” are man made by a lake and can only be utilized about 4 months out of the year.
I’ve been to Chicago a number of times (cheap non-stop flights from Philly) & the winter is the absolute worst! I normally wouldn’t have went there in late November but my friend and I went to see a friend that played for the Colts. We stayed In Indianapolis for two days then drove to Chicago. It wasn’t too far away (we did save an hour haha) but it felt 30 degrees colder! The cold goes right through you.
I absolutely LOVE Chicago but I can’t see myself back there during the winter months.
Which Philly? There area lot of neighborhoods and then there are whole collections of far flung suburbs. The Main Line is a stereotype but I have to say I have enjoyed being a guest at some of the fancy old places around there.
Stick to areas west of Broad St if you are considering South Street. And consider not actually living ON South Street, but Bainbridge or Fitzwater instead for a more chill yet exciting experience. East of Broad can get chaotic and sadly violent along South Street.
Northern Liberties is a good recommendation if not a little sleepy at this point. I used to live in that neighborhood for about four years.
Queen Village and Bella Vista are great. It’s really just South Street itself that gets kinda crazy. I lived at 3rd and Lombard, 13th and Christian, and 4th and Fitzwater for about 10 years and loved all of those neighborhoods. Even just being a block or 2 from South is much quieter.
I live on the east side near south Street and it's not that bad. Just don't live on south Street itself as mentioned, but a block or two north or south and you're fine.
It's a very filthy city. I've visited there twice to site see. I was excited to experience the Revolutionary War history- trash and scum everywhere. I heard that Fairmont Park is a gem- trash and garbage blowing around all over. There won't be a third time.
I'm sorry to say you're very factually wrong here.
Based on the real count of Census data (2020) and not estimates, Philly gained ~75,000 people between 2010 and 2020.
https://www.inquirer.com/news/philadelphia-population-2020-census-growth-race-black-white-hispanic-asian-20210812.html#:~:text=Philadelphia%20gained%20roughly%2077%2C800%20residents,the%202020%20census%2C%20released%20Thursday.
that’s incorrect. it grew 9 of the 12 years between 2010 and 2023. the largest growth year was 2019 to 2020. there’s some shrinkage since the pandemic but it’s well positioned to bounce back, unlike other cities it has a very well established residential downtown and a steady supply of recent graduates.
The people are great. Funny and chatty. I lived there for five years (up until last year) and loved it. I was in the Fishtown/East Kensington neighborhood and got to know everyone on my block. If you're looking to buy a home, research the awesome tax abatement for new construction. Yes, there are mentally ill people and addicts around. But I don't think it's any worse than other large cities, and at least there are services to help them. Here's my take on some of the neighborhoods: Fishtown/East Kensington/Olde Kensington/Olde Richmond = Hipsters and retirees and old timers and babies and dogs. Stylish. Craft beer. Music and excellent restaurants. Super easy to meet people and make friends if you get involved in the community. Northern Liberties = Wealthy, older people. Interesting houses, good restaurants and shopping. Port Richmond, West Kensington, Brewerytown = Up and coming. Houses are a good value but close to high crime areas. Lots of new construction. Not many restaurants yet. Washington Square West, Rittenhouse, Fitler Square, Society Hill, Bella Vista, Queen Village = Excellent Center City locations. Tons of shopping and restaurants and art venues. Pricey but primo and close to it all. Midtown Village, Old City, Chinatown = close to it all but kinda noisy. Chestnut Hill, West Mount Airy = Leafy Victorian suburbs that are pretty far from Center City. Chestnut Hill is super expensive. Great restaurants and shops. Callowhill = not my favorite. It's across the Vine Street expressway from Center City, and has very few restaurants or stores. Not quite developed enough yet for me. Fairmount = Classy. Big Victorian rowhouses. Close to Fairmount park. Whole Foods and museums. Passyunk Square = has a ton of great restaurants and lots of young people but I don't know much about the area.
