First off, Google Streets rocks. We spent a couple of hours over the weekend exploring areas we haven't walked. Though, I really wish they would add the NW section of the Art Museum area.
On another note. My wife is a freelance publicist. She has been networking like crazy for the last few weeks but if anyone has any connections with the media world in or around Philly, we would very much appreciate any introductions! =) Thanks!
I do have to hand it to the philly police. they were steps behind the punk that tried to stick me up (with a hoagy down his pants) at 22nd and st. albans at 10pm). the kid had tried holding up two other folks moments earlier, so it wasn't accidental that they were looking for him.
when in philly, check out the vietnamese grocery stores on washington ave.
why don't you just stay in bucks county? it's closer to trenton anyway. there's a sheraton right off 95 in Langhorne. Once you get back on 95, you're like 15 minutes from trenton.
i think there's actually a hotel right at the newtown/yardley exit too, right off 95. Thats even closer to trenton.
The past few times the Mrs. and I have stayed in Philly, we have used Priceline to find a hotel for us. We stayed at the Loews and Westin for about a third of what it normally costs.
Actually, if you're flying into Philadelphia airport, the Regional Rail train will connect the Airport to Center City (Suburban Station) and then Center City to Trenton. Meanwhile you can stay at a hotel in Center City. I'm pretty certain the NJDEP is close to the Trenton train station, but not 100% - you might want to double check if you want to go this route. I've had to visit various other NJ departments when I worked at an architectural firm, but not specifically the NJDEP.
So you can technically do the whole trip by train and walking - which is the kind of work travel I prefer (hate taxis, buses, renting cars, etc). Actually thats the kind of travel I prefer in general now that I think about it.
I hear Sofitel is nice, but on the higher end. I've stayed at the Latham and the Warwick and they're both average pricing. If you can stay at Loews for 1/3 the price as Phila Bound suggests, stay there because the PSFS building is nice and historically significant. Don't stay at the Bellevue - I hear they doubled the lease and in effect kicked out "Zanzibar Blue" - one of my favorite jazz clubs in Philly and now that space remains empty. I die a little every time I pass by it and I can faintly see "Zanzibar Blue" imprinted on the blue fabric roof over the entrance.
anyone have strong opinions on moving companies? self service vs full service? So far I've gotten a few quotes and it's surprised me how affordable full service is.
If you stick with the major ones, you should expect decent service. get at least three quotes and be flexible with the dates. you're in the off-peak season, so expect about a 60% discount from tariff. We last used United for our LA to Mpls move. half the battle will be the quality of the local franchise. We had shit service in philly when we left, but I forget the agency that sent incompetent guys.
within philly, mambo movers rocks.
With a new baby, get as much help as you can afford - don't try to do the move yourself...
Thanks, tk. I've gotten a few quotes already and the guys on the phone, although saleman(y), seem like they aren't trying to rip me off. They atleast are telling me things to check/look out for in other quotes. As this list builds, I can call these places back and sound like I know what I'm doing (well sort of).
I definately am going to try and get as much help as possible (or afford). My wife was more for the "full service". I was more for the get some movers but rent the truck. Well to rent a truck (uhaul) from here to there is expensive, plus we'll have to pay the guys who load and unload the truck. Add gas, flight for friend to drive our extra car and the price is waaay out of control. So now I see two options. One is rent space on a big truck or even a pod that can be picked up and delivered and still hire guys to load/unload. Two is full service where they will load and unload on their truck. I was shocked at one quote I received today. The difference between self service and full service was about $150. The guy was saying that they price it that way so they can have better control over packing the stuff (so hopefully nothing happens to our stuff) and it being off season, etc.
I dunno. It's a wad of cash but paying for full service is definately something that will take a lot of worries out of the equation (potentially making everyone happier). I'm just of the mind set to control who, when and where our stuff is at all times.
pods can shake your stuff to death if not packed properly. at least you have plenty of time to load the stuff.
I like getting the pros to do the heavy lifting. our philly move was out of a 4 story row house. our LA move was out of a hillside apartment with 55 steps to our flat. now we only have a two story house on a mostly flat site. but still get the guys to do the lifting and save your energy for the wife and kid.
