Coming from Upper East Side, NYC, Seeking Slower Pace

**TiredNewYorker** · 01-30-2011, 01:20 PM

When are you moving? Within the next six months.

Where are you coming from? Upper East Side, NYC.

Why are you moving? Moving closer to family, away from such a fast-paced lifestyle. Lower cost of living. (Hopefully...)

Where will you be working? Unknown, but will be very active in the Philly theatre community. Mostly Center City I would think.

Have you been here yet? I lived in Wilmington for 18 years and made frequent day trips, but I've never lived in Philly.

Will you buy or rent? Renting for now.

If renting, are you looking for an apartment, a townhouse or loft? How much can you spend? Looking for something not so urban, but not sleepy town. With easy access to Center City. I'd like to keep rent under $1K per month.

Are you married or single? Do you have children? Single. No children.

Do you have pets? No pets.

Do you want or need a yard? It'd be nice, but not necessary.

Are you keeping a car? Yes, and this is somewhat important.

Do you prefer bustling activity or calm and quiet? A nice mix of the two would suit me best.

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

**BarryG** · 01-30-2011, 01:37 PM

What is "not so urban" to you? Is a Brooklyn-ish vibe ok? By which I mean, dense but low-rise, plenty to do within walking distance, but most streets quiet at night? Or is that too urban?

If that's cool I would look towards South Philly (around Italian Market and E Passyunk Ave) or the Fishtown area. In both areas there is plenty do nearby, street parking, close to subway for easy access to Center City. South Philly is a bit more accessible, parts are walkable to much of Center City and all of CC is easy to get to by bike. Subway stop might end being a good bit closer, too, and bus rides are shorter.

You'd be able to find a modest 1br for around $1,000 in either.

**It'sJessMe** · 01-30-2011, 03:23 PM

I agree with BarryG on South Philly. Bella Vista or Passyunk Square in particular, Queen Village if you get lucky on rent, or a bit further into South Philly. Fishtown is a tad farther away and if you'll be involved in the theater community you probably want to stay as close to Center City as possible. We moved to Queen Village from the UWS 10 years ago and have never been happier.

**TiredNewYorker** · 01-30-2011, 04:54 PM

Those are some great suggestions. Thank you.

Everyone seems to recommend South Philly neighborhoods like Queen Village and Bella Vista. They'd be at the top of my list, except for one thing: I would suspect that finding street parking is a hassle, and that off-street parking is not available for most apartments.

Say I wanted an even quieter neighborhood... where would you recommend?

**Seanibus** · 01-30-2011, 04:59 PM

Originally Posted by TiredNewYorker

Those are some great suggestions. Thank you.

Everyone seems to recommend South Philly neighborhoods like Queen Village and Bella Vista. They'd be at the top of my list, except for one thing: I would suspect that finding street parking is a hassle, and that off-street parking is not available for most of apartments.

Say I wanted an even quieter neighborhood... where would you recommend?

Fairmount, north of Center City. Quiet, walkable. Parking is OK in spots, not so OK in others, depends where you are.

**Hospitalitygirl** · 01-30-2011, 05:05 PM

Originally Posted by TiredNewYorker

Those are some great suggestions. Thank you.

Everyone seems to recommend South Philly neighborhoods like Queen Village and Bella Vista. They'd be at the top of my list, except for one thing: I would suspect that finding street parking is a hassle, and that off-street parking is not available for most of apartments.

Say I wanted an even quieter neighborhood... where would you recommend?

Parking in Bella Vista isn't that bad.

**jazzcat** · 01-30-2011, 05:35 PM

If you have a car(you lived in the Upper East Side and had a car?), there is always the friendly environs of the NW, particularly the Historict Tulpehocken Station District.

Seriously, you could drive or take the train to Center City....not far, and live in a nice Victorian Bldg...no parking problem, backyards are usual...quiet, safe for City living....

Honestly, hard to tell what neighborhood would work for you.
Good luck!

**TiredNewYorker** · 01-30-2011, 05:41 PM

Maybe something in Delaware County? Or Montgomery?

**jazzcat** · 01-30-2011, 06:36 PM

Originally Posted by TiredNewYorker

Maybe something in Delaware County? Or Montgomery?

You are all over the place....those are of course, Suburbs...with suburban life.

Depending on where you'll work, perhaps Ambler?
Chestnut Hill?
Wynndmoor
Wynnewood
Armdore
Media

I guess it depends if you want to "walk around", fully utilize Center City...or live in any of the suburbs, and visit.

**five apples** · 01-30-2011, 06:58 PM

Originally Posted by TiredNewYorker

Those are some great suggestions. Thank you.

Everyone seems to recommend South Philly neighborhoods like Queen Village and Bella Vista. They'd be at the top of my list, except for one thing: I would suspect that finding street parking is a hassle, and that off-street parking is not available for most apartments.

Say I wanted an even quieter neighborhood... where would you recommend?

If you are concerned about finding parking while also having something to do than I highly recommend the area I live in. The two areas you will see listed in the rentals are Passyunk Square and EPX. Or if you get the generic South Philly you want the areas between Washington and Snyder and Broad and say 10th.

The housing is mostly rowhomes, very walkabale and with great access to public transit. There also lots of nice bars and restaurants all with in a short walk. Getting to Center City is also a snap from this area.

I hope this helps.

**MTEMPLE** · 01-30-2011, 08:08 PM

Chestnut Hill

Plenty of free parking, You have two trains that take you into center city. You will have a better chance at finding a place with a yard.

http://www.chestnuthillpa.com/

**TiredNewYorker** · 01-30-2011, 08:48 PM

These are all great suggestions. Now I'm off to do some research on them.