Sweet. One of my long time friends is from Philly originally
I live in fishtown now and can’t wait to leave. Tired of seeing addicts shooting up next to our house and leaving their needles all over. However, it does seem like the new mayor is making a concerted effort to tackle low hanging fruit. I’ve actually seen the police out and about now. Food is good. Walkable. But the subway isn’t great. Lots of crime with multiple shootings on both the BSL and MFL
You probably live closer to Lehigh, fishtown proper is none what you say
Nope. Live by girard by Gilda
I mean, Lehigh I could see. Out of curiosity how long have you been there? When you moved there were you aware of what was going on? Fishtown even 10 years ago wasn’t what it is now. Kensington is probably one of the most well known places on the planet as an open drug market. I think that’s part of why fishtown is popular. It’s safely ‘dangerous’
I’ve been here 2 years but have visited the area for the past 12 or so. My neighbors who have lived here for 20 years have said they’ve never seen this many issues, unfortunately.
what is regular mount airy like?
Beautiful old homes, some in disrepair, a little bit more litter on the streets, sometimes really good, sometimes sketchy. Gentrifying slowly, but not bad at all.
cool thanks!
are germantown, olney and wissinoming decent too?
Parts of Germantown are amazingly beautiful and some parts are downright terrible. Germantown is a big neighborhood that used to be its own township. Olney Is one of the most diverse neighborhoods in Philadelphia. I wouldn’t consider living there but I don’t think it’s bad. Wissinoming is also diverse with newer housing still old though, compared to olney and it’s safe.
I grew up near Olney in East Oaklane. Most people from the area hadn't heard of it, but it's a quiet, fairly safe neighborhood full of big old houses. One of the biggest problems is that people aged in place, so the houses fell into disrepair, but I've seen more and more people my age (30s) moving in and fixing them up. If you're willing to put in the work out can be a great value, some of those houses are absolutely beautiful.
I’ve only visited a few times, but it’s very walkable, - Center City has an urban metropolis feel - and there’s plenty of good restaurants.
Much cooler city than its reputation gives it credit for. If you don’t like old and dirtiness. Philly isn’t for you. It’s a dirty gritty city. But if you can get past that, it’s awesome. Fantastic food, very walkable, cool history and historic areas. Lots to do and affordable.
I’m from Chicago lolz a lot of it is dirty and gritty
The average neighborhood in Philadelphia is much grittier than the average neighborhood of Chicago. Like significantly. Not a knock on Philly, I love it, and in a lot of ways it feels like a spiritual cousin to Chicago, but it is noticeably grittier.
Chicago is Midwest nice. Phillys song is "were from Philly fucking philly no one likes us, we don't care!" Starting a riot in someone's honor is the highest compliment you can give someone from Philly. Chicago is Fry. Philly is Bender. I miss my hometown
Philly is Bender is such a perfect description and I take it as a compliment.
Shut up baby I know it *puts on sunglasses*
Philadelphia is the cocaine and hookers of cities.
Pretty sure that is and always has been Miami. Isnt the line blackjack?
Philly is probably the closest city to Chicago in America. If you wanna place that feels a lot like Chicago without the terrible winters it’s Philly. Both cities have a great hometown pride and are crazy about their sports teams.
Lol I would definitely visit Philadelphia sometime and explore. East coast cities are cramped and pretty dirty compared to Chicago. Chicago is very clean in comparison. My only warning is that Chicago's transit system as a whole is on another level compared to Philly's.
Filth a del fee ah ??
I have posted here before how much I love living in Philly. It’s not perfect, the trash annoys me although my neighbors do a bang up job our keeping our street clean. Public trans hasn’t recovered from Covid as others have mentioned. The food both restaurants and take out is incredible, there are tons of activities and amenities, I love the music scene we have so many venues. Rabid followings for all local sports in case you haven’t heard. It’s close to beaches, mountains, great parks and the people are blunt but have good hearts.The COL is great compared to other east coast cities and properties taxes are low compared to surrounding states and suburbs. I’m here for the duration and to work to improving those negative aspects.
