Philadelphia Forum

[luckdragon]

Herro Penn & Temple people help me out, I got a summer internship in Philadelphia with a PI organization. I'm looking forward to this but I also don't want to die. Where should I live so I can be safe? Organization is located on Walnut st.

[KimmyGibbler]

Live at Broad and Erie. Rents are cheap there.

[ze2151]

is this a serious question? if you lack all city savvy, live on the r5 and commute in. but where on walnut is your job, exactly?

[Stonewall]

Manayunk isn't too expensive either

[luckdragon]

The job is right next to the tomb of unknown soldier, according to Google map. Can someone tell me what neighborhoods near it are nice, and which ones are dangerous? If some nice person knows a sublet bulletin board or something, that would be awesome.

[minnesotasam]

is this a serious question? if you lack all city savvy, live on the r5 and commute in. but where on walnut is your job, exactly?

Ugh, please don't do this. Not that this poster is wrong--you could, I guess--just that not living in Philly in the summer when you have the chance is an awful life move. You're going to need to set a price range tbh, Philly can be very expensive depending on where you wanna live. Lots of Penn kids sublet out during the summer, you're way better off living in those places than in the areas around Temple (North Philly). But if I had my choice of any neighborhood I'd try to be as close to Rittenhouse as possible.

[ze2151]

minnesotasam- i'm not saying op should do this. it just sounded like op thought of philadelphia as 1994 sarajevo. if you are not comfortable with cities and are going to walk around fearing for your life, live on the mainline. if it were me, i'd live on lombard or thereabouts.

[run26.2]

In terms of convenience, your choices are Society Hill, Center City/Rittenhouse, University City, and Art Museum, in descending order of convenience. University City may be further than Art Museum, but there is no direct subway line over there. The Market-Frankford line or a trolley will take you straight down from University City. The fare is about $80/month. You can walk or take the bus from Center City and walk from Society Hill.

In terms of price, it is U-City, Art Museum, Center City/Rittenhouse, Society Hill. You will get more for your dollar in U-City, as well, i.e. a larger place. There are more likely to be apartments or rooms to be subletted in that area because many Penn students live there. A brief look at Craigslist indicates prices for a room in U-City are about $700/month, in Center City about $1000, and in Society Hill about $1500.

I would probably rule Art Museum out because parts look a bit dicey, although everyone I have talked to who lives there tells me it's safe. Your best bet is probably going to be University City and craigslist is a great place to find places to sublet.

[ze2151]

maybe i'm naive, but i always found art museum to feel a little safer than u. city. esp once you get up past wharton. plus art museum has my favorite sushi place (umai umai).

[run26.2]

maybe i'm naive, but i always found art museum to feel a little safer than u. city. esp once you get up past wharton. plus art museum has my favorite sushi place (umai umai).

I think it depends on where you look in Art Museum. I generally agree with you, and the older law students that I have talked to tend to agree. But the younger ones insist that U-City is perfectly safe (despite talking about break-ins, being robbed, etc.). It makes me wonder what their definition of safe is.

Bottom line is, Philly is a city. Keep your stuff locked up, don't go walking about by yourself at night, and avoid areas that are unsafe and you should be fine. Of course, things can happen anywhere, but you mitigate your risk.

[minnesotasam]

^^^^ good posting. I think U City is fine, I lived there throughout undergrad on and off campus, but I grew up in a city. Like he said, its a city. Be smart.

[luckdragon]

maybe i'm naive, but i always found art museum to feel a little safer than u. city. esp once you get up past wharton. plus art museum has my favorite sushi place (umai umai).

I think it depends on where you look in Art Museum. I generally agree with you, and the older law students that I have talked to tend to agree. But the younger ones insist that U-City is perfectly safe (despite talking about break-ins, being robbed, etc.). It makes me wonder what their definition of safe is.

