Apartment Hunting in Philadelphia

[tahnan]

OK, this is a shameless, desperate plea for help.

I'm going to be in Philadelphia from Sunday night through Thursday afternoon of next week to apartment hunt. Which means I need to...

• Figure out where the heck I'm staying.


• Find apartments to look at, that are affordable, in reasonable places, etc.


• Figure out what is affordable and where the reasonable places are, etc.


• Possibly find an agent, broker, whatever the heck they're called, to find something for me, because it's totally worth paying the broker's fee to make this easier to do.


• Understand the frickin' SEPTA system. Is this a reasonable commute? I looked at the SEPTA site and despaired.

The "shameless, desperate plea for help" part is: if you, dear reader, can help with any part of this, please, please, jump in and do so.

Comments

[dr_whom]

Didn't you already have an apartment in Philly, or what?

Try asking Joe Fruehwald about that commute, by the way; I think it's the general area where his parents live.

[tahnan.livejournal.com]

I had a hole-in-the-wall in Philly. Specifically, it was one room plus a bathroom; there wasn't even a kitchen. It worked well as a crash space three days a week for one person, but as a permanent living space for two people, aiee.

[jydog1.livejournal.com]

shoot an email to this address:
papaloo@gmail.com

his name is david rose and he was in Uri kesh with me in 2004. Real nice kid. Explain who you are and what you need and I'm sure he can help, he's been living there for about a year and just bought a house in the suburbs. I'll tell him to expect an email from you

[aspartaimee.livejournal.com]

are you driving or taking septa? if you are training, i am not sure how much sense that commute makes...

[leighjen.livejournal.com]

We are really hoping to remain car-free in Philly. I don't know how possible that is going to be since I don't know that much about SEPTA (can I just call it the T? No one will get mad, right?).

[spenceraloysius.livejournal.com]

If you want to remain car-free in Philly then I strongly suggest that you do not consider Chestnut Hill, Mt. Airy, Media, the Main Line, or NE Philly (where that current address is located). One of the things you will not be able to do is buy groceries on foot. They are taking out grocery stores in NE Philly due to crime. If you want to be able to buy groceries on foot then I suggest looking at the area around Queen Village. This is South Philly south of the historic district. Both Reading Terminal and the Italian Market are over there. This is also a Whole Foods. The best (and sometimes cheapest) restaurants are also over there. That whole area is filled with young couples, and there are lots of condos for rent.

[lapak.livejournal.com]

My brother works for the one of the airport hotels in Philly and has lived in the suburbs outside the city for a few years now. He may be able to give you some advice - if you'd like, I can pass him your contact information or vice-versa.

[sinsense.livejournal.com]

Deep breath, and:

• I'm not sure what your limitations are on where you're staying, or what you're looking for. I don't have any room at the moment, or I would offer to put you up. If you go for a hotel, avoid Center City, since those are expensive. (That would be between Market and Pine and between Front and 30th... that's just generally a good piece of advice, anyway, as that is really the center of commerce and therefore rife with expensive tiny apartments. A good place to shop, though!)
  
• I would check philadelphia.craigslist.org, philadelphiaweekly.com, citypaper.net, and the Inquirer (available at many streetcorners) for apartments. Generally you want to avoid way North Philly, as it can be scary; that -generally- means above Susquehanna between around 7th and 30th, but I'm being very vague and generalizing hugely. Cheap places to live include University City (West Philly between the river and 40th Sts on the "Tree Streets" (Chestnut Walnut Locust Spruce Pine)), South Philly (below Pine), north of center city (what's starting to be called Brewerytown), and Northern Liberties or Fishtown (far east (along the Delaware River) and north). You probably don't want to live in Mt. Airy or Kensington, but I'm not sure. Philadelphia is, like many of our cooler cities, made up of neighborhoods, but I would not allow people offering apartments to talk strictly in neighborhoods. They are often stretching the truth. Find out the street location and go there.
  
• I might actually talk to my dad and try to give you a better sense of where the neighborhoods are; he's an old school Germantown boy and knows this stuff a little better than me.
  
• Craigslist in general is a really good place to get the kind of orientation you need. Skim through and think about what you can afford; start recognizing how cheap is too cheap.
  
