Last week I asked about certain areas of Philly and now I'm starting to narrow tha list a lil bit... I particularly wanna know about tha area of Germantown between Wissahickon Av and Germantown Av. I hear some people sayin its good and diverse, then others tell me its ghetto. Wassup?

Interesting timing, I went through there a few weeks ago and snapped a few photos for a client who's relocating- they're not the exact area you're looking for, but close enough to the upper end to give you an idea.

The northern part of that area blends into an area known as Blue Bell Hill very nice homes,


The entire area from Mount Airy through Germantown and East Falls has similar architecture, lots of wissahickon schist, interesting architecture.
Some blocks will be different of course, but there are lots of homes that
"look like Mount Airy - which to most people means what they see along Lincoln Drive


Hal

hal--both your pictures are solidly in west mt. airy (wayne & then horter?). blue bell hill is on the other side of wissahickon, mostly small houses on the streets between (the tiny street south of walnut lane) to johnson or cliveden.

ghetto? parts of germantown could be considered that, parts are very nice and look much like the pictures.

Good eyes - Wayne & Lincoln for the big red twin,
then Lincoln and Hortter for the row of houses.
So, yep, both are in Mount Airy - that's kinda hard to mess up.

But I can't say they're deep in Mount Airy.
The split between Germantown zipcode 19144,
and Mount Airy 19119 is at Johnson Street -
both pics are only about 2 - 3 blocks from Johnson Street.

Now I'm curious, if Hortter and Upsal are "solidly in Mount Airy" then where would the boundary be?
I know that Mount Airy does push further south, some might put the edge of Mount Airy at Washington Lane
or even Walnut Lane, but they you're stuck trying to explain how you told somebody they're buying in Mount Airy,
but their zipcode and their insurance say they're in Germantown!

Yep, odd how you go from small homes along Walnut Lane


To big stately homes on Cliveden


Which is I guess the important point- neat architecture good sized yard,
even if they're not always as well kept as the photos-

Hal

I'm planning on buying a house in the summer and Germantown/Mt. Airy/Wissahickon are the areas I am looking at. Since I lived in Germantown/Mt. Airy most of my life, I personally think there are great bargains for homes in Germantown because people don't have such high thoughts of the area. It's not the best area of the city, but with a little street smarts you should be fine. And the houses themselves are some of the most beautiful architecture (as shown in the pitcures) that you'll find anywhere in the city.

why do I say solidyly mt. airy? they're they're several blocks from johnson street (well, wayne and lincoln isn't that far), and also on the west side of the tracks which make a real boundary in terms of movement especially around wayne where the valleys make a difference. think of the few blocks between johnson and washington and greene and wayne. (is it duval street there?)

really, what you can walk to really defines a lot. mind you, much of germantown is very similar to that area.

btw, the house first picture is i believe a twin. do you know of any larger twins?

thanks for everybodys feedback...i need all tha advice i can get. what other areas should i look at? outside of philly, i thought about bensalem, jenkintown, wyncote, and huntingdon valley...suburbs thats close to tha city. i wanna b in an area where theres a lot of young people and diversity. also, what areas shoud i really stay away from altogether?

Of course, current snapshot:

Mount Airy
some huge twins from 2,000 square feet to over 3,400 square feet,
6 places for sale, price range is $140,000 to $240,000

Germantown
is similar, with 2,000 square feet to 3,400 square feet,
5 places with prices from $50,000 to $170,000

There is one "outlier" that's in Germantown zip that's near Saylor's Grove-
a 5 Br 2 Bath place with 2,600 square feet, pocket doors, staircase etc for $230,000

If you've looking, you'll want to start working on prequalifications soon,
once you get a firm idea of how much and where, let me know.

Hal

anybody else got anything to say about these areas? or any otha areas for that matter?

Well, aren't you looking to buy a house, rather than a neighborhood.

What good is great information about a neighborhood if nothing's for sale in that neighborhood?

In most cases, before you start worrying about what areas to look in,
you need to go through a pre-qualification to know what you can afford.

Normally, you'll need a list of places that you can afford,
then you'll want to rank the places by several factors,
including the neighborhoods.

Hal