Sooo.. Things are happening a little faster than we had planned. We had a couple of plans in place but have had to modify them to our current schedule. We may have to be out of our place here at the beginning of March. I'm flying into Philly the weekend of the 22nd in hopes to look for a place and sign a lease. It's putting a lot of eggs in one basket but is the only way we can do it. I'm nervous as hell because the amount of decent apartments available have dwindled dramatically in the last few weeks...
Thanks marmkid. We are still thinking about Grad Hosipital, Art Museum (1st choice because of proximity to work) and adjacent neighborhoods but are still open to other options.
We are unfortunately now under the gun to get things happening and dates confirmed!
After getting stuck in the airport 16 hours Friday, I finally made it to Philly. I spent this past weekend looking around at apartments/row homes/etc. It's incredible how much energy it takes. Our living arrangements have almost been secured. I just have to sign the lease and then mail a check. The movers are scheduled for next week...we will leave the next day. I start work the following week. Damn, what an undertaking this has been.
Thank you so very much everyone who contributed and offered their insight to this thread. My wife and I very much appreciate it. (and sorry for having to use an alias but when I started this thread, I hadn't told work I was leaving.. and who knows what eyes peruse these threads =) )
I guess you'd call it a rowhouse although our neighbors bedroom is over our bedroom. It's near 24th and Brown in the Art Museum area... on a HILL! Yes, it will be a nice topography change having been in the midwest for 8 years now.
Congrats on finding a place! I haven't been up that way on 24th street so I don't know what its like, but I hope its safe and good for your family. A friend of mine owns a BYOB Sushi restaurant on 22nd and Brandywine which I believe is close. Tell them you're a friend!
i wanted to bring this thread back alive as my wife and i are gearing up to move to phila... my wife just spent the last week up there doing some interviews and going around with a realtor on friday... she looked at some places in old city, fishtown, art museum, and grad hospital... she really liked the loft that she looked at in old city... she didn't really care for fishtown... she liked art museum and g-ho... one of the rowhouses that she looked at was in grad. hospital on montrose near 18th... that seems a little on the outskirts of "safe" per the discussions above, but she thought that it seemed fine...
where in a similar situation as "phila bound"/john cline was in, except we don't have a kid (but do have 2 dogs)... we're looking for a safe, walkable neighborhood... my wife will probably be working in center city somewhere close to city hall (that seems to be where most of the big law firms are located)... i'll be starting a phd at penn... we're still trying to decide whether we'll rent or buy...
g-ho seems to be the place to buy to get the most for our money... how is the "loft district"? would old city be terribly inconvenient for me getting over to penn?
i guess it all depends on how you are getting around
are you taking public transit mostly?
all you need to do then is find a place that is close to a subway stop
buses run pretty frequently as well, but i always found the trains better in philly, thats just my personal preference though
all of those areas you mentioned are walkable, and if you have no kids, definitely so
not too familiar with the graduate hospital area
i would say of the above, old city and art museum are probably the nicest but also the most expensive
fishtown is what it is, up and coming but not there yet, and some sketchy parts, but overall not nearly as bad as people make it out to be as long as you take a decent look at the block you are buying on.
i live there and am 2 blocks from the train, and have a 20 minute commute into work every day (work right across from city hall)
and its cheap to buy now
my wife runs from our house up through northern liberties a couple times a week and has never had a problem with anything
so it depends on what you can afford to do really
safe is a relative term for most of philly, its so block to block in a lot of areas
to be honest, buying might be your best bet now if you can swing it
you can probably go to one of the nicer areas and find a good deal
thanks marm... we are definitely getting rid of one of our cars and we are seriously considering getting rid of both if possible... in which case our primary transportation will be foot/transit/bike...
originally i was leaning toward renting... but the more i think about it, the more i'm leaning back toward buying... it will depend a lot on how soon we can sell our house down here in florida...
any experiences with philly carshare? we're looking into that as an option if we get rid of both of our cars...
philly car share works great. there are quite a few people in the office who use it on a regular basis.
regarding neighborhoods: we love where we live (art museum). we've met a ton of people in the area and it's a very walkable. most everything we need is close by and it's definitely safe. I looked a a couple of places in Grad Hospital but decided on where we are currently because I'm closer to work (15 min walk).
