Quote:

Originally Posted by ugarit We're considering moving to Philadelphia from Chevy Chase in Washington, DC. We know very little about Philadelphia and need assistance in finding a neighborhood to live in.

Delaware, Montgomery, Bucks or Chester County, or maybe
New Jersey, but look out for property taxes!

I commuted from Queen Village to Cherry Hill for 3 years; it was a breeze. About 25 minutes, minimal traffic. And I passed good grocery stores on the way home (not that there aren't good ones in CC, but it made it that much easier.)

I did a search on www.prufoxroach.com using your criteria - select Pennsylvania --> Philadelphia --> Queen Village and then under $650k, 3 BR, and garage. Came back with 13 listings. All should be in the Meredith school district (but definitely check).
http://www.prufoxroach.com/search/search_Results.cfm

I've lived in QV for 6 1/2 years and always describe it as a neighborhood within a city; I think it has just what you're looking for.

I found this amazing website and added your neighborhood suggestions.

Link

On the left side are the neighborhoods which were recommended. Any more?

Well, it covers Center City! But it doesn't really refine it by school quality. You want to be in the Meredith (Queen Village), McCall (Society Hill) or Greenfield (Rittenhouse?) catchments, (or Sadie Alexander if you're looking at University City). I think Phillyblog will give you more customized answers, personally.

Thank you. What is a catchment?

I'm sure someone else can give a technical definition, but basically, there's a defined area (catchment) around each school. If you live in that area, your child can attend that automatically, simply because of living in the catchment. If you live outside the catchment, you have to apply to the school and only get in if there's space available.

What is income tax rate in Philly?

4.219%, starting Jan 2008, with small decreases every year (3.7242% if you work in the city and live in the suburbs). Those of us who own our homes generally find that the low property taxes (I pay less than $1,000 per year) sort of make up for the high wage tax (not an income tax, since it doesn't apply to interest, dividends, capital gains, etc -- income from 401(k)s and the like is also exempt). I doubt that the current situation will continue, though. I imagine property taxes will eventually go up and the wage tax will go down, which would put us more on par with the way taxes are assessed in the suburbs and provide a better funding stream to the city's schools.

The state income tax rate is 3.07%. Both are flat taxes.

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Since one is not permitted to create tables on this forum I've created one on google. http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=dd9...fz2v8zs2&hl=en

In essence it summarizes what many have been saying. It's clearly not complete; therefore, if you want to help me complete it that would be great.

Most of Bella Vista is in the Nebinger Elementary School catchment. Here's a pretty good website on elementary schools in the center city area: http://www.centercityschools.com/enrollment.php

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---Shosh