knucks

When you guys mentioned how many fixed gears there are around downtown Philadelphia I did not believe you all that much...now I see how I was wrong. Too many fixies running around, almost weird to see for me and notice so many fixedgear/SS.

On a different subject, what's a "good" area to live in w/ an older archtecture? My mother wants to move here but doesn't want to live in the suburbs. Her b/f was in Philly last 15yrs ago and really liked Germantown, but now that area is, well, not the best...

thx guys.

P.S. Anyone run lime-green deepv's on what I think was a brown/goldish frame?

peabodypride

South philly is charming.

More and more youngins are moving to West Philly, lining up on Baltimore Ave. up until about 50 St.

geoGraphicFTD

1) where are you from?

2) South Philly is not charming, and doesn't have much nice older architecture.
Germantown has some sweet older houses, and it's really not a bad area to live in. Not the nicest of course, but there are definitely people up there who moved there because they found awesome older homes for sale for cheap. Maybe she should look a bit north, towards Mt. Airy? I'd probably vote for West Philly, though. Great old houses and a good neighborhood feel. Every time I walk through it (I live on the eastern edge) I think how cool it'd be to live in one of those houses.

peabodypride

We can agree to disagree. I personally find your description of West Philly appliciable to South for me.

Lenore

No, I find Laura's description of W. Philly accurate. If I'm not mistaken, some of the professors (I work for one) from Penn occupy the homes with older infrastructure? I wouldn't argue with Laura about this topic. Just warning you.

g4dhatch2

no stay out of west philly !(ok jud=st dont ruin it with your yuppie cars and money) besides dude your mom!!! cut the strings dude

geoGraphicFTD

thanks, Lenore. I'm not gonna break out some long I've-lived-in the city-5-years-and-I'm-a-planning-student argument here, but yeah.

more about W.Philly: yeah, I think several professors do live over there, Penn has really tried to get faculty members to move closer to the school in recent years. You may consider this a good or a bad thing. This is where a discussion of gentrification and universities' roles in planning and community building come in, which I'm not gonna get into. Either way, the area does have a strong neighborhood feel and well-maintained architecturally-significant infrastructure.
most areas of south philly are less well-maintained and have a more monotonous design/architecture. of course, there are exceptions. look around and decide for yourself, of course. or read all the neighborhood profile reports my class did last fall :-P

peabodypride

I think I'm talking more about personal taste than architecture and what not, but the rowhouses I've seen in S. by my friend's house are excellent and the neighborhood is wonderful. Obviously this doesn't apply to all of it.

There's really no point in bickering or arguing, or taking sides, or whatever.

g4dhatch2

move to south philly its great there or the suburbs. west of the city has some nice ( depending on your tast suburbs that are convenient to town not a problem . seriousily guys here willl talk **** but look at places like lansdowne or media

geoGraphicFTD

suburbia should burn in hell. f-ing sprawl.*
there are plenty of great places to live in the city.

*apparently I need to find a forum for jaded cynical planning students

Aves

My wife and I moved out of PA for a year but are now coming back. We're looking into Mt. Airy and West Philly as of now, they seem to be the closest to our price range, any thoughts?

g4dhatch2

dude i got to argue its not sprawl but a diffrnt way of life these people seek not unlike yourself threr idealist not to be looked down on but understood and acepted in there nonconformital ways of "city living has to be done on these physical boundries" go to a goddamn farmers market or whole foods and tell me the quality of life we would live. im just saying it takes all types .

geoGraphicFTD

1) learn how to type before you enter into any kind of debate over anything remotely related to planning with me

2) the OP's post specifically said his mom is NOT looking to live in the burbs. I understand that environment appeals to some people, but apparently not to her, so I'm gearing my responses to the city itself.

g4dhatch2

i understand and god help me i cant spell but im mentioning this because some of phillys suburbs might have a more urban feel to them than the poster of this question might realize . depending on what citi he she is from its not like a lasvegas suburbs.

celephaiz

Are public schools an issue? The catchment area for the penn school is really screwy (gerrymandered) and affects prices in the area a great deal (which is a good or bad thing depending on whether you plan on using the school).

