Some more crap about Philly:
Originally Posted by alcahueteria
it seems like it's about 3 miles to anywhere I want to go, but it is pretty expensive.
In Philly, the average distance is about the same. From one end of the city to the other (in any direction) it's roughly no more than 8 miles (for the city proper).
Originally Posted by alcahueteria
I have a 5 bedroom house in midtown across from campus for like 1850 or so.
Real estate prices vary a lot in Philly. A luxury one-bedroom apartment on Drexel/Penn's campus will cost $1850. For the same price and a lot of luck you might be able to rent a three or four-bedroom dilapidated victorian row-home with the kitchen in the basement.
For the bare minimum (i.e. splitting a one-bedroom with a roommate and/or dealing with infestation and/or "gentrification"), you could probably get a place to live for about $250 a month (including utilities).
Originally Posted by alcahueteria
And it's like 2.75-3.50 PBR's and 5-8 guinneses. if that gives you an idea of the cost of living.
If you're into beer/food, Philly has an awesome bar/restaurant scene. If, like most students, you care about your wallet, there's a nice bar on Drexel/Penn's campus that has $2 draught specials every Thursday (that includes everything on tap, not just the crap like light beer and PBR (yes, I said PBR)). Not that I'd suggest choosing one's higher education based on the availability of cheap alcohol, but I don't know how to finish this sentense. If you don't mind spending a bit, there are places like
Monk's that have hundreds of beers both on tap and by the bottle. I don't remember where I heard this, but I believe Monk's sells more draught Chimay than anywhere else in the world (including Belgium). Also, there are lots of really great local micro-brews.