If you can swing buying, I might suggest considering it. Unfortunately it wasn't an option for us. You'll definitely get more for your money. There's tons of stuff available at the moment in all of the neighborhoods you mentioned. And although there hasn't been much price dropping, I think there is still quite a bit of time left in the market slump to take advantage and find a good deal.
Grad Hospital is convenient to get to UPenn, right over the South Street Bridge. Said bridge is kind of skanky in itself, but convenient, and supposedly being rebuilt sometime soon (maybe already? All the lamps on posts on it had been smashed out when I lived there!)
In my experience, getting from Art Museum area to Penn is a pain. My friend who lived there (20th and Wallace, roughly) always drove to Penn because the bus/train options were pretty lousy.
I don't know what you mean by "loft district" - Old Town? Northern Liberties? NL has a blue line stop which gets you right to Penn campus. Old Town, not so easy, and a significantly longer bike ride across town than Grad Hosp. G-Ho (I hate calling it that!) is also easier to get to the CC law firms.
thanks for the input so far... the philly apartment company's website defines the "loft district" as being "located new the Pennsylvania Convention Center in between Broad and Eighth streets, and Arch and Spring Garden streets...
from what i can tell, most people seem to really like Philly CarShare
several people in my office use it and like it, saying its pretty convenient
i have a car, that i only use on the weekends, so i havent used philly carshare
but if you look a bit, chances are you can find a nice place that is near a train or bus stop with no problem
Ahh, so that's the new loft district. That would be a cool place to live because Chinatown is right there - great grocery shopping! When I lived in Philly that area was definitely still cheap - I knew lots of artists in the area, I suppose now all the lofts are loft-apartments! I imagine it is safer now than it was then too.
Philadelphia Bound
First off, Google Streets rocks. We spent a couple of hours over the weekend exploring areas we haven't walked. Though, I really wish they would add the NW section of the Art Museum area.
On another note. My wife is a freelance publicist. She has been networking like crazy for the last few weeks but if anyone has any connections with the media world in or around Philly, we would very much appreciate any introductions! =) Thanks!
I do have to hand it to the philly police. they were steps behind the punk that tried to stick me up (with a hoagy down his pants) at 22nd and st. albans at 10pm). the kid had tried holding up two other folks moments earlier, so it wasn't accidental that they were looking for him.
when in philly, check out the vietnamese grocery stores on washington ave.
Aaaah man, tk, Ba Le on Washington Ave (around 8th?) has the best pork sandwich and spring rolls ever.
looks like I may be flying to philly for a meeting wit NJDEP in trenton next week - any hotel suggestions that won't break my project's budget?
Gotta do a cheesesteak for my carry on meal!
why don't you just stay in bucks county? it's closer to trenton anyway. there's a sheraton right off 95 in Langhorne. Once you get back on 95, you're like 15 minutes from trenton.
i think there's actually a hotel right at the newtown/yardley exit too, right off 95. Thats even closer to trenton.
why dont you stay in trenton?
The past few times the Mrs. and I have stayed in Philly, we have used Priceline to find a hotel for us. We stayed at the Loews and Westin for about a third of what it normally costs.
Actually, if you're flying into Philadelphia airport, the Regional Rail train will connect the Airport to Center City (Suburban Station) and then Center City to Trenton. Meanwhile you can stay at a hotel in Center City. I'm pretty certain the NJDEP is close to the Trenton train station, but not 100% - you might want to double check if you want to go this route. I've had to visit various other NJ departments when I worked at an architectural firm, but not specifically the NJDEP.
So you can technically do the whole trip by train and walking - which is the kind of work travel I prefer (hate taxis, buses, renting cars, etc). Actually thats the kind of travel I prefer in general now that I think about it.
I hear Sofitel is nice, but on the higher end. I've stayed at the Latham and the Warwick and they're both average pricing. If you can stay at Loews for 1/3 the price as Phila Bound suggests, stay there because the PSFS building is nice and historically significant. Don't stay at the Bellevue - I hear they doubled the lease and in effect kicked out "Zanzibar Blue" - one of my favorite jazz clubs in Philly and now that space remains empty. I die a little every time I pass by it and I can faintly see "Zanzibar Blue" imprinted on the blue fabric roof over the entrance.
anyone have strong opinions on moving companies? self service vs full service? So far I've gotten a few quotes and it's surprised me how affordable full service is.
