Hi All
I just rented a place on McCallum and W Sedgwick (Sedgwick Gardens) and will be movingat the end of may.

I read the posts in this and other forums, but still have a couple of questions:
1) do I need a car to get around? I didn;t have a chance to walk the area, but saw that the Bus H is running right by. I will be taking train to work, but wonder about getting around to stuff like restaurants, store otherthan Weaver's way and CVS (I know f thopse two)...

2) I heard th FitLife Gym (on germantown Ave) is good. is there a pool around anywhere?

3) I will have a kitten, is there a good vet around? a good pet store?

4) do I need an AC? I was offered one, but am debating whether it is a necessity.

5) is there a must-see of this area? I will be here for a day with my GF whle moving, and would like to take her out... suggestion?

I guess that's it.
I am looking forward to walks in the park, and bike rides, and the area looks really awesome.

Thanks for all submits.
Igor

Hi Igor - welcome to Mt. Airy! Thanks for reposting. I had answered some of your questions right before the hard disk crash, and will try to re-answer.

People can and do live in W Mt. Airy w/o a car, but I'd find it an enormous pain in the neck myself. There's an Acme (super market) that's at the outer range of walkable from my perspective - Germantown and Sedgwick. But Sedgwick doesn't go all the way through, necessitating a detour, even on foot. You might consider Philly Car Share if you don't want to buy, maintain, and insure a car.

FitLife has a small pool. Germantown YMCA and Roxborough YMCA have pools. Some apartment complexes not too far away offer summer memberships to their pools. I know Hill House in Chestnut Hill does, perhaps Chestnut Hill Village as well (right near a largeish shopping center, with another grocery store). Those would be accessible on the R8, but you'd be beholden to its relatively limited schedule. School Lane House on Wissahickon in East Falls (or perhaps E. Germantown, depends on your perspective) offers a deal for Weavers Way members. There are two pools in the Philadelphia Recreation Department's Germantown/Chestnut Hill region.

Following my in-laws (30+ yr Mt Airy residents) lead, we use Chestnut Hill Cat Clinic, but I'm sure there's one in Mt. Airy proper. The Weavers Way pet store annex is excellent and carries most things you would need for cats.

Depends on your tolerance for heat and humidity. My wife couldn't live without, and I certainly am glad for that ;-) . It gets muggy and hot here. Count on at least two heat waves of 90+ for 3-6 days.

If your GF is also into the parks & nature thing, and you want to have a nice (and pretty expensive) meal, I definitely recommend the Valley Green Inn. Right in the park, al fresco (or indoor) dining over looking the Wissahickon Creek. You could also do any of the downtown historic or cultural sites. Check http://www.phillyfunguide.com for what's going on - sign up to get half-price ticket offers in your e-mail every week, and see what's playing cheap when she's here.

If none of this suits, give us a better sense of what type of thing you mean by "must-see" and how local you want to be with "this area".

Good luck with your move!

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Thomas Taylor

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Thanks for the reply.


I have couple more questions... :-) I am a curious boy :-)

Is there a farmer's market or such anywhere nearby? Or does Weavers Way feature sufficient choices and quality of phoduce eliminating a need for one?

Also I didn't make it to walk to Germantown Ave.. is it a hike from Sedgwick Gdns? Is it safe to walk down Carpenter lane at night (of course "safe" within the limits of city living).

I heard of Philly Carshare, but didn't hear of anyone actually using them.. does it actually work, or is the car contantly booked and unavailable... anyone on this forum is a member? any opinions?

Lastly, I read Weaver's Way is member of some Credit Union... should I join that one, or is there a better bank/ Credit Union to join? (I am having trouble defining my criteria for a good bank/cu. Where I am at ,we have a single big Bank, and so I am in it... but I don't know whether to choose a local bank/cu, or something big, such as Wachovia.... any thoughts?, any recommendations?)

Thanks
Igor

Welcome, Igor!

In addition to the H bus that you can get at McCallum and Lincoln Drive, you can also get the 53 bus at Wayne and Lincoln Drive. The 53 bus will get you to Broad (Street) and Erie Avenue from which stop you can take the Broad Street Subway or the elusive C bus into Center City. Then there is the 23 bus, which goes up and down Germantown Avenue -- while I have found the 23 bus the most reliable of those three bus lines, it ferries a broad variety of people, including some "street people," so if you are finicky about body odor in public, foul language, ranting strangers, etc., you would feel more comfortable on the R8 train. (Not to say that you would never see any of the aforementioned unpleasantries on the train; you are just less likely to encounter them there.)

Shopping ... there is a Farmer's Market on Germantown Avenue near Germantown and High Street. (Sorry, I don't know the exact address. I'm not offering a personal endorsement -- just know that there is one there even though I've never gone there myself. I prefer the Reading Terminal Market in Center City or one of the Pathmark supermarkets.) And if you don't mind toting your groceries on a bus, you could take the H bus in the Cheltenham-Ogontz direction and ride up to Cheltenham Avenue where there is a Pathmark and a Wal-Mart or ride to the end of the bus line where there is a huge Shop-Rite.