**It'sJessMe** · 01-30-2011, 09:28 PM

Originally Posted by TiredNewYorker

Those are some great suggestions. Thank you.

Everyone seems to recommend South Philly neighborhoods like Queen Village and Bella Vista. They'd be at the top of my list, except for one thing: I would suspect that finding street parking is a hassle, and that off-street parking is not available for most apartments.

Say I wanted an even quieter neighborhood... where would you recommend?

It really depends on your schedule. If you're coming home looking for a parking space at 6:30pm every night, yeah, it will be tough. But otherwise street parking really isn't a big deal. I work from home so just take the car out during the day for errands and in the morning to drive my kids to school, and I've had to park more than 5 houses away from mine exactly 3 times in the 16 months since we've owned a second car (my husband gets home late so uses the garage). And all those three times have been after 5:30 on a Sunday. There's also the QV parking lot which isn't expensive, if you're not using the car every day. I would think the area around Passyunk Square (South Philly) would have even better parking, and as HG said, Bella Vista isn't terrible either.

**caL** · 01-30-2011, 11:51 PM

If you're looking for a quieter section of the city with walkability, a yard, guaranteed parking and affordability, I'd look in Mayfair (neighborhood in Northeast Philly). I imagine the only reason no one's suggested it yet is distance from Center City, but virtually all the neighborhoods suggested on here that aren't South Philly are further than Mayfair. I think it'd be a good fit for what you want.

**BarryG** · 01-31-2011, 12:18 AM

Just wanted to chime in that parking in South Philly is really not bad (except when it snows). QV would be tough after a certain hour, but the other neighborhoods are not bad any time, except the occasional 11pm on a Sunday night.

Another South Philly neighborhood to look into is Pennsport (south of QV). Affordable and very easy parking. Public transit is not quite as good as other locations, though.

**gren** · 01-31-2011, 12:41 AM

Bella Vista-er here. Not sure I understand your concept of "slower pace", exactly. I took it to mean something more like West Philly south of Baltimore with large trees and Victorian twin homes and plenty of space. There's a lot less within 5 minutes access from South Philly than from the UES but I don't think of it as slower--unless you mean you get to work less to pay your housing costs.

If that is what you mean then seeing about renting around here in West Philly by Baltimore Ave. would be my recommendation. I lived in the area for a summer and it's quite accessible by trolley to center city and has its own walkable area while still having tons of open space and the amazing Clark Park. It's probably the closest area to Center City that fit my understanding of your description. Other eligible areas would be Germantown and around the two Chestnut Hill line rail stations.

But if you do think between Center City and Washington Ave. fits what you're looking for then I wouldn't worry too much about parking. My home is in zone 22 and I have no parking pass since the car I use isn't registered in my name. That means I have to park South of Catharine. Literally the farthest I've ever had to park was at Carpenter--0.3 miles from my home and when I've had to do that I've normally passed up open zone 22 spaces since I planned on exceeding 2 hours.

**bonzombiekitty** · 01-31-2011, 08:10 AM

Keeping close to the city but not being downtown; Queen Village, West Philly, Fishtown/Northern Liberties, and Fairmount would be good areas. I'm biased towards Fishtown/Northern Liberties because I live there - easy access to the Market Frankford Line and a lot of good bars and restaurants nearby, not to mention two breweries :P. I also find parking easier than Fairmount or South Philly, which is good if you have a car that you use fairly often.

**ShoshTrvls** · 01-31-2011, 08:46 AM

Originally Posted by TiredNewYorker

Those are some great suggestions. Thank you.

Everyone seems to recommend South Philly neighborhoods like Queen Village and Bella Vista. They'd be at the top of my list, except for one thing: I would suspect that finding street parking is a hassle, and that off-street parking is not available for most apartments.

Say I wanted an even quieter neighborhood... where would you recommend?

If you don't mind walking to your car, if you find a place in QV, there's a relatively inexpensive community lot under I-95 -- less than $100/mo and no more than 10 short blocks walk from anyplace in QV.

That being said, at your rent level, I'm not sure what you'll find in QV.

**TiredNewYorker** · 01-31-2011, 11:58 AM

Just for clarification:

I don't care about nightlife, dining out, watering holes, or like-minded folks to hang out with.

My priorities are lots of space, safety, quiet, and easy access to Center City.

**3rd&Brown** · 01-31-2011, 12:03 PM

Parking in Bella Vista is easier than in Queen Village, not sure why, maybe it's that it's closer to the subway, so fewer people have cars. Passyunk Square is also a good rec.

But, parking in Northern Liberties is a breeze in most parts of the neighborhood (available within a block most places). For $1,000, you won't get a shiny new apartment, but you can probably find something in a walk-up in a converted rowhome. Fishtown would have more in your price range.

West Philly also sounds like a good fit.

It's hard to figure out whether you want more of an urban landscape (Northern Liberties, Bella Vista, et al) or a streetcar suburb feel, which would be West Philly/Germantown/Chestnut Hill.

For comparisons, I'm thinking most of the trendy neighborhoods (Carrol Gardens, Fort Green, Clinton Hill, even Bensonhurst) in Brooklyn would be good comparables for the more urban Philly neighborhoods recommended here (South Philly, Northern Liberties, etc) versus victorian Flatbush, which is further out, quieter, and more leafy. That would be more akin to West Philly along Baltimore Avenue, Germantown (Tuplehocken), and Chestnut Hill (which I'd argue would be more like, say, high end areas of Flushing than anything in Brooklyn).