Parkside Safe? Liveability?

[MackeyDingo]

Hi all. Considering a move to 44th and park side ave.
Is this a safe area? I currently live at 12th and Callowhill and prior to that lived at 24th and Catharine...
Also does anyone have any other thoughts about the area?
I found an inexpensive apt, and I really need to save money...
Thanks!

[annie]

Well to start 44th Street and Parkside Avenue do not intersect. Do you mean Belmont and Parkside?

[MackeyDingo]

What a terrible first thread for me!
You are right...
It is 4200 Parkside that I'm asking about..

[daveydoo]

Hi all. Considering a move to 44th and park side ave.
Is this a safe area? I currently live at 12th and Callowhill and prior to that lived at 24th and Catharine...
Also does anyone have any other thoughts about the area?
I found an inexpensive apt, and I really need to save money...
Thanks!

If those are the areas you are used to you might find Parkside a little intimidating. However, it isn't short on big amenities like the Please Touch Museum or Mann Music Center. Of course, the park isn't so bad either. Commercial activity is sparse on Girard. The 40th St. bridge to UC should be done in about a year. You do have a Lowe's & ShopRite close by at 52nd & Jefferson. You can also catch a bus across 50th St. that will take you to Pier 70 when you want a wider variety of big box shopping but if you have a car obviously City Ave. would beckon. This area has great bones. If you were buying I'd recommend a close look but I would think you could rent an inexpensive place in an area that's farther along. I haven't been on Craigslist in ages so I'm hardly an authority.

[phillydeveloper]

I know the owner of that building. They are great apartments and the area is very safe. It is a bit intimidating on the outside but the neighborhood is a good place to live as long as your unit is on parkside ave which it is in this case. Easy access to every other part of the city from there and traffic will not be much of an issue.

[rg76tr]

I suspect you've found my ages old threads on the topic, but I can offer a few notes. I bought out here back in 2006 at the height of the market and am having a blast rehabbing a modest 1891 porch-front for myself.

The neighborhood has a long way to go, but the homes have fabulous bones and we have great transit/park/freeway access. The Centennial District institutions (Mann, Please Touch & Zoo) also draw some 2.5 million visitors with kids and cash in hand each year. I still think these nos. could eventually help rebuild a West Girard Ave commercial district.


Regarding safety, I'd suggest that if your mindful of your surroundings and take simple precautions (simply lock your doors!), you'll be fine. Even beyond Parkside Ave, many of my neighbors are homeowners who have been on the block for generations and watch each others backs. There are certainly some vacant eyesores and absentee landlords, but overall, I've had few issues with the neighbors. You're welcome to send me a PM with any other questions.

Daveydoo, the neighborhood orgs were told the 40th street bridge would be completed as soon as this December, so that will provide much easier/faster access and probably shorten the 38/40 bus trips by 15-20 minutes.

[daveydoo]

The neighborhood has a long way to go, but the homes have fabulous bones and we have great transit/park/freeway access. The Centennial District institutions (Mann, Please Touch & Zoo) also draw some 2.5 million visitors with kids and cash in hand each year. I still think these nos. could eventually help rebuild a West Girard Ave commercial district.

Daveydoo, the neighborhood orgs were told the 40th street bridge would be completed as soon as this December, so that will provide much easier/faster access and probably shorten the 38/40 bus trips by 15-20 minutes.

I noticed on the zoning maps that there's a bunch of C2 zoned properties on 42nd just north of the Leidy/Thompson St. intersection. Most of the lots are vacant. It seems like those parcels would be vulnerable to being converted to residential when the re-mapping occurs. I don't know what the East Parkside CDC position is but if I were living in the area I'd try to advocate for keeping them commercial.

It seems as if "two years" is the standard response officials give when asked for the timelines of projects such as the 40th St. bridge. I thought that was what the PlanPhilly article said when the project began. I guess they figure it makes them look good when they get done earlier. Great news for your 'hood nonetheless.

[2happy4u]

I do a lot of work around the area, I wouldn't live there if you paid my rent. Good Luck

[LUCas]

shooting at 52nd and Parkside last Friday night about 9:30pm.

[phillydeveloper]

Shootings in Philadelphia are an everyday occurrence and are not limited to west Philly. Let's be honest

[LUCas]

Shootings in Philadelphia are an everyday occurrence and are not limited to west Philly. Let's be honest

Stated a simple fact, where's the dishonesty? If someone asks about the safety and livability of a specific location, a shooting in that location less than a week ago is pretty relevant to the question.

[seand]

shooting at 52nd and Parkside last Friday night about 9:30pm.

Somebody disapproved of the performance of the conductor at the Mann that much?

Are you sure you have the exact location right?

[LUCas]

Somebody disapproved of the performance of the conductor at the Mann that much?

Are you sure you have the exact location right?

Only as far as you can trust the accuracy of the Inky rag.

Police are investigating two separate shootings that left a 32-year-old man critically wounded in West
Philadelphia, and an 11-year-old boy hospitalized in stable condition after he was shot in North Philadelphia.
Shots were fired on Parkside Avenue near 52nd Street around 9:45 p.m., police said.
A man was wounded once in the lower side of his back and was taken by medics to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

Cops: Shootings leave man, 32, boy, 11, hospitalized

[seand]

Its residential on the south side of the corner and the actual article said "near".

I actually don't percieve that exact location as particularly dangerous due to being so busy because of traffic from the Lowes/Shoprite and also around the park. But the hoods will shoot their target wherever they come accross them in any neighborhood, in public, wherever.

[annie]

I am more not a fan of the area immediately south where Girard and Lancaster intersect. But I don't know about the transit access where the OP is looking and whether that area can be avoided at least after dark.

[the mule]

Its residential on the south side of the corner and the actual article said "near".

I actually don't percieve that exact location as particularly dangerous due to being so busy because of traffic from the Lowes/Shoprite and also around the park. But the hoods will shoot their target wherever they come accross them in any neighborhood, in public, wherever.

52nd St. from Parkside to Lancaster and Lancaster from 52nd to Girard near the Lowes is fairly notorious despite the traffic, especially later on. I knew a few Mann Center concessions employees who lived walking distance from the Mann but always took the bus home after being robbed for their tips along 52nd.