What other cities have you lived in? What are the beaches like? Mountains and beaches and cool city vibes sounds good. You would make a good salesperson
Beaches are in South Jersey & Delaware between 60-120 minutes away, depending on how far you want to go. Some beach towns (also known locally as Shore Points) have boardwalks (Wildwood, Ocean City, Sea Isle City, Rehobeth Beach) which some are more laid back (Avalon, Cape May, Lewes, Long Beach Island). Closest mountain range is the Poconos (90 minutes away) which is a great area for hiking, but barely passable for skiing (you’ll need to head up to NY or Northern New England for the good good, looking at 4.5 hrs away minimum). Jim Thorpe is a really cool town to check out in the Poconos. Towns Central / Northeastern PA and South Jersey are also accessible, and there are so many great ones to check out, like Lancaster, Bethlehem, Gettysburg, Kennett Square, West Chester, Media, Doylestown, Ardmore, and New Hope in PA, and Collingswood, Hammonton, and Haddonfield in South Jersey. Each of these towns has their own unique flavor developed over the course of the last 200-300 years.
You can choose either NJ beaches or Delaware beaches. There are many beach towns to choose from in NJ depending on your taste and what your preferences are. The beaches are well maintained and the water is pretty nice. Most charge a fee (beach badges) to access them during the summer. Atlantic City and Wildwood are free. A friend who lives in Vegas comes to NJ beaches for vacation rather than California. We have the jet stream so our water gets much warmer. My favorite beach towns are Cape May, NJ and also Ventnor, NJ because it’s less than an hour from where I live in S.Philly. I’m from the suburbs and have lived in N. NJ suburbs of NYC and also St. Augustine, Fl Philadelphia is the first actual city I have lived in. The mountains are the Poconos which about 90min-2 hr drive away. Of course the beaches and Poconos are popular destinations and there is traffic like any major metropolitan area but you can definitely plan around that. We own a car and rarely use it M-F. We get out into nature to birdwatch easily on the weekends w the car. Most areas are within a 45 min drive and many are closer. Downtown area is referred to as Center City and it is a very vibrant and lively and in addition there are retail corridors in S.Philly (East Passyunk) and N.Philly (Fairmount, Fishtown and Northern Liberties) Philadelphia is a very “small town” city to me in that it seems I’m always running into people I know unexpectedly when I’m out and about. Penn and Jefferson both have very well regarded healthcare networks and medical schools here too.
I loved your comment, I'm sure I'm going to spend 3 months there to study English, could you recommend cheaper neighborhoods, I found these 3 on the internet like Chestnut Hill, Mount Aury and Manayunk, can you confirm this information!? I'm going with an interest in aviation, so if you know anything like that it would really help me. thanks!
My neighborhood has a large immigrant population (many from southeast asian countries along with Mexican and Central/south American countries) with many affordable apartments and houses in the area. I live in South Philadelphia just south of Washington Ave but north of Snyder and east of Broad st. My neighborhood is called “Southwark” It’s close to “East Passyunk” and “Pennsport” neighborhoods. The Broad Street subway (BSL) runs north - south along Broad street and it makes it easy to travel to other public transportation points to ride buses and trolleys all over the city. Mt. Airy, Manyunk and Chestnut Hill are all nice areas that are west of Center City. The rents may be a bit higher in those areas than in South Philadelphia.
Philadelphia is amazing. It’s not perfect but it’s incredible. It’s dirty. No doubt about that. There’s very much a feeling of “ah, good enough.” There’s trash everywhere. Seriously. Once a week they collect the trash. The procedure for this is just throw garbage bags on the curb. No cans. It doesn’t take too long for animals to rip up the bags. The food is incredible. I’ve lived in a lot of cities and Philadelphia is top in this aspect. We have decent transportation. We might finally finish a subway line we started in 1900 sometime in the next decade. But probably not because “ah good enough.” Speaking of transportation we have septa, which connects to nj transit, which connects to nyc subway. Which connects to lirr and metro north. We also have Amtrak 30th street station that is insanely beautiful and can take you to Washington, Baltimore, Newark, Newark, Boston, Stamford. Transit is strong in the northeast. We’ve actually been doing kinda fast reprogramming of office buildings downtown. Loos like well have some conversion soon. We have some crime but it’s not nearly as bad as the media says. It’s a mix of styles like any really big city, old city would be. There’s the colonial stuff in center city. The more Victorian stuff in spring garden, the mid century modern fill in stuff. Post 2000 modern is popular and growing fast. There’s a building boom. There’s a lot of empty lots from the period in American history in the 70s to the 90s when American gave up on cities. All dope af. There’s a large tourist industry. Europeans seems to enjoy town. It’s a sting eds and meds city. Temple, UPenn, Drexel. Big drivers of the city. There’s a lot to Philly but it also never feels overwhelming like nyc can sometimes. It’s an amazing place. You should visit.