A plus about taking public transit aka SEPTA here is that you get to see so many lovely houses ... many of which are NOT designated historical homes, but they just look great. I'm a big fan of using SEPTA -- they have their problems, but I love the system and the way I get to see the city using it.

Hope you and your girlfriend enjoy yourselves here. Happy and safe travel.

D7ana

Especially in the summer, Weavers Way gets a lot of local produce, and has relationships with several organic and commercial farmers. Their space is somewhat limited, though. In addition to the Germantown Farmer's Market, there is also one in Chestnut Hill. Often the produce booths there are the same commercial produce you can get at the supermarket, albeit at better prices. I agree with D7ana that Reading Terminal Market is an excellent option - shop on your lunchbreak and bring it home on the train.

It's 5-6 blocks to Germantown Ave, and then a few more in either direction to much iof interest. It's reasonably safe to walk back from Carpenter Ln station at night; I've certainly done it many times.

Well, there are Carshare users on the blog. I'd guess that the Mt. Airy car is not constantly booked, as they started with 2 (maybe even 3) up here, and now have just the one. I think they're pretty good about adding capacity as needed, so if they get a critical mass of members in this neighborhood, would probably add another car.

I'd recommend against the Delaware Valley FCU (available through Weavers Way) as your primary bank. We're members, and have a savings account there, but there's no real branch hours. Especially since just living in Mt. Airy qualifies you to join the Philadelphia Federal Credit Union. They have a branch on G'town Avenue, and two downtown. Open Saturday, online banking including free bill pay. If I was starting from scratch right now, that's who I'd bank with. I'm currently with Sovereign and don't recommend them - we don't switch because of inertia, which gets pretty strong when you've got direct deposit and direct debits for some bills. But if/when we switch, that's where we'll go.

Commerce Bank is a pretty good bank, and has a nice basic free account that starts out with no minimum for a year and then $100 after that. But they don't have a branch in the neighborhood.

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My bad ... I was giving directions for someone at McCallum and Lincoln Drive. (Somehow I thought that you would be at the McCallum which is several blocks below Sedgwick Gardens.) From Sedgwick, where you will be, Igor, getting to the 53 bus would require some walking. So, please ignore that bit -- unless you happen to get stranded in that area ;-D.

D7ana

P.S. I've lost the thread, but someone (Thomast? - thanks again!) suggested I use Chestnut Hill Cat Clinic for our new cat.

S7ana.. actually your post was very helpful. With the 53 bus it seems Ican get to the Erie station in about 15 minutes, and take the BSL. This will let me use TrailPass instead of TrainPass (zone2) and save $50 a month!!!

I am a stingy little bast..ehm...

Anyways.. I will check out how far that is, but I thinkI might actually use #53 quite a bit.... :-)

Secondly, do you use the Chesnut Hill cat clinic as wel?
Can I get there from Sedgwick Gdns by Septa?

Lastly, and this is to everyone:

Does the H bus cross the Germantown Avenue in a anu interesting place.. i.e. Can I just take the H bus to Germantown Avenue and be at an intereting (restaurants, shops etc) place?

Thanks guys you are really helpful.
Igor

I just realized I have another question. does Mt Airy have any recycling program? anything at all? even voluntary? here in Ohio, the town has a simple program. I have been ignoring it mostly out of complacency, but now I feel I would like to start doing well...

so is there anything?

thanks..

And do I have to register my cat? any taxes, fess etc?

Thanks
Igor

The city picks up mixed paper, and mixed glass and metal on the same day as regular trash pickup. However, as a tenant of a multi-tenant unit, the landlord is supposed to provide recycling, so there's no city pickup for Sedgwick Gardens. There are two bins, nominally for paper and glass/metal, but they are badly marked and get so contaminated with other trash that I have serious doubts about whether their contents actually get recycled - I know for a fact that there was a period when the super was just tipping them into the regular dumpsters. I sometimes put my glass & metal out across the street or next door for the city pickup. I've inquired with the landlord a couple times to improve the recycling program, but haven't followed it up seriously. I take my mixed and (separately) white paper, as well as #1 and #2 plastics, to a monthly drop-off co-sponsored by the city and Weavers Way.

Nope, not that I know of. According to information on the City's Web site, you can register your cat if you want it to wear a tag in case in gets lost, but only dogs are required by law to be registered. And I think that law is widely ignored.

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Thomas Taylor

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Hey,

well I was loking through septa's website, and it seems that taking the 53 bus to Erie station of BSl is possible, but when I "plan my trip", it is never offered as an option.

Has anyone tried doing that? is it a pain in the neck, or is it doable.. and recommended?

I am not worried about the walk to the bus stop, but I am worried about the actual bus trip.

Any thoughts?

Thanks a lot, this has beed great help.

Igor