I'd speculate that it'll be less affordable in that time frame, probably both for renting and buying.

Public transportation is a toss up for me: if the bus revolution is allowed to happen I think it could help SEPTA improve, but it's already been delayed at least a year so I'm not holding my breath. The risk of inaction is that SEPTA will go on a downward spiral whereby reduced ridership causes reduced funding, which exacerbates the issues that themselves result in reduced ridership, and so on.

I'm optimistic about crime, although if CoL becomes less affordable (which I expect it will) and if SEPTA does the downward spiral thing (I suspect it might) then our crime problem could be compounded. There's only so much cops and local politicians can do to affect this (although they could be doing a lot more than they are currently).

It has deteriorated a lot since COVID, although it has improved since summer of 2021 which was the worst in my area in terms of crime. But it is not the same as it was before the pandemic, although nowhere is.I always encouraged people to move here and enjoyed living in Center City. I’ve been here since 2006/7. I would not encourage it now. If you have another offer go somewhere else. I don’t see the city improving, but that could depend on the next mayor. It could get much worse if the next mayor is ineffective. I am staying due to my job. Otherwise I’d move. I had planned to buy a property since rents are outrageous (for me) but I can‘t imagine taking out a mortgage for a home in this city now.