Where is a nice place to live in Philadelphia?

Is Philadelphia a nice and pleasant place to live and why?

• Im moving to Philly from Rio de Janeiro ,Brazil.I wold like to know if it is a nice city ,safe and why Thanks for the help!

• Answer:

  Make it three in a row..yes it is a great place to live. Coming from a big city like Rio, you'll understand...there are areas you just stay out of. Neighborhoods to consider are: Center City (the primary downtown area) Art Museum (the area as it refers, near the Museum of Art, park-like setting..lots of young professionals) Washington Square West (old historical area, nice architecture, the gayborhood is here also) Bella Vista (recently rehabbed area just below South Street, somewhat affordable compared to rest) Society Hill (nicest neighborhood in the city, old colonial architecture, lots of trees, quieter but close to everything) Old City (similar to NYC's SoHo, lots of cast iron loft buildings with bars, restaurants and nightlife..some nice residential spots on the north end at the Ben Franklin Bridge or the small pocket north of it.) Queen Village (similar to Society Hill, very residential but close to much of the downtown area) Italian Market (just as the name implies, the neighborhood near the historic Italian produce and meat markets..gentrified in the past 10-15 years, walking distance to downtown.) There are some great "up and coming" neighborhoods that are less expensive but not as stable as some of the others, (still all-in-all fine from a personal safety perspective)...they are: Fishtown (old Irish-Catholic working class neighborhood, recent influx of hipsters, artists,etc...very affordable, yet still close to downtown) Northern Liberties (just south of Fishtown, been gentrifying for years, still pockets to avoid on it's northwest side but much happening at the border with Fishtown) Graduate Hospital (near the hospital with the same name that has actually been renamed...confusing. The neighborhood has gone through a massive rehabbing over the past 10 years and is pretty thoroughly a nice neighborhood. Beware of real estate listings though...anything south of Carpenter Street, east of 16th Street and west of 21st starts to get dicey) At the risk of offending some locals, areas to avoid are: University City/West Philadelphia (some nice areas but block-by-block in terms of safety) Manayunk (frat boy/sorority girl party scene, not a pretty place, not close to most of the city) Chestnut Hill/Mt Airy (nice but remote section of the city) South Philadelphia (it's also block-by-block in terms of nice versus not, difficult to figure out if you're not familiar with the area) ** Lived in Center City the past 5 years, up to date on real estate as I bought a house here recently...looked all over Center City area... Good luck!