4 years ago 2 of maybe 3 or 4 neighborhoods that were recommended to us for affordability and safety were Fishtown and Mt Airy. All I'm saying is that 4 years ago they were comparable and since Mt Airy has done better it is no longer as affordable it is "better". Safety is not an issue at all. I walk my dogs all hours of the day, my home and car have never been broken into, I could go on and on, its not really interesting anyway. You paid a high premium to live in Graduate Hospital or in Fishtown because they were closer to CC. To me what you got was so far less than in Mt Airy or Germantown that I couldn't consider those neighborhoods. I go to CC 2-3 times per week. I commute on the train, 21 minutes to Market East, etc. Driving, biking, taking the train, it is all easy. Mt Airy has been fairly boring for a while but now there is a number of shops, retaurants, and cafes opening up in the 7100 block, which is fairly established now, and now further down Germantown Avenue. After living in NYC and SF CC did not seem worth it, to pay that much more for just an okay downtown. Please don't take this as such a bomb, although it could be taken as one, I find it interesting that young white hipsters would move to Fishtown, a white neighborhood, far sooner than Mt Airy or Germantown, which are considered black neighborhoods. I want more than Mt Airy has to offer but I also don't want to deal with the drunken NJ crowd of Old City and NoLibs. Anyway, i do constantly wonder about living in CC so it is not so resolved in my mind but I do think Mt Airy is a much better choice that Fishtown. I mean if you want a young and trendy area and you don't have lots of money I don't think you'll be happy with Fishtown either. Wow this has become so tedious, I can't believe I wrote this.

that makes two of us. it smells even from here.

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"You down wit OPM?"
Fumo: "Yeah, you know me!"

my home in Mt Airy is 3 stories high plus a basement so I can put that stinky smelling piece of poop far from me so I don't have to smell it anymore. See I have a sense of humor when people criticize me, unlike many people on this board.

Say, I couldn't find anything in Mt. Airy 3 years ago that I like under $200K. I found plenty in Fishtown around $100-125K. Now my house that I bought for $250K has more than doubled in value and houses similiar to the ones I was looking at before are just about 1/3 higher in value. Philadelphia Magazine supports the higher appreciation of just about everything closer to the city over Mt. Airy.

And young white hipsters, as you call them, are moving closer to the city. Nothing about Mt. Airy attracts young people.

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

Your house is worth $500K+?..........spoken like a true Realtor.

Lol...no actually I bought it for $125K and now it's more than doubled in value...it's been a long, long day in the business of real estate...

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

you wanna cookie?

__________________
"You down wit OPM?"
Fumo: "Yeah, you know me!"

why i moved to fishtown
(as if anyone really cares...but then again...when has that stopped anyone from posting on here...)

1. cheap cheap cheap...i got my house (completely rehabbed; new roof, new windows, all new doors, new kitchen, new bathroom, refinished, original, wide-plank hard wood floors, new carpeting upstairs, new heater, new hot water heater) for 100K...noone can argue that, that was a steal that couldnt have been found anywhere else

2. the neighborhoods proximity to center city...i work in center city, i hang out in center city...so going into center city 2-3 times a week isnt comparable to going there every day for work and then possibly deciding to go back to center city later that night, after having gone home to take a quick nap...i can hop on my bike, and be in center city in 15-20 minutes...and if its raining, a quick walk to the el, two dollars, and a few stops later and i'm there in the same amount of time...and the drive? lets just say that i have to be in work at 7:30 am...and when i drive, i wake up at 6:45, take a shower, eat a bagel, and walk out my door at about 20 after and am at work in time...thats right...in the winter, if i drive, my car barely has a chance to get warm before i get to work

3. cheap cheap cheap (refer to above)

4. the neighborhoods up-in-coming-ness-ness....ness: yeah...i'm sure that a lot of the hype in regards to any neighborhood is generated by the realtors...but things actually ARE happening here (the realtor/reality ratio is pretty balanced)...art galleries, cafes, yadda yadda...sure, a lot of the neighborhood seems pretty far removed from the development...luckily my house is roughly a block away from frankford ave, where a lot of the development is taking place...good christ i like my block...still homey, trees, nice friendly neighbors, and walkable to things to do...i'm going off on a tangent...i'll stop

sure fishtown has its negatives (litter, loud people, and to some, i'm sure its proximity to center city/no libs could be viewed as a negative)...and i'm sure mt. airy and germantown have thier positives (larger houses, trees, maybe quieter...see...i'm being positive!!!)...i just dont think (in the eyes of many...but not all) the positives of mt. airy match up to the positives of fishtown...it doesnt seem easily accessable OR cheap...and...well...i dont really ever see anything going on out there...dont really hear people buzzing about it etc.

different people want different things, and i understand completely that you were probably just trying to help this girl out by giving her a good picture of what your neighborhood has to offer, heck, maybe she's sold...and thatd be great...but "selling" your neighborhood shouldnt be done by bashing another one, a simple "hey...have you ever thought of checking out mt. airy, its not as talked about as fishtown but...we've got a lot of the same to offer" would have done

i need a donut

Bashing other neighborhoods is a Philly tradition.

The word Kenso is like a curse in the NE.

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"

Hello all......I am a potential Fishtown resident ( Fishtowner??)...anyway I have taken Brookes "tour" and I must say she did point out the many positive things in Fishtown that I may have missed. I have been in Philly for 8 years ( renting in Mt Airy/Germantown) and so I have heard the hype surrounding Fishtown. I lived in Brooklyn NY for a few years and saw how neighborhoods there really turned ( by that I mean in a real estate appreciation way).....I have been pleasantly surprised with Fishtown so far....and am slowly but surely narrowing my search for the right home. How you view a neighborhood definately has a lot to do with whats important to you at any given time in your life ie:close to city action, back yard, square footage, "hip-ness"....they are all valid reasons to like/dislike a neighborhood.....what I want now is probably the complete opposite of what I wanted 10 years ago. For my situation ( yes $$$ is apart of the equation) Fishtown seems to fit MY needs the most at this time. SO.......I have narrowed it down to a few places (so far..lol) let me hear your thoughts on..
Sepviva in the 2200 block
Huntington in the 2300 block
Columbia in the 1400 block

Hey now!