Considering a Move to West Philadelphia? Read this.

Let me put it into a nutshell for you, as I am a long-time University City resident, and in fact, am friends with the Powelton Village 'pioneer families', that is the families that were instrumental into turning Powelton Village into a residential neighborhood for teachers, professionals and artists back in the 50's & 60's (the Byes, Lazorkos/Biddles, Marshalls, Funderbirks etc.)...University City is overpriced in housing stock, subject to big property taxes and, for a community so closely related to universities such as Penn, Drexel etc. is wasteland as far as the arts & entertainment go...some of this is due to the insular attitute of the white residents, who although they support every 'liberal' cause conceivable, are very conservative & isolationist in their personal lives...they are 'stay at homes' and don't want anything the least bit 'exciting or different' in their neighborhood...especially now, as the later generations of the families I mentioned have moved...the University City area has become an area of 'parasite' industry for
students attending the universities...and U of PA/Drexel themselves are merely 'hi-tech' trade schools for future employees of global multi-national corporations...in fact, the majority of U of PA students appear to be foreigners, who are transients and won't stay in Philadelphia...except for the Supermarket at 40th & Walnut,
there are no supers or big groceries anywhere in University City...so shopping is a problem...there is an influx of African and Asian immigrants, but their stores don't really serve American needs well...crime is a bit of a problem, but by taking reasonable precautions, you can protect yourself...it depends what you are looking for: there are a lot of nice homes, but they are expensive to purchase/maintain/heat...if you are white, you may have problems with the largely black population that lives west of 49th street, as these folks are poorer and less well educated, and there might be a cultural clash...as for me, I live there without any problems, but I feel the main problem is a 'Philadelphia' problem: we
are a city of folks who cn't see the bigger picture about many issues, and cling to cliched things that are 'identified' with Philadelphia.