I need some help, and I'm glad I found this site right hea! I'm a 20-somethin black man lookin to move tha hell off Long Island! If I stay in the NYC area, then I'll look for somethin maybe in Jersey. The otha choice for me is to move to tha Philly area. I got a few areas in and outside of Philly that I been lookin at:

-Northwest Philly (Germantown, Manayunk, Mt. Airy, Roxborough, East Falls)
-Northeast Philly
-Jenkintown
-Wyncote
-Bensalem
-Conshohocken
-Plymouth Meeting
-Elkins Park
-Glenside
-South Philly
-Center City

I really dont wanna pay more than $725/month for an apt. I'm also lookin for decent black areas or real diverse areas (I've heard a lot about Mt. Airy). Can some of ya help a brotha out? Wha do u kno about tha areas I mentioned above? Any otha spots I missed? Wha areas should I avoid altogether? Thanks!

you gotta decide what you want. urban, then go with CC. Southwest CC is historically black. Mt. Airy is a good 25min drive and half hour train ride from cc. but it's nice and it is diverse. you can find a $725 place in CC on the small side. Overbrook on the west, Cedar Park to the southwest. Jenkintown is s nice lil burb though not particularly diverse...mostly white. Otu on Balt. Ave it is pretty miced with immigrants and such.

Bensalem and Plymouth Meeting are particularly far from the city, via train or car, if you're interested in working in the city.

I'd suggest Cedar Park, like El said. The city has a website for Cedar Park, Mt. Airy, and some other neighborhoods that is pretty good.

Port Richmond is also pretty diverse--there's a lot of spanish and some black people living there. Rents are still pretty reasonable there, and there's a few blog members who live there and I'm sure could tell you a little bit about the neighborhood.

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Resident of Fishtown, Moderator of Fish/No. Libs/Kenzo forum, Real Estate Agent-Prudential Fox & Roach

In South Philly, Broad and Snyder is an epicenter. You are a ten minute drive or train ride from CC. You have many stores. You are a 3 minute drive from two supermarkets. It is fairly diverse as the west side of Broad on Snyder. You can get a nice aprtment for under 700. Go to the South Philly Review web site on Thursday nights and check out the listings.