I'm doing my final reconnaissance mission to Philly to make sure it's where I want to make my new home. I'll be checking out many of the areas suggested on this board.
Since you folks were so helpful with my last query, I'm hoping you might be able to lead me in the right direction on finding a hotel/guest house from March 13 -16.
Something decent, non-scary, safe ... any suggestions?
Thanks for all!

alexander inn at 12th and spruce.

I hope my post is not too late, but I have used Priceline, and have gotten 3* hotels in Center City for as low as $33.00 a night ( The Wyndham). I always go to http://www.biddingfortravel.com before I bid at Priceline. At this website, you can get an idea of what hotels offer rooms on Priceline, and what are the lowest current bids. People post their winning bids on the message board. I have used Priceline eight times, and have been very pleased. Good Luck!

See yall on Saturday. Wish me luck on this last reconnaissance mission. I'm hoping to make Philly my home by summer.
Cheers!

Folks,
I crammed as much walking and bus riding (my preferred methods of transportation) as I could over my brief stay in Philly and I must say I love your city.
I was a bit taken aback by all the litter in West Philly and equally perturbed by the hipsterism of Northern Liberties but really liked Queens Village, Art Museum and Germantown (although my check of the area was rather cursory.)
My hope still is to move in the summer. My guess is that the weather that time of year will be kinda miserable for me, coming from fog-enshrouded San Francisco, but a girl's gotta do ...
And by the way, I just want to say that Philly has a really friendly vibe. Not that people are giggling and breaking into song as they walk down the street. But the folks I came into contact with were eager to be helpful. This one aspect is really important to me as Black woman. God knows that SF is full of uptight people and plenty of needless social competition. I was amazed by how both whites and blacks in public locations were relatively easy to smile and chat. I didn't feel that there was a rigid social hierarchy. I had only one bad vibe moment and that was in South Philly. (of course, I could be wrong but I'm generally sensitive to these kinds of problems ...)
I know I've said it before but I really, really appreciate how much help I've gotten off this board. It's an excellent service and hub for people like me.
Thanks!
P.S. Hal, I know you've answered questions like this before, but what do you make of the Philly housing market? Are prices super-inflated? Any chance a working girl like me can buy a roomy house in Art Museum or Queen Village without being super house poor? I'd be a first time homebuyer with about 10k for a downpayment ...

Good to hear -while I've often heard more than once how walkable Philly is, but once you get used to the subway and el and the free interchange one token or swipe of the card and you can be at Old City & Penn's Landing, or down at FDR Park.

Philly is also a nice size for bicycle or the little italian style scooters.
Except for the areas roughly northwest of Route 1, most of Philly is fairly
flat. South Philly, Center City, much of west Philly, and the northeast- what's odd is a friend found it takes about the same time from Manayunk to Center City on moped as by car. Caveat that she got the biggest motored moped she could to avoid getting off and pushing to go up some of those hills -


West Philly could use a good sweeping, that's the biggest depressing sight- not really trash and junk, but litter thrown on the street.

NoLibs, Queens Village, Art Museum are neat, but you'll find that Germantown isn't necessarily the area along Germantown Avenue
(it's like that with several streets - Grays Ferry isn't necessarily along Grays Ferry, same for Girard, Fairmount, etc.


Ah, Philadelphia summers - I read somewhere that during WWI and WWII
the british navy classified Philadlephia as a "tropical weather port" and isssued their naval officers those funny bermuda shorts uniforms and quinine water for malaria.


Well, glad to be of help, although there will always be productive bickering about just what area is where, and whos neighborhood is best.

There are areas where you wonder what the source of value is -
You can find bargains now and again -
You can find townhomes in Chestnut Hill the are affodable, and beat up homes in sketych neighborhoods going for high prices- yes it' bizzarre,
but you're looking at people buying for investment versus buying for a residence.

Well, guessing $10k means you're looking at 10% down or around $100k
for a house?

I'll send more detailed info via PM, but generally for $100 you might find something small near the Art Museum, but most likely would be a tiny condo. For $100,000 in the Art Museum you're not going to get much, adn what you will get needs lots of rehab. But, you can go a few blocks north and prices drop dramatically- there's an amazing price gradient there - in the space of 20 blocks, you go from $600,000 homes to $16,000 homes.


More uniform areas are to the south of Cener City- more likely down in Bella Vista/Queen Villlage, perhaps Sothwest Center City, Grays Ferry, or Graduate Hospital. These areas will have a mix, I see homes in the price range up to around 1,300 square feet - over that and you're seeing lots of repairs and shells again.

Hal