If you stick with the major ones, you should expect decent service. get at least three quotes and be flexible with the dates. you're in the off-peak season, so expect about a 60% discount from tariff. We last used United for our LA to Mpls move. half the battle will be the quality of the local franchise. We had shit service in philly when we left, but I forget the agency that sent incompetent guys.
within philly, mambo movers rocks.
With a new baby, get as much help as you can afford - don't try to do the move yourself...
Thanks, tk. I've gotten a few quotes already and the guys on the phone, although saleman(y), seem like they aren't trying to rip me off. They atleast are telling me things to check/look out for in other quotes. As this list builds, I can call these places back and sound like I know what I'm doing (well sort of).
I definately am going to try and get as much help as possible (or afford). My wife was more for the "full service". I was more for the get some movers but rent the truck. Well to rent a truck (uhaul) from here to there is expensive, plus we'll have to pay the guys who load and unload the truck. Add gas, flight for friend to drive our extra car and the price is waaay out of control. So now I see two options. One is rent space on a big truck or even a pod that can be picked up and delivered and still hire guys to load/unload. Two is full service where they will load and unload on their truck. I was shocked at one quote I received today. The difference between self service and full service was about $150. The guy was saying that they price it that way so they can have better control over packing the stuff (so hopefully nothing happens to our stuff) and it being off season, etc.
I dunno. It's a wad of cash but paying for full service is definately something that will take a lot of worries out of the equation (potentially making everyone happier). I'm just of the mind set to control who, when and where our stuff is at all times.
pods can shake your stuff to death if not packed properly. at least you have plenty of time to load the stuff.
I like getting the pros to do the heavy lifting. our philly move was out of a 4 story row house. our LA move was out of a hillside apartment with 55 steps to our flat. now we only have a two story house on a mostly flat site. but still get the guys to do the lifting and save your energy for the wife and kid.
Sooo.. Things are happening a little faster than we had planned. We had a couple of plans in place but have had to modify them to our current schedule. We may have to be out of our place here at the beginning of March. I'm flying into Philly the weekend of the 22nd in hopes to look for a place and sign a lease. It's putting a lot of eggs in one basket but is the only way we can do it. I'm nervous as hell because the amount of decent apartments available have dwindled dramatically in the last few weeks...
I'm scheduling a mover this week.
good luck with your search, i hope it goes well. still thinking about the graduate hospital area?
Thanks marmkid. We are still thinking about Grad Hosipital, Art Museum (1st choice because of proximity to work) and adjacent neighborhoods but are still open to other options.
We are unfortunately now under the gun to get things happening and dates confirmed!
Congrats and good luck phila bound....I LOVE Philly so I am jealous....I hope you and all of your aliases have a smooth move, lol.
Thanks dubK. If you're ever in the area, holla!
After getting stuck in the airport 16 hours Friday, I finally made it to Philly. I spent this past weekend looking around at apartments/row homes/etc. It's incredible how much energy it takes. Our living arrangements have almost been secured. I just have to sign the lease and then mail a check. The movers are scheduled for next week...we will leave the next day. I start work the following week. Damn, what an undertaking this has been.
Thank you so very much everyone who contributed and offered their insight to this thread. My wife and I very much appreciate it. (and sorry for having to use an alias but when I started this thread, I hadn't told work I was leaving.. and who knows what eyes peruse these threads =) )
Hope the move goes smoothly, John. What neighborhood did you end up picking? Rowhouse or apartment?
I guess you'd call it a rowhouse although our neighbors bedroom is over our bedroom. It's near 24th and Brown in the Art Museum area... on a HILL! Yes, it will be a nice topography change having been in the midwest for 8 years now.
