hello,

i recently got a job in philly and have to move here very soon from pittsburgh. the job is west philly around 61st and baltimore.....i would like to live in univ city area but it seems its impossible to fiind an apartment there now i'm assuming from all the upenn and drexel students....my boyfriend will be moving here as well to do a postdoc at upenn, but that doesn't start until january.......

i was thinking about exploring the art museum area......can anyone give me some guidance? what's a typical price for a "decent" i.e. no holes in the wall apartment? what's car parking like? is this too far away from upenn or my work (61st and baltimore area)......

i'll be in the city this weekend until late monday afternoon to try to settle this apartment search.....

really, any suggestions are GREATLY appreciated

"Decent" one bedrooms go from about $800-1,100, 2 bedrooms from about $1,000-1,300. In general you are fine if you stay south of girard and west of about 19th-17th. Though the boundry that seperates the good areas from the bad ones moves a little bit, you should be able to tell which areas to stay away from by walking/driving through.

Street parking is tight, but do-able. If you're home before 7:00 or 8:00pm you should be able to find a parking spot within a block or so of your house rather quickly, much after that and you may find yourself driving around for 1/2 hour and parking 4 blocks away.

My girlfriend worked at 54th and Lancaster, which isnt too far from where you will be, and it took her about 20-25 min to drive into work during rush hour. I'd imagine it wouldn't be much more that 10-15 minutes more for you.

Post the block where you find an apartment to view on this thread, (i.e. 19XX Mt. Vernon) and I'm sure someone will be able to tell you if it's worth your time. While you are in town walk around the hood as well and take a look at for rent signs. You can usually get an appt. to see a place same day or next day.

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just a note, if you lived off of baltimore ave (spruce hil area, mid 40's) you could hop the baltimore ave trolley to work as well.

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Don't live near work.

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thanks for the advice, but i'm having a bit of trouble finding apartments in that area. that was my first choice.....i have a couple appointments and i am hoping i can find more when i am there this weekend.

this is your best bet. it would make the commute extremely easy for the both of yous.



but if you're dead set on fairmount, I'd pay no more than $1000 for an apt.

Why do you need a car? If you can ditch it, then you'll have a bunch of other options (center city?).

Here is a good resource for finding apartments in Philly.

http://www.philadelphiaweekly.com/cl...sifieds&type=1

I also advise using maps.google to google any of the addresses you see mentioned. As someone said earlier, you want to stay South of Girard and West of 17. However there are exceptions, Green for instance is good the whole way through.

try http://www.penngradapts.com

or http://4wallsinphilly.com/centercity.htm