Huntingdon el-stop

[Sweendog024]

I've been looking at a few houses in the East Kensington Area and the closest el stop would be the huntingdon train station. I know that the next stop (Somerset) is amongst the worst drug corners in the city, seen it with my own eyes and have read more than enough about it...however is the huntingdon stop a relatively safe stop? I am a 24 year old white male living on a budget, anything on the gritty side is no big deal to me as long as it is relatively safe from violent crime. Curious to see if anyone has anything positive or negative to say about the train stops between Girard and Somerset and whether certain ones are cleaner, nicer, safer etc. than others.

Thanks in advance for any information.

[BALLZ2BHERE]

It is an interesting area to say the least you get a pretty good value for the money. close to transportation,the shops on kensington ave are always open .with an eclectic asian choice of some pretty good foods. very close to all the Fishtown events and coffee shops. The area is sketchy late at night if you don't know your way around but gets better by the day.I live here just 2 blocks from the train station and have been watching it evolve and it is doing it very fast home values seem to be going up at the rate of about 7_10.000 a year and new construction has started on Seargent St. so if you have the chance to get in I would do it now soon the realtors will be selling this as F town proper !
I say welcome and enjoy the last of the family friendly hoods in Philadelphia . If you would like some guidance and a lil tour of the safest routes and closest attractions feel free to PM me !
Good luck and hopefully welcome to the hood !

[thoth]

I've been looking at a few houses in the East Kensington Area and the closest el stop would be the huntingdon train station. I know that the next stop (Somerset) is amongst the worst drug corners in the city, seen it with my own eyes and have read more than enough about it...however is the huntingdon stop a relatively safe stop? I am a 24 year old white male living on a budget, anything on the gritty side is no big deal to me as long as it is relatively safe from violent crime. Curious to see if anyone has anything positive or negative to say about the train stops between Girard and Somerset and whether certain ones are cleaner, nicer, safer etc. than others.

Thanks in advance for any information.

It's definitely not as wretched as Somerset. I used it for commuting purposes most days for a good two years without incident, besides occasional solicitation from hookers or kenzos selling oxys et al. It's definitely improved a little bit since then, but I wouldn't have called it safe then and wouldn't now. Strangely, it feels a little better than York-Dauphin some times because there is less street activity and more abandonment and decay around that station, toss up as to whether either is safer than the other. I'd be careful either way, but I don't think either area is unlivable and both probably have reasonably bright futures.

[AngelB]

As a young male I assume you want to party at night... That said, I wouldn't feel safe rolling home drunk alone after dark.

[ArcticSplash]

I use Huntingdon but not that regularly. As a young male the most likely thing to happen to you is solicitation from pill pushers and prostitutes. If you're a big guy (6' and over) and got close cropped hair, plenty of them might avoid you because they think you just might be a cop. Dress like a hipster though and you get more encounters than someone like I would.

To be honest, I've never considered Somerset to be unsafe; just full of human misery. The danger comes from JUNKIES who are desperate for cash looking for a way to score a hit, not really from the dealers or prosties around the area. The most likely scenario that will happen to you is a junkie looking to break into your house hoping to steal sh&t. Robberies here tend to be against those people junkies consider physically weak.

I carry pepper spray around with me that slams your eyelids shut in 4 seconds or less. You can get it online (FOX 3.5 is pretty good at blinding someone fast). It is pretty effective, and if your target doesn't get to a bucket of water quickly it's gonna be quite painful. That's pretty much all you need if you're on the streets late at night here.

Easiest way to prevent a house breakin is to secure your house before you leave and try not to put your window units on the first floor of your house if you can help it, jam dowels into the sashes of other windows and invest in a wireless security system if your landlord didn't get one or it wasn't there when u bought the house.

I also highly recommend cameras on the house. You are likely to not get push back from neighbors putting cameras up because most likely everyone you see here has had at least one negative run in with a junkie.


Other than that negative stuff, you'll actually start to like it here after a while. Kensington is a weird place, but that's its charm. You'll start catching yourself saying "ya'knamean" within a year.

[ArcticSplash]

As a young male I assume you want to party at night... That said, I wouldn't feel safe rolling home drunk alone after dark.

I dunno I've done it; doesn't feel safe of course.

Cab drivers will drive to Kensington now from other neighborhoods when ages ago some of them wouldn't.