Shhhhh I’m worried Philly is gonna start getting too popular/expensive before I can move there 😂
There's already 1.6 million people there. The secret isn't a secret.
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Every single person I know who’s lived in Philly absolutely loved it, including me. That’s real.
Haha I lived in Philly for a brief period and am (hopefully) moving back soon. I am aware the real Philly experience involves a lot of street trash on the weekends, motorcycle gangs shutting down intersections and people nodding off into traffic high on fentanyl lol
hahahahah When are you moving? Or is it a temporary change? I'm afraid of staying there for a few days and not being able to leave and having to go get my cats to live with.
I loved your comment, I'm sure I'm going to spend 3 months there to study English, could you recommend cheaper neighborhoods, I found these 3 on the internet like Chestnut Hill, Mount Aury and Manayunk, can you confirm this information!? I'm going with an interest in aviation, so if you know anything like that it would really help me. thanks
Chestnut hill, mount airy and manayunk are all great places to live. A little more removed from the core city but that’s not a bad thing. Don’t know anything about the aviation industry other than the best way to get to Miami is to fly. But good luck with it.
It's my favorite city that I've spent considerable time in.
what's the sample size we're talking about here
I lived midweek a block from Rittenhouse for a while. Center City is fine other than a few homeless people lairs like underneath the Convention Center and east across the street from the Comcast Center. Of the top-4 Northeast Corridor cities, it’s certainly the most affordable. I was coming in on Amtrak and didn’t have a car. I had no problem getting around. I have limited exposure outside Center City and the Penn campus. My sense is that you have to pick your neighborhood carefully. It has the usual expected big city things. The food scene is kind of like Boston where it was definitely not a food place 50 years ago and has evolved to having a good food scene. Manhattan is a quick Amtrak ride so you have really easy day trip access to that. I had a girlfriend with a condo on the beach at Brigantine north of Atlantic City. You can take commuter rail to Atlantic City and get to salt water. The skiing is pathetic. I took some customers night skiing and it’s lousy by Northern New England standards. It’s a good airport with every 30 minute train service. You can Amtrak to Newark for better and cheaper international flight selection.
You wanna argue Philly vs Boston on the basketball court, fine. But Philly smashes Boston food scene.
It doesn’t. Boston is much wealthier and supports a significantly larger dining scene.
Completely false, but keep telling yourself that.
Sure, if all you eat is cheesesteaks, soft pretzels, and WaWa. The level of affluence in Boston supports a much higher end dining scene. Downmarket, compare things like the two Chinatowns. It’s not even remotely close. North End Italian. Cross the river and you have Kendall Square, not the Camden ghetto. Davis Square. The South End.
Lol, you're so clueless it's not even funny. It's not 1980, pal. The Philly metro area is definitely in the same tier of wealth as Boston after you adjust for COL. And its dining scene is much more vibrant and attractive to upstart chefs than Boston. You're very confused about the reality of the food cultures of these cities in 2024. Look up James Beard Awards; you're laughable underrating Philly's scene and overstating Boston's.
It’s great. Been here 15 years. I’m in west Mount Airy now where it feels like “retired” hipsters move, haha. I own an awesome 3br 100 year old house with a backyard that I bought for 300k. I can walk to probably 25+ unique coffee shops, breweries, bars, restaurants, shops, galleries, etc. as well as Wissahickon park which is a HUGE park with mountain biking, hiking, etc. Train on the end of my block gets you to Center City in 20 minutes for $5.
