Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

Yondu_the_Ravager t1_jdv2tvj wrote

Potentially moving to the Philadelphia area this summer. What should I know about the city and the surrounding area before moving that others might not mention?

For reference of where I’ll be around the city, I have a potential job lined up in Bala Cynwyd, and we’re looking for houses really in any of the suburbs around the city, even up towards the Pottstown area. Any pointers on the best suburbs to move to?

Most resources when discussing the pros and cons of Philly mention of course the traffic, infrastructure, and parking situation as well as the higher crime within the city proper. I would be moving up from Atlanta, if anyone potentially has the ability to compare the two cities, especially comparing traffic because ATL traffic sucks hard but I also know ATL is wayyyyyy more car dependent of a city than Philly is.

Any and all insight is welcome!

1

Chimpskibot t1_jdv8cs4 wrote

Really depends on your lifestyle and price range. This question is really open ended. Pretty much all of the nice parts (amenities, schools, SFH) of Montgomery/Delaware/Chester County are going to be expensive relative to most of Metro ATL except maybe Sandy Springs, Buckhead, etc. If you do decide to work in Bala I would prioritize access to route 30 over taking 76 to City Line Ave for your own sanity.

14

afdc92 t1_jdvaeu9 wrote

76 to City Line Ave is an absolute nightmare, I second avoiding this if at all possible.

10

Yondu_the_Ravager t1_jdv9xah wrote

Thanks! Are there any areas in particular we should look in? Our budget for a house is up to $350-400k or so. On paper we like the Drexel Hill area as it seems like a nice area that also has some homes in our price range.

1

Chimpskibot t1_jdwewoe wrote

Drexel Hill is fine if you don't mind being closer to poorer areas in Upper Darby Township such as near 69th street. It is an extremely diverse and middle class neighborhood with really good connectivity to the city and Bala Cynwyd. My only gripe with UD township is the property taxes vs quality of housing stock, but that is very common in older bedroom communities in the NE.

4

PollenThighs t1_jdwugly wrote

Not entirely true, there's some really nice houses in Drexel Hill the further west you go. You can find plenty of houses just ten minutes away from 69th that do not feel as though you live next to 69th.

2

Chimpskibot t1_jdx9uq5 wrote

For sure. But Philly and its suburbs are way more compact unlike ATL so seeing poverty and where poor people live is pretty unavoidable even if you are only 10 min away. It's simply a heads up.

2

l_a_ga t1_jdv76v8 wrote

I used to go to ATL regularly for work and omg the traffic 😂 we have that here but also have better option. BC is a nice area, would suggest living near work out there for a reasonable commute and less daily stress. There is a train line that’s between 20-40 mins that does BC to CC which is a nice option to have for day in city or going to a show, etc. And an Uber back out later in evening wouldn’t be a bank breaker.

6

bfmcgo2 t1_jdv5k5g wrote

Lived in ATL for two years; driving isn’t as bad in Philly. There are people who drive maniacally at times, but it’s not as frightening as 75/85. I also don’t need to drive anywhere near as much in Philly (but I live within the city, so suburbs are a different story).

5

Yondu_the_Ravager t1_jdv6tb7 wrote

Sorta what I expected to be the answer about traffic. Like yeah Philly has 3x the people of ATL but also Atlanta is a wayyyyyyy more car dependent city than Philly. MARTA is a complete joke haha

Thanks for the insight!

2

blinchik2020 t1_jdvhmbr wrote

The first thing I would do is go through all the moving Mondays threads here to collate the information. Then maybe you can ask more specific questions. There’s a preexisting wealth of information.

5

jetset1111 t1_jdvc70w wrote

We moved back up north to be closer to family from Roswell to Central Bucks a few months ago.

Pros about moving from GA to PA based on my experience:

  • From a traffic/congestion standpoint, it’s nothing crazy compared to the 400/285 lane closures.
  • My husband and I always felt like ATL wasn’t as walkable as Philly. For example, we’d have to drive from PCM <> aquarium <> krog st <> battery. But with PHL, it’s much easier to just take the septa to explore Center City (Rittenhouse <> Old City <> museum district).
  • I miss the cleanliness of Hartsfield Jackson but there’s a lot more direct flights for international destinations at PHL and EWR.
  • There’s also Amtrak at 30th St. Station so you can take it directly to NY or Boston.
  • Closer to the beach! Instead of going down to 30a, we’re able to go down the shore for a day trip.
  • We also found that the property taxes are cheaper in Bucks county compared to Roswell.

Congrats on the job! PA is a great place to move to and I’ve heard great things about Montgomery County as well (which might be more suitable for your commute to the PHL)

3

Yondu_the_Ravager t1_jdwgr7e wrote

Thanks for such a comprehensive response! This sort of confirmed a lot of what I assumed about the area and it’s quirks.

I absolutely can feel the difference in taxes and in general cost of living between the two even just looking at house prices; the same home with the same down payment will be several hundreds of dollars more in ATL than Philly.

I really love how accessible the city is and the surrounding areas with public transportation. Me and my wife love traveling and taking short weekends, so having such large and diverse cities so close by would be fantastic.

Really we’ve been checking all the surrounding counties for houses and then calculating the distance the commute would be to my potential job. So far, we like Delaware and Montgomery county the most, but have also found some nice homes in Bucks and Chester counties.

3

Zfusco t1_jdzwbyg wrote

Manayunk rox is a very reasonable commute to bala, I did it for a while, <15-20m from green lane bridge to pretty much anywhere in bala cynwyd. Rox is definitely still doable for <400k, probably some smaller stuff in upper manayunk at that price too. Parking in roxborough is easy compared to most of the rest of the city, you might be able to find something sub 400 with parking in roxborough, that'd be a stretch in manayunk. It's also relatively quiet if that's something you're looking for. Pretty walkable if you're close to either ridge or main street, though no grocery options on main street.

other than those two,

Reasonably good rail access, idk about bus access, I just take the train to center city when I need to, drive for other errands.

> especially comparing traffic because ATL traffic sucks hard but I also know ATL is wayyyyyy more car dependent of a city than Philly is.

Not from atlanta, only driven there a few times, but I can't imagine a place with more unpredictable drivers than philly. We were recently rated as the city with the worst driving experience in the US, and in my experience, that's accurate. Infrastructure isn't pretty, but definitely way more developed than atlanta, we have a functional subway, and as much as we love to shit on SEPTA, having lived a number of places with literally no public transit, it's miles better than other large cities outside the northeast. I lived in DFW for a while, and the DART is a total joke compared to even the least developed parts of SEPTA.

In terms of crime, seems from the stats that violent and property crime is a bit lower in Philly. I've been here since 2015 and the last year or so have for sure been the worst, hopefully, it's a dip rather than a trend. It definitely exists, but if you live in the northwest, or the suburbs around bala, all those area's are relatively low crime for philly.

2