Hi. I'm moving to Philly end of March 2004 and I am not at all familiar with the different areas there. I know I won't find anywhere that is a perfect match for my needs and personality, but I'm going throw everything out on the table and will appreciate any guidance.

I would like to be able to walk out of my apartment and walk to cafe's, community center, dance class, theater, etc. I need a 2-bedroom or very large 1 bedroom. My daughter will be with me all summer and on the weekends. She is 14. I want to live in as safe an area as possible, but where I live now, there is NOTHING to do, and its very conservative. Would like a more liberal environment. I'm very interested in human rights, esp. women's issues and children's issues, dance, writing, cultural anthropology/sociology. I don't party at all, I'm one of those "quirkyalone" types. I don't want to live where things are really wild. I don't mind living around a bunch of college students, but it would be nice to have SOME other people my age. Prefer to live around students, professionals, and artists. Really must have A/C. Need W/D in unit or building. Need to be able to get to public transportation. Looking at max rent $1200. We have a cat. I was thinking of the University City area, but then I thought, I'm going to feel so old all the time around all those 20-year-olds. Any ideas?? Thanks in advance for your help.

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www.do-gooder.org - pick a project, make a difference.

i'd recomend the fitler square area. might be tight on rent but it sounds pretty right on. quiet, a bit older (not old though!), and if you are in CC you are near all that stuff. personally I'm interested in men's issues and of course women's issues when they relate to me, a man. there are def more than our fair share of liberals here (how esle do you think it got so corrupt?) but everything else is nice. :twisted: other areas i'd look into are society hill, and antique row. of course, outside of u city along baltimore ave from 44th to 48th is pretty nice, artsy, but i can't vouch for their political leanings. I don't know where you are coming form but our Republicans are lilberal and our democrats conservative. we do things differently here in PA. luckily there are tons of ex-jersey and ex-NY democrats here that are truly liberal who weren't happy ruining their own states but had to make sure ours went down the crapper. ask anyone, philadelphia was booming before the girls from buffalo came down. ;-)
sincerely yours, a philadelphian but neither a democrat nor a republican.

Well said!! :clapping: :rolling_: She could always move into little PR....... They do have big apts over there...lol

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"Outside of the battlefield, your enemy can be your friend"...Kojiiro.

Evil unchecked grows. Evil Tolerated, poisens the entire system.

First off, El's comments about Republicans and Democrats in Philly are absolutely on the mark. The Democratic party is the reactionary, status quo, conservative party here; the Republicans (at least under Sam Katz) are the party of change and progress. Takes a little getting used to, this topsy-turvy situation. Throw out the window everything you ever thought you new about those two parties, because it doesn't work like that here.

As far as places to live, with what you describe it sounds to me like you'd like University City. El mentioned Baltimore Ave; I'd expand that to anywhere between Locust St on the North and Woodland Ave. on the South, from about 42nd or 43rd to at least 48th, depending on the block. Past 48th, give or take, things get dicier. Closer in than 42nd and you'll be cheek-by-jowl with a lot of Penn undergrads, and you can tell from the generally trashy look of some of the rental places (don't get me wrong, I'm very fond of Penn undergrads, work with them every day, but they are 18-22 yrs. old and often not the neatest - or quietest - neighbors).

Look around Clark Park (43rd-45th, Baltimore-Woodland) and to the northwest of there, along Pine, Larchwood, etc. between 43rd and 49th. Some really cool neighborhoods, lots of interesting restaurants & shops, close access to Center City by trolley, close to Penn, which has a substantial cultural life of its own.

Prices aren't real cheap there, though - for a nice house be prepared to spend $300K to $400K or up. But the housing stock is often spectacular - beautiful big Victorians with lots of detail and lots of space inside.

Political titles always change dont they? When Liberals change the things they want to change. They in turn become conservative, fighting to conserve their changes conservatives, become the new liberals and want a change..

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"Outside of the battlefield, your enemy can be your friend"...Kojiiro.

Evil unchecked grows. Evil Tolerated, poisens the entire system.

liberals sort of stole the term to begin with. in the old days, deomcrats were the liberals because they were for freedom. attempting to liberalize goverment and keep life free for individuals, peace, and anti-empire. Republicans were Whigs, political heir of Alexander Hamilton. the party of big business, protectionism, subsidized government infrastructure and other contracts, war, and conquest. then the two parties really had some fundamental disagreements on how to run the country. in the alte 19th c the democrats adopted populism to curb the popularity of this party in the country side with then struggling farmers. the two branches fo the party uneasily coexisted until FDR took the Democrats hard into socialist territory. liberals, the real ones, were then left out in the cold. since then many have migrated to the Republican Party by default. The R party has attempted to merge the old Whig Platform with the old liberal platform with mostly Whig results. liberals are really populist/socialists and Republicans are really Whigs. Liberals are split between the parties. modern liberals identify the use of force for change as natural, which is anathema to old liberals. modern conservatives are prone to the use of force to maintain the status quo, also anathema to the liberal view. of course, in reality people are mixed up, contradictory baskets of these things.

lol, in reality, we're getting screwed by both sides.

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"Outside of the battlefield, your enemy can be your friend"...Kojiiro.

Evil unchecked grows. Evil Tolerated, poisens the entire system.

Univeristy City??? I think not as this woman has a young daughter. Still not a very safe area to live and if you can afford $1200 a month you can still have some very good options. University City does not seem to have everything you are looking for and I would not have my daughter walking around there at night based on my past experiences living in UC.

I would say Fairmount, Fitler Square, Bella Vista, Queen Village or Washington Square West. I just moved into a new place in QV and was able to get a 3BR apartment, pretty big and modernized for $1400 at 2nd and Bainbridge area (1 .5 blocks from 2nd and South). I saw a lot of places and most were 2 bedrooms that were under $1200. The renters are willing to negotiate as the guy originally wanted $1500 and when we said $1400 was the max he said OK as he was having trouble renting the place (which amazed me considering how nice the place is).

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"If you have the courage to begin, you have the courage to succeed." -- David Viscott

Why has no one mentioned Washington Square West? I think this area would be PERFECT for you. Look for something around the 10th and Pine or 10th and Spruce areas. You'll be able to find something easily in the $1200 range. Look at the apartment ads (new on Tuesdays) at citypaper.net or www.paresidential.com. Get yourself a map of center city Philadelphia and look for apartments listed between 6th and Broad (what would be 14th street), and Walnut and South.

Good Luck!

Yo Tex. Read my post, I mentioned it!

Just jokin...

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"If you have the courage to begin, you have the courage to succeed." -- David Viscott