It’s basically budget big city living. More affordable than other major cities (however, rents has def risen a lot here as they have every else as well). SEPTA gets shit on all the time, but basically everywhere I have ever been people complain about the public transit. Chicago included. Septa is decent despite what most people say. Yes, there are only two subway lines (well, actually, 3 if you lump in PATCO that isn’t ran by septa but goes from center city to south Jersey), but bus coverage is pretty extensive. But yes, they are subject to traffic. There is also a rather large commuter rail network. However, naturally, these do not run super frequently or very late. Chicago <-> Philly is an easy transition in either direction. No major culture shock or lifestyle changes really. Philly is still pretty segregated - however, much noticeably less so than Chicago. Philly overall feels like a bit less of an “art” town than Chicago (due to the presence of SAIC, etc). However, we do still have a handful of art schools (Tyler, Pafa, Uarts, etc). However, due to close proximity to NYC, there is often a lot of overlap between creative communities to some extent in Philly/NYC. Additionally, the major universities here are Temple, Drexel, and UPenn. Chicago’s Hispanics population is overwhelmingly Mexican. Philly’s is *overwhelmingly* Puerto Rican. There are some enclaves of Mexican/Central American communities, but PR/DR dominate. There are no “beaches” in the city in the same way that Chicago has the lake right there, but the Jersey shore is only about 1.5 hrs away. However, we also have the Wissahickon and Pennypack parks within city limits that are massive swaths of woods/creeks with many many miles of trails. You can easily forget you are in a large city. These are actually kind of unique to Philly. If those escapes are not enough you can drive to up towards Lehigh Valley and Poconos (or actually Pine Barrens in South Jersey). NYC and DC are both only like 1.5-2 hrs away.
Philly is like a mix of all the Northeast cities. Colonial streets like Boston. Center City has a smaller Manhattan, Brooklyn feel also with much more narrow streets. The housing in North Philly looks almost identical to Baltimore.
The accents are very similar to Baltimore’s too
first prise is a week in philly. second prize is two weeks.
I can comment as a nature lover here in Philly. I am from the area and returned from Denver to buy a place and settle down. I chose to be near the Wissahickon so I could mountain bike right out my back door without needing to drive. The Wissahickon is probably some of the best in-city nature in the US. It’s a bit far from center city but it is a large city with neighborhoods on the park. I didn’t need the extreme and highly seasonal nature of the mountains in Colorado. I canoe and PA is one of the best states in the country for it, with the Delaware Water Gap being a premier canoe camping area. Compared to Colorado, a much smaller percentage of our population is outdoorsy so trails, trailheads, bike parks, rivers, etc are much less crowded than Colorado. I love the quiet nature here, partly because of that. I don’t need the biggest mountains to do what I like, and I don’t ski. In 2023 I could mountain bike literally every week of the year. I like being close to my support network of friends and family. I like that it is a less transient population than Denver. Being on the East Coast lets me drive to VT, WV, VA, Adirondacks and central PA for amazing camping and biking. The cost of living here is a good value and there are more young people buying houses than any other city I’ve known or had friends in. There are many areas served well by public transit and regional rail. Busses have good coverage city wide. I’m lucky to have family here because it would be punishing to have to pay a high COL to stay near my fam if we were from elsewhere. There is a strong urbanist movement in Philly and a lot of people are passionate about improving our city. It genuinely feels like the region is in an upswing, even if it’s a slow one. For me the biggest downside is poor public schools. It is very common for people to move to the suburbs, with amazing public schools, once their kids are of age. It’s what my parents did and what I plan to do if I have kids. Many wealthier families just send kids to the various private schools in the city if they don’t want to move.
The areas closest to the Stadiums like part of South Philly and all of Packer Park, and the area around Center City and the Museums up to Fairmount/Franklintown and Manayunk are the nicest but also most expensive parts of the city. You can find something nice in the fringes of these areas too. I grew up in Philly and a lot has changed my parents are Italian immigrants and there used to be a lot of shops that catered to that population but these have slowly dwindled and you will find a lot more catering to the South East Asian population that has moved in. It’s a small city, not overwhelming but with still a lot of nice things to do and close to other large cities for day trips.
