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Is philadelphia safe and is it nice to live?

Where is a nice/safe area to live in Philadelphia.?

  • I am 23 year old gay and single and want a dog. I will be teaching high school and going to grad school at Penn. I want someone where modest and safe. I would be willing to pay more for a nicer area. I currently live in Berkeley so homeless people, random drug addicts and alcoholics on the street don't scare me too much. Any advice would be helpful. I have never been to the east coast, but will be moving to Philadelphia in June. Thanks!

  • Answer:

    My husband teaches at Drexel (which is right next to Penn), and takes the regional rail in every day. We live in the Main Line suburbs, which are beautiful and safe (if a bit pricey--lots of old money in this area!). From where we are, it's about a 20-minute drive to University City. It's worth a look if you don't mind living right *in* the city itself. I also recommend looking at the northern suburbs (like Jenkintown & Elkins Park) and parts of South Jersey (especially around the Collingswood/Pennsauken/Cherry Hill areas), all of which are accessible by train lines. Otherwise, I know a lot of people who live in the University City/West Philly area. Some places in West Philly are safer than others (which is a bit of an understatement), but usually the closer to campus you are, the better. http://www.universitycity.org/ In northwest Philly, Chestnut Hill can be nice, as well as a few parts of Mt. Airy & Germantown. Manayunk is a little further out, and is full of grad students and 20- & 30-somethings. East Falls isn't bad, either. http://www.manayunk.com/ http://www.eastfallsdevelopment.org/ In Center City, check out the area around the "gayborhood" (no, really--look for the rainbow stripes on the street signs), and out to Old City. Other up-and-coming neighborhoods are in the Art Museum/Fairmount area and Northern Liberties. http://www.phillypride.org/gayborhood.html http://www.oldcitydistrict.org/indexFlash.php Good luck, and welcome to the area!

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Philadelphia is not the safest place, in general. Not to be negative, but if you've never been to the east coast, I just want to be honest. There are nice streets in Philly, but not too many neighborhoods that are consistently nice, so it seems like crime is widespread. You might encounter a nastier, more aggressive homeless people than you are used to seeing in Berkeley. They have done a lot of work around the Penn campus, I don't know how it is there now, it looked nice in the daytime last time I was there. That would be ideal with you working there. New Hope is nice and very gay friendly, but it would be a commute. Maybe you could do a ride share or find public transportation. There are some nice neighborhoods in south Jersey that would be a 15-20 minute train ride to Philly too. Otherwise I would stay close to work and a train line. Good luck to you. There are a lot of good people in Philly. The toughest thing to get used to will probably be the directness and sometimes harshness of east coasters.

roos

I would first look in the area around Penn. There are buildings mostly occupied by students. Although I was never a student there, I once lived at 3717 Chestnut St. It was mainly grad students, and working singles in their twenties. It's next door to International House. Another area to look at would be Chestnut Hill. That's a lovely multi-ethnic area. There are some big, beautiful homes there, but also old homes that have been converted into apartments. The main Street, Germantown Ave. has lovely stores and restaurants. Many are cafes with outdoor seating. In the nice weather, the streets are crowded with people. It's near a large park, and a great arboretum owned by Penn. There's a regional train station that could take you into town. And the drive to Penn is not too long. Oh, and I believe that it would be easier finding a place that would welcome a dog, than finding such a place in Center City or University City. Anyway, good luck!

Dorothy C

I think the official name is the Rainbow district aka the gayborhood. Not joking. If you think oakland isnt bad, maybe you could live southwest of UPenn, above 47 street. Its cheaper and within walking distance to Penn. I wouldnt live there though or in oakland for that matter.

Eric B

New hope is nice. Be a bit of a commute to Penn though.

Not Lansdale. I dont want gays near me.

Village Idiot

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