As for Mount airy, I spent a lot of time up there in high school but havent really been back since then. Nice, but a little more annoying to get to and from downtown.

As for south v. west, if it's a question of architecture and age, if i'm not mistaken, west philly's housing stock is by and large older (mid-late 19th century vs early to mid 20th) which does have its aesthetic effects.

knucks

I honestly don't know how Germantown can be a good area..my mom is obviously not a youngin and isn't a hipster looking for a place to live, so the area around South St (shops+restaurants isn't for her..and probably out of the price range).

We drove through Germantown when we were coming into the city, drove straight down Germantown Ave..it is, well, awful. She currently lives in Royal Oak, MI. Before that, West Bloomfield.

I don't want to start any hate or seem racist, but the entire Germantown area seemed to be a big ghetto. She did not find it safe.

When you guys say West Philly, do you mean by UPenn? Baltimore Ave. area?

Natron

South Philly if you can't afford a nice part of the Northern Liberties or Center City itself. West Philly and Fishtown (north/northeast) are unnecessarily grimy and lame... and dangerous at times. eg: My coworker moved out to 60th St a while back and, the morning after he moved in, he got up in the morning and walked outside to a dead (shot) guy on his sidewalk with cops all around.

You don't have to live wayyy south but can live in the Bella Vista area or something and be fine. My girlfriend just moved out of that area today off of a little side street with lots of families on the block, kids playing in the streets, no noise, Italian Market like 2 blocks away, etc. I'd check there first.

exfreewheeler

I live in G-Town. If you drive through the Ave, it is as you described. If you go into the smaller streets, there are some blocks that are beautiful. Just stay away from the public housing pockets. Hey, I'm native, and there are parts of G-town that I would have to be paid big money to live in! It's like a Jekyll and Hyde type neighborhood.

Manayunk and Roxborough is nice. You can still find a house there at under-market. Access to Kelly Drive is a nice incentive. Riding to CC from there is a cinch and your Mom would like the view.

Just my take.

geoGraphicFTD

I keep saying I'm gonna refrain from this thread but then....gah

1) I was thinking W. Philly as about 42nd up to about 50ish or a little farther b/t baltimore and walnut. much farther north/south/west and it gets sketchy ("unnecessarily grimy and dangerous at times"). but nice homes can be found in those areas, and the community is still strong.

2) I guess I'll agree with the jekyll-and-hyde description of Germantown. I worked on a revitalization plan for the area for school last year, and the area definitely comes off to outsiders as much worse than it is. but yeah, stay away from the projects and it can be quite nice. definitely nothing to be afraid of.

battles

I've lived way southwest my entire life (72nd and buist). It's not nice here, stay away. I'm moving to 11th and washington monday (whoo!) and I really dig that area. However, I wouldn't concider it older architecture at all. It's almost a little too intercity. If your looking for older houses that are not crazy outside of philly, I would look no further than west phil, as previous posters have suggested. Specifically between 40th and 50th and market and springfield. There are some really kick ass homes there. There are some nice parts northwest, but its a hike from the city. My whole life I always wondered why philly spreads so far north. Its really just richie sprawl.

battles

I would suggest against this. These towns have been on the decline for YEARS. Most of my friends, and most of my life was spent in the airport burbs (from darby all the way to aston and everything in between), and I can tell you that these neighborhoods and public schools have fallen apart in the past 5-6 years. Its terrible as this is where most of my family lives, but I would never choose to live there.

666pack

the western suburbs are nice. i live in paoli. our public schools are top-rated (my high school is number two public in the state). business is booming here and i've never seen so many hummers on the road here than i have since i've been staying at home with my grandmother this summer.

but i gotta rep paoli hard.

Jserse

architecture eh? there are a lot of cool buildings in the art museum area that you may like. I'll be living in Girard's old house near 25th and Poplar coming up the end of this week. I didn't believe the landlord at first but then we showed us the corner stone with his name cut out in Greek. There's all kinds of weird history about this city. Renovated Northern Liberties spots aren't that bad either, pricy usually.

geoGraphicFTD

+1 on art museum and no libs areas

annexation!