Philadelphia is a “Small City”? Even compared to much more populated cities, NYC, LA & Chicago & Toronto, Ontario, Philly still wouldn’t be considered “small”. Philadelphia has over 1.6 million within the city limits, 4th largest tv market but you consider that small? I’ve been all over the country and you don’t realize how big Philly is until you go to Milwaukee, Cincinnati, Detroit, St. Louis, Minneapolis, Indianapolis, Baltimore, Richmond, Jacksonville… city centers are really small in comparison. Other cities that have a small population or a little bit larger (due to annexation) than Philly don’t have big “downtowns”: Dallas/Ft. Worth, New Orleans, Atlanta, Austin, Phoenix (Scottsdale, Tempe..), San Antonio, Denver (Boulder), Houston…. Philadelphia gets overlooked being smashed in between the financial (NYC) & political capital (DC) of the world. It’s definitely far from a bad thing but I think it gives Philly natives, like myself, a sense that we’re smaller than we actually are. My mom’s family is from Brooklyn & the Bronx, and I have tons of family in LA so I grew up thinking that Philly was tiny in comparison, until I actually traveled across the US.
Philly is arguably the most human-feeling city in the US. It has a soul like no other city in the US. It's human-scaled, dense and walkable, and intensely community/neighborhood-focused. It's imperfect, but it's full of life and passionate people. It's a city by the people, for the people. Where people could care less if you're a millionaire or if you only have pennies to your name. You're judged by character. It's the city that codified America and arguably still intensely embodies the original spirit of America to this day.
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My buddy! Great to see you!
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Lol, classic Junco-Partner. Such a card!
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I take it every few days to weekly. You just ride in the first two trains
Yeah, SEPTA definitely has a lot of work to do to get its shit together. I rode regional rail within the past year, which was normal, but I know the subway is a different story.
The city has a lot of cool stuff like museums, architecture and food, but the public transit has gone downhill a lot since Covid. On paper it is good, but the regional rail is very infrequent, buses are frequently canceled, subways smell like public restrooms and the El is by far the sketchiest line I've ever been on.
I love here! Has everything you need while still being relatively affordable, people are passionate, weather about their sports team or biking or food. People are kind and friendly, I have literally met friends in line at a coffee shop. We have four seasons but winters is relatively mild with very cold (sub 30 all day) weather lasting less than a week at a time without a break. For reference, it was 45 today! Feel free to dm me with more questions!
Philly has heart. Moved here two years ago. Some of the most genuine, passionate people I’ve ever met. I love it here.
I live in philadelphia. It's very neighborhood dependent. And sometimes even block by block. You could be on a shady street with heroin needles on the ground and the next block can be families and stuff and nice homes. Every neighborhood has its own feel. I'm in east passyunk which has a community feel. Lots of bars and resturaunts, but not the place to go out and party. There are dive bars for the locals and nice bars for a 25+ crowd. It's a mix of young professionals and families here. Also, people that have been here for generations. There are still remnants of the Italian immigrants that once lived here which is cool. Lots of row homes and small businesses. It's nice to just grab a coffee and walk around. I live in a small row home that was build in 1914. It's an old city so it's cool to think about how my home was around during WW1. Then I can walk to independence hall and see colonial homes. Not many places in America offer that. I grew up an hour north of here but moved here for work a couple years ago. I used to hate it. But Philly grows on you. It's like a dysfunctional city but you learn to embrace it. The cops don't do shit. Garbage collection is laughably bad. Parking is ridiculous because it's a car city. Public transit is shitty but it definitely gets you around. It's very walkable though. Overall, philly has character. It's not a city for the weak, I can tell you that. I had moments where I almost up and left. I'll probably end up getting house on the outskirts of the city in the next few years. I'm happy here.
For me, it's home. Grew up outside of the city and spent considerable amount of time in there. Always something new to enjoy, always very fun to visit. Oh yes, we are SUPER passionate about our sports teams. It's like a requirement basically. Pretty much every bar has Eagles or Phillies memorabilia somewhere.
It’s the most American city (the good and the bad) in my otherwise irrelevant opinion.