Bottom line is, Philly is a city. Keep your stuff locked up, don't go walking about by yourself at night, and avoid areas that are unsafe and you should be fine. Of course, things can happen anywhere, but you mitigate your risk.

Hi, my definition of safe is pretty much the opposite of what hardened Philadelphians believe, i.e. being burgled and robbed at gunpoint are just not cool with me. Is Art Museum basically it for non-crime-riddled area of Philadelphia?

[keg411]

maybe i'm naive, but i always found art museum to feel a little safer than u. city. esp once you get up past wharton. plus art museum has my favorite sushi place (umai umai).

I think it depends on where you look in Art Museum. I generally agree with you, and the older law students that I have talked to tend to agree. But the younger ones insist that U-City is perfectly safe (despite talking about break-ins, being robbed, etc.). It makes me wonder what their definition of safe is.

Bottom line is, Philly is a city. Keep your stuff locked up, don't go walking about by yourself at night, and avoid areas that are unsafe and you should be fine. Of course, things can happen anywhere, but you mitigate your risk.

Hi, my definition of safe is pretty much the opposite of what hardened Philadelphians believe, i.e. being burgled and robbed at gunpoint are just not cool with me. Is Art Museum basically it for non-crime-riddled area of Philadelphia?

Center City (especially the Rittenhouse area) and Society Hill are both nice and safe, but they are going to run you more $$$$. Parts of the Art Museum area are sketch, but it would be cheaper.

[run26.2]

maybe i'm naive, but i always found art museum to feel a little safer than u. city. esp once you get up past wharton. plus art museum has my favorite sushi place (umai umai).

I think it depends on where you look in Art Museum. I generally agree with you, and the older law students that I have talked to tend to agree. But the younger ones insist that U-City is perfectly safe (despite talking about break-ins, being robbed, etc.). It makes me wonder what their definition of safe is.

Bottom line is, Philly is a city. Keep your stuff locked up, don't go walking about by yourself at night, and avoid areas that are unsafe and you should be fine. Of course, things can happen anywhere, but you mitigate your risk.

Hi, my definition of safe is pretty much the opposite of what hardened Philadelphians believe, i.e. being burgled and robbed at gunpoint are just not cool with me. Is Art Museum basically it for non-crime-riddled area of Philadelphia?

Look. You can find safe patches in most places. For instance, if you live in the 3rd floor of a Brownstone, with a solid front door, you are probably going to be pretty safe, in U-City or any of the other places. Any of these places is going to be relatively safe, you just need to be careful. Go look at the place you want to rent at night and see who's around and if there are lots of street lights. You are going to need to do your homework, think about the factors not only associated with each area but each specific housing unit.

You can read up on the neighborhoods here:
http://www.business-services.upenn.edu/ ... _selection

And landlords here:
http://www.gapsa.upenn.edu/gapsa-landlo ... ults-intro

Also, how far are you willing to commute? I live in Manayunk and the Manayunk/Roxborough area is very safe. The commute is about 15-20 minutes by train to 30th Street. You would have to get a trolley your workplace, which would add another 10 minutes + walking time. I'd estimate your commute at about 40 minutes once you got it down, but you'd definitely be safe.

[ze2151]

you won't be burgled and robbed at gunpoint. yeesh. when i lived in west phila it was not the safest area. but if you were getting a gun put in your face, you knew exactly why it was happening. in some parts of the city, you need to be more concerned w/ property crimes.

look into manayunk/roxborough.

and if you're going to stay in the city proper, here are the boundaries i'd suggest for you if you want to avoid anything even remotely unseemly (others may want to offer their opinions on these street/boundaries): limit your search to the area bounded by 22nd st to the west, south st to the south, 2nd st to the east, and race st to the north. you will put out more money and your place won't be as big, but it's the nicest part of town i think.

when we left the city and moved into the suburbs, we lived along the main line and it was a 1950s sitcom. essentially crime-free but not the same energy.

[luckdragon]

Thank you everyone. I hate commuting so I will probably try to find something near by.