• I'm currently paying 1080 for a two bed, two bath apartment in a large building, hot water included, washer and dryer in house, in North Philadelphia just off of Broad (just above Center City, so not "true" north). I will be paying 675 for a loft, everything but electric and internet included, in West Philadelphia/Drexel area. (University City/West Philadelphia.) We are way cheaper than NYC but more expensive than a lot of Southern/Western/Midwest towns. I would say 500-700 for a decent one bedroom is cheap. You will see ones that are way more expensive, do not despair. A lot of apartments open up in July and August, because of students leaving.
  
• Not as sure about finding an agent. Some of them advertise in the papers and sites I linked above.
  
• I love Septa! I'm so glad you're thinking about being car free! You should know that there's some issues around it - fares may be going WAY up if we can't approve a new budget - if you're going to be moving here. Go to septa.org, they have a link along the top called "plan my trip." If you enter in your two addresses, it will give you the three best ways to get wherever you're going. (Pick details for all so you can see all of your options.) Unfortunately, the commute you linked to would probably be a bus to subway to bus affair, which can be a pain in the ass.
  
• Congratulations on your plans! You're moving to the most beautiful city in the world, in my opinion. Philadelphians are a rare and crazy breed, and it's like joining a big family when you finally accept that you love the place. Let me know if you need any more information!

[littleowl.livejournal.com]

I think you can do that commute on some form of bus/trolley combo but I'm not sure because we're still in the process of moving back to the area ourselves.

I'm not sure about the neighborhood though, it's not one that I'm familiar with. The prices down there seem very affordable though.

Price ranges on a 2-3 bedroom apartment or house for rent seem to start in the 600s for some of the less pricey neighborhoods and you can get something very nice for around 1000-1200. We were looking at Chestnut Hill for instance and found a luxury apt. complex walking distance from the Wyndmoor R7 Septa station for under $1100/month for a 2 bedroom (which, coming from California seems very affordable).

We're going to wind up landing on the Main Line by default, just because I know the area well and the commute on the R5 is reasonable, about a half hour into the city from the Devon station. My mom takes the R5 line in to work at CHOP from Wayne and has about 45 minutes total commute. The Main Line is pricier than some areas, but I was still finding prices that were affordable for us, namely around the 1200 mark for over 1000 sq ft, 2-3 BR.

One of my local friends provided the following links that might prove useful in finding a place:

Philly Blog (that link goes to info about Mt. Airy but I think you can navigate away to other areas pretty easily)

UPenn's Philly Neighborhood Info

Philly Planning Commission Neighborhood Info

Areas that various people have recommended to me: Conshohocken, Media, Mt. Airy, Chestnut Hill, though my criteria involved good school districts with autism support for our kiddo and that probably isn't on your list.

Media and Chestnut Hill are both very walkable areas, very pedestrian friendly with easy commutes into the city and reasonable rents. We're going to be looking at Media more closely for buying a house.

[spenceraloysius.livejournal.com]

1. You don't want to stay in NE Philly. Not a good area.
2. That is not a reasonable commute.
3. If you get a place in Manayunk, I'd be willing to bribe you with the offer of a car pool or you could take the R6 to Penn (30-45 min, depending on time of day). I also see signs for at least 2 places for rent within 2 blocks of me.
4. If you need a place to stay, drop me an email. You know where I live. I'm near several SEPTA bus lines and the commuter rail and I understand the SEPTA system.
5. Or, maybe you think I'm creepy and wierd. If that, then feel free to ignore this comment.

[leighjen.livejournal.com]

Creepy *and* weird? You are our kind of person! ;-)

[antihip.livejournal.com]

My brother-in-law is Philly born-and-raised; he and my sister currently live on the Main Line. If you would like, I can give you his email/contact info.

(Also, if you were staying a bit longer I'd offer their/my help in person, as I'm flying into Philadelphia for a conference/stay with family on that Friday night.)

[rdansky.livejournal.com]

Drop me a line. I may be able to point you at some folks.

blacktorc at gmail dot com

[jordanwillow.livejournal.com]

i don't know enough about philly proper to really be able to help, but i will say that in the times i've considered moving there people i trust have strongly recommended manayunk for its atmosphere, price, and its easy train commute to the city. just don't live at the bottom of the hill, because that there river floods!