Where is the best place to live in the Philadelphia area for a thirty yr. old, single, hetero, professional?

Look into Manayunk. It is accessible to Center City by the R6, and has interesting and lively shopping/nightlife for someone your age. I can't say that parking there is plentiful, however. If possible, try to find a place that has a secured parking spot (if they exist, that is). BTW, Manayunk isn't too far form King of Prussia as it is on the western part of the city. The traffic around Philly isn't the best in general but I think commuting from here to King of Prussia would be do-able. Good luck!

I would have to say Rittenhouse Square, Olde City and Society Hill cover all 4 of what your looking far. Manayunk is a nice place as well and a bit closer to where you will be working but as far as nightlife their isn't as much as the above 3 I mentioned. Good Luck!

rittenhouse square area.. there is no ample parking in center city though, really, unless you park in a garage for around $180 a month. But the area is great- lots of college graduate students and young working professionals. if you decide to park on the street its $35 a year and you can find parking usually after 20 min

The Center City area would be a good spot.

Center City (Old City, Queens Village, No Libs etc) will be a nightmare of a commute to KoP. Look into Manayunk (although it's usually more of a 20's crowd, still a great nightlife if you feel young) or East Falls (great access to CC or Yunk). Also Conshohocken, just outside the city with some great bars & resturants. Close to KoP too!

It's really dependent on how much you want to spend to live. King of Prussia is generally a very nice, expensive area. Upper Moreland, while half decent, (okay the mall is half decent) is very inexpensive, but you get what you pay for. The Northeast is okay, if you want a Philly address... There's Horsham (where I live) that was ranked the 15th best place to live in the US, which is kind of upper average price range if you are looking to buy... to rent it's prolly about 1500 a month for a uber nice place... but there's a lot of business parks. Then there's Bucks Co. (Doylestown Twp and Boro, New Britain, Chalfont, Newtown, Ivyland, Warrington, Warminster) that are all pretty nice... generally they all have thier good and bad sides. You'll find good dining just about anywhere... KOP has more upscale, but Horsham has several upper class places as well as Doylestown. (KOP has upscale chains, The Melting Pot, Maggiano's, The Cheesecake Factory, Legal Sea Foods?) The nightlife is what you make of it really... some hate, some love.

Olde City / Northern Liberties - This area is located toward east of Center City and north. OC is a historic, artsy area that has lots of lofts and condos with old-style facades. Definitely a trendy hang-out for young urban professionals and short-term city dwellers. NL is a very mixed neighborhood with a little bit of everything represented. East Falls - Lots of condos, high-rise apartments and some gated communities. North Philly gets a bad rap, but East Falls' tree-lined streets and river run give it a little bit of a suburban feel. I have a few friends that live in this area and they love it. Art Museum / Fairmount - My first choice. It has newly renovated homes and apartments with many young adult professionals moving in. It's adjacent to Center City and has lost of neighborhood taverns and excellent restaurants; grteat amenities, too. Lots of developers and small businesses are investing in this neighborhood. Right next to Fairmount, there are new townouse condos that just went up in Brewerytown. The units are cool!, but the surrounding neighborhood is a little depressed; not really an area to hang-out. Also, check out Lincoln Greens. It's a gated condo community off of City Ave and near the route 76 expressway. It's not a hang-out kind of area, but City Ave offers lots of choices for shopping, dining and basic amenities. The location is great. It would be an easy commute to King of Prussia and a short ride to downtown Philly. Welcome to Philly!!

Go to "Dirty Franks Bar" (13th & Pine St.) in Philadelphia on a Friday, Saturday or Wednesday night. Thats where a lot of the shop owners in downtown Philly go after they close-up. Get there about 7:00 p.m. and stay at least 3-4 hours. It's o.k. to walk up to "any" person and say, "can I get your idea's on the best area...(bla-blah)."

You can find all that in the King of Prussia area. Sales tax is 1% lower than in the city also.