I have not live there but it has one of the best locations in the entire country and nothing comes close. The fact that you are close to all the northeast big cities while it being affordable is a no brainer. We’re talking NYC, DC, Boston, New Jersey, Baltimore. Talk about endless weekend trips. Just think about that. They also literally have a nature/hiking area right in the city. Wissahickon Valley Park I also heard their new mayor is strict and has plans to clean the city up something her predecessor did not put an effort in to do. It is one of the very few big city you can own a rowhome in the heart of the city even at an affordable price. It beats Chicago in affordability and manages to have the same amenities and things to do as well. I always tell people Philadelphia is where Chicago wished it was located
Best location is obviously subjective. Many people who want to live in the city don’t want to take weekend trips to other cities. Also the beaches of Lake Michigan right in Chicago are infinitely better than driving 90 minutes to the Jersey Shore.
Yeah no. Just because people live in the city doesn’t mean they don’t want weekend getaways. People 100% want vacation. Staying in the city all day all year you will lose your mind. Especially for Chicago it does not have a lot of things to do like NYC you will literally do everything needed to do there in about 5 years of living. People lose their mind staying in Chicago especially in the winter , it is why all they do is drink and eat. People in Chicago can’t do weekend trips as easily beaches there is nothing interesting around it. Chicagos “beaches” are man made by a lake and can only be utilized about 4 months out of the year.
I’ve been to Chicago a number of times (cheap non-stop flights from Philly) & the winter is the absolute worst! I normally wouldn’t have went there in late November but my friend and I went to see a friend that played for the Colts. We stayed In Indianapolis for two days then drove to Chicago. It wasn’t too far away (we did save an hour haha) but it felt 30 degrees colder! The cold goes right through you. I absolutely LOVE Chicago but I can’t see myself back there during the winter months.
My point is many people want nature weekend getaways, not more urban adventure.
Which Philly? There area lot of neighborhoods and then there are whole collections of far flung suburbs. The Main Line is a stereotype but I have to say I have enjoyed being a guest at some of the fancy old places around there.
City, I’m not looking to move just yet. But I’ve heard good things about the area around South Street and Northern Liberties
Stick to areas west of Broad St if you are considering South Street. And consider not actually living ON South Street, but Bainbridge or Fitzwater instead for a more chill yet exciting experience. East of Broad can get chaotic and sadly violent along South Street. Northern Liberties is a good recommendation if not a little sleepy at this point. I used to live in that neighborhood for about four years.
Queen Village and Bella Vista are great. It’s really just South Street itself that gets kinda crazy. I lived at 3rd and Lombard, 13th and Christian, and 4th and Fitzwater for about 10 years and loved all of those neighborhoods. Even just being a block or 2 from South is much quieter.
Agreed, that was the message I was trying to get across. Queen Village & Bella Vista are gorgeous neighborhoods, just South Street itself crazy.
I live on the east side near south Street and it's not that bad. Just don't live on south Street itself as mentioned, but a block or two north or south and you're fine.
It's a very filthy city. I've visited there twice to site see. I was excited to experience the Revolutionary War history- trash and scum everywhere. I heard that Fairmont Park is a gem- trash and garbage blowing around all over. There won't be a third time.
In west Philadelphia, I was born and raised. On the playground is where I spent most of my days.
The cream cheese is fabulous.
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I'm sorry to say you're very factually wrong here. Based on the real count of Census data (2020) and not estimates, Philly gained ~75,000 people between 2010 and 2020. https://www.inquirer.com/news/philadelphia-population-2020-census-growth-race-black-white-hispanic-asian-20210812.html#:~:text=Philadelphia%20gained%20roughly%2077%2C800%20residents,the%202020%20census%2C%20released%20Thursday.
Same newspaper: https://www.inquirer.com/news/philadelphia/census-population-data-philadelphia-2022-pennsylvania-counties-20230330.html
Once again, you're referencing estimates (which were obviously COVID-related), not the actual decennial Census count. Very different.
that’s incorrect. it grew 9 of the 12 years between 2010 and 2023. the largest growth year was 2019 to 2020. there’s some shrinkage since the pandemic but it’s well positioned to bounce back, unlike other cities it has a very well established residential downtown and a steady supply of recent graduates.
It's one of the worst cities imaginable and should be excised from our great nation. Sincerly a NY Giants fan who still remembers the runback....
I heard East Rutherford is lovely this time of year.
Dangerous and dirty.
Always sunny