Congrats on finding a place! I haven't been up that way on 24th street so I don't know what its like, but I hope its safe and good for your family. A friend of mine owns a BYOB Sushi restaurant on 22nd and Brandywine which I believe is close. Tell them you're a friend!
bump...
i wanted to bring this thread back alive as my wife and i are gearing up to move to phila... my wife just spent the last week up there doing some interviews and going around with a realtor on friday... she looked at some places in old city, fishtown, art museum, and grad hospital... she really liked the loft that she looked at in old city... she didn't really care for fishtown... she liked art museum and g-ho... one of the rowhouses that she looked at was in grad. hospital on montrose near 18th... that seems a little on the outskirts of "safe" per the discussions above, but she thought that it seemed fine...
where in a similar situation as "phila bound"/john cline was in, except we don't have a kid (but do have 2 dogs)... we're looking for a safe, walkable neighborhood... my wife will probably be working in center city somewhere close to city hall (that seems to be where most of the big law firms are located)... i'll be starting a phd at penn... we're still trying to decide whether we'll rent or buy...
g-ho seems to be the place to buy to get the most for our money... how is the "loft district"? would old city be terribly inconvenient for me getting over to penn?
i guess it all depends on how you are getting around
are you taking public transit mostly?
all you need to do then is find a place that is close to a subway stop
buses run pretty frequently as well, but i always found the trains better in philly, thats just my personal preference though
all of those areas you mentioned are walkable, and if you have no kids, definitely so
not too familiar with the graduate hospital area
i would say of the above, old city and art museum are probably the nicest but also the most expensive
fishtown is what it is, up and coming but not there yet, and some sketchy parts, but overall not nearly as bad as people make it out to be as long as you take a decent look at the block you are buying on.
i live there and am 2 blocks from the train, and have a 20 minute commute into work every day (work right across from city hall)
and its cheap to buy now
my wife runs from our house up through northern liberties a couple times a week and has never had a problem with anything
so it depends on what you can afford to do really
safe is a relative term for most of philly, its so block to block in a lot of areas
to be honest, buying might be your best bet now if you can swing it
you can probably go to one of the nicer areas and find a good deal
thanks marm... we are definitely getting rid of one of our cars and we are seriously considering getting rid of both if possible... in which case our primary transportation will be foot/transit/bike...
originally i was leaning toward renting... but the more i think about it, the more i'm leaning back toward buying... it will depend a lot on how soon we can sell our house down here in florida...
any experiences with philly carshare? we're looking into that as an option if we get rid of both of our cars...
philly car share works great. there are quite a few people in the office who use it on a regular basis.
regarding neighborhoods: we love where we live (art museum). we've met a ton of people in the area and it's a very walkable. most everything we need is close by and it's definitely safe. I looked a a couple of places in Grad Hospital but decided on where we are currently because I'm closer to work (15 min walk).
If you can swing buying, I might suggest considering it. Unfortunately it wasn't an option for us. You'll definitely get more for your money. There's tons of stuff available at the moment in all of the neighborhoods you mentioned. And although there hasn't been much price dropping, I think there is still quite a bit of time left in the market slump to take advantage and find a good deal.
Grad Hospital is convenient to get to UPenn, right over the South Street Bridge. Said bridge is kind of skanky in itself, but convenient, and supposedly being rebuilt sometime soon (maybe already? All the lamps on posts on it had been smashed out when I lived there!)
In my experience, getting from Art Museum area to Penn is a pain. My friend who lived there (20th and Wallace, roughly) always drove to Penn because the bus/train options were pretty lousy.
I don't know what you mean by "loft district" - Old Town? Northern Liberties? NL has a blue line stop which gets you right to Penn campus. Old Town, not so easy, and a significantly longer bike ride across town than Grad Hosp. G-Ho (I hate calling it that!) is also easier to get to the CC law firms.
thanks for the input so far... the philly apartment company's website defines the "loft district" as being "located new the Pennsylvania Convention Center in between Broad and Eighth streets, and Arch and Spring Garden streets...
from what i can tell, most people seem to really like Philly CarShare
several people in my office use it and like it, saying its pretty convenient
i have a car, that i only use on the weekends, so i havent used philly carshare
but if you look a bit, chances are you can find a nice place that is near a train or bus stop with no problem
Ahh, so that's the new loft district. That would be a cool place to live because Chinatown is right there - great grocery shopping! When I lived in Philly that area was definitely still cheap - I knew lots of artists in the area, I suppose now all the lofts are loft-apartments! I imagine it is safer now than it was then too.
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