My husband, myself and our seven month old son need some convincing as to why we should settle down/move from center city to East Mt. Airy (Specifically the Sedgwick Farms area). Ok, my husband is convinced and the kid has no other choice...but I need some convincing. I would love to hear from all of you that are currently living in East Mt. Airy. What do you enjoy about living there? Why have you chosen to live there instead of other locations throughout the city?

Obviously the green lush surroundings and more spacious beautiful yet affordable homes are a huge plus. In addition I've heard wonderful things from a friends about how wonderful a place it is for children..BUT do you miss the buzzing culture of the "city"? How often do you really go into the "city"? Just how totally crunchy is East Mt. Airy? Do you feel safe? I am a designer and feel nervous that I will miss center city...Socially, do you find it easy to meet other people?

Thanks!

Meeting people in East Mt. Airy: If you like to walk, then yes, very easy to meet people. Also, with a kid, you will have instafriends every time you go to Infusion or the library or any playground.

Comparisons to Center City: It's cooler up here. People's trash cans don't stink as much up here. It's quieter. Aside from housing being cheaper, you will also pay much less for daycare/preschool. Much, much less.

How often do we go to CC: Right now we both work at least part time down there, but we go there socially as a family (either to see friends or to do something fun) about 1-2 times a month. We still do have a lot of friends down there, and they have been really willing to come out here to see us.

Not convinced? Go see a film at the Sedgwick. Go walking in the Wissahickon. Go to an event at Big Blue Marble Bookstore. Go to First Friday along Gtown Ave.

Where is sedgwick farms? I know where sedgwick is, what are the other boundaries of the area you're looking in?

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Change is difficult.

just east of Chew on Sedgwick.

Thank you VCM.

but do live in East Mt Airy. When I moved to here from bustling West Philly with easy access to CC, I was nervous about losing the city life. But - it is easy to get there via the R7 train, and there are several car share pods (one is even kid-friendly at the R7 Sedgwick station!)

We have honey's two teenage boys on the weekend, generally find enough local to do - walks in Wissahickon, movies at the Sedgwick, and strolling around town, and the other things that the wise VCM said.

As an artist, you will be happy to know that there is a mosaic store and an art supply store within easy walking distance on Germantown Ave, as well as two bead stores up in Chestnut Hill. There are fabric stores in Germtown and Chestnut Hill, so it isn't as if you must always trek into the city when you need a color/texture boost.

It IS cooler up here; all of the trees really do make a huge difference in temperature and air quality.

I lived here alone for over a year, and really never felt unsafe coming home alone at night; it is easy to find the blocks to avoid (your potential area is not one of them). The police presence is pretty good, but not enough to make me nervous.

Good luck with your decision, and shout if you have any more questions.

e

So I'm guessing this place isn't quite crawling with 20-something singles... Even so, it sounds like an interesting place, and something worthwhile for me to check out. If I can keep my car by moving some place like E Mt Airy, then I'm fine with it. Also, there is a Hare Krishna temple around there (Allen Lane...that's still Mt Airy, aye?), so that's cool for me. I drove around there and really liked how the place has a good canopy of trees, and the housing stock certainly looked good.

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Is it ghey that I love this song so much?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gl_Wc6Nm8lc

I guess you could say I'm not as jaded about "stuff" such as enduring love yet...

I second (third?) all that vcm said. Moved here when I was 2 mos pg and our son is now 15 mos. We were worried about all the same things but I have to say that the quiet, the walkability, the great neighbors is what keeps me firmly planted here. We have a great pediatrician on Gtown Ave., the Maternal Wellness Ctr is LOADED with great activities, networking opportunities, the Allens Lane and Lutheran Seminary playgrounds are great, always clean and friendly, the Trolley Car Diner (and ice cream!) are fabu and many of the other local dining venues are very yummy and family friendly too. Meet us at Cafette anyone? We find more and more gems every day, love this area!

The wise VCM has insomnia and is jumping back in to say that we moved here from West Philly when our son was 7 months old too, so the original poster's questions brought back memories. (That was 3 years ago).

If you're anything like me, the whole new parent thing is making you feel isolated and like your social world is changing whether you want it to or not. Moving out to the sticks definitely increased that feeling for me. But Mt. Airy is still the city and there is still tons of culture, music, good food, and many artists, and Center City is only 30 minutes away. We aren't succumbing to the world of white picket fences and Republicans when we move out here. I will say that I missed West Philly painfully every single day for about a year. It took even longer before I deleted all the West Philly realtors from my bookmarks menu.

However. Today I went to the Trolley Car Diner for dinner and ran into:

1. A father and his kids who I know from our babysitting co-op and our former daycare. His wife has helped me find community resources for a relative who is moving here. Our son and their youngest daughter are pals. They play dollhouse and trucks together.

2. Somebody I met while working on a project for Weaver's Way co-op hours, and who is supposed to pick up some tomato starts off my front porch this weekend, and whose child goes to a charter school I'm interested in for my son, and who is also in our bbsitting co-op.

3. A woman I knew from West Philly, and who I worked with four or five years ago at an old job, and who used to work at a great local store I frequent, and whose kids/pets/spouse I've met several times. She moved to Mt. Airy before me and I thought she was crazy but six months later I was calling her to ask about what realtor she used.

4. A woman who I hadn't seen for a while but who was in a discussion group I was part of for a year, also formed through Weaver's Way. I run into her occasionally.

5. Another woman I know slightly who owns a cool local business and who I always mean to find time to get to know better. Also has a kid. Met her originally through Freecycle when she came to my house to pick up some baby gear I was getting rid of. Talked with her once about starting a parenting group but dropped the idea because who has time for that?

So I would say that yes, it is easy to meet people. All those folks are somewhere on the borderline between friends and acquaintances.

Except I feel honor bound to tell you that every single one of the people I just mentioned lives in West Mt. Airy, altho many of them live just on the other side of Gtown Ave. It is easy to move to E. Mt. Airy but do much of your socializing on the other side. This is partly because many of the community hubs are over there (weaver's way, maternal wellness, allens lane art center and playground, big blue marble, etc).

There are other reasons, too, but it is way too late at night to take on the issues of gentrification and class and race and privilege etc etc etc.

Good luck to the OP, and I'll see you at Infusion some time.

the number one reason you should move to mt airy;

all the cool kids are doing it...

p