I can guarantee that however high the taxes are in Philly, ours in Dc are higher. We are not in charge of our own budget, not being a state-- Congress is. Our taxes are insane, and I'm not real worried about high taxes in Philly.

Some safety-related questions re: W. Mt Airy/Rox/Man: have property values risen substantially in these areas in the last 10 years or so? Are young families buying and moving in? Do they stick around once their kids are school age? Or is it mostly absentee landlords renting their homes out?

My husband and I just moved to Manayunk from DC and we, too, have a baby on the way. We have only lived here for a month and a half, but I can tell you that this neighborhood is fantastic. We love our neighbors, our proximity to both Main Street (Manayunk) and Ridge Av. (Roxborough), and we plan to send our children to public school.

We did a lot of looking in West Mt. Airy and heard good things about the Henry School there. Philly seems to have a lot of successful magnet schools, more than DC. I'm sorry I can't be more helpful, but I am happy to hear of another DC couple possibly moving to Philly.

This area is economically and ethnically diverse, and safe.

Good luck.

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DC2Philly

May I also add that we looked in UCity for houses for the purpose of being in the Catchment school district and you will be hard pressed to find something in the high 300s/low 400s. The school district there has driven prices up dramatically. There were some rundown college boarding houses for sale that you could buy, but you need to invest at least another 100K to get them livable again, and they were asking $300-$400 as is.

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DC2Philly

I haven't lived in the areas you list, but I teach at a university in East Falls, near Mt. Airy. It's a beautiful part of town with lots of big houses, tress and parks. It's close to the city, but very suburban in feel. S. Philly on the other hand is very urban - the houses are close together, most are smaller. It depends on what kind of enviornment you're after. I wouldn't worry about my saftey in any of the neighborhoods you've listed.

Some were talking about University City. There are big, beautiful houses to be had - some on the cheap, but they need work. As was mentioned, the houses inside the Penn school boundary have naturally jumped in price, but don't let that discourage you from looking. There's plenty of resturants, shops, a nice grocery store and movie theater and generally lots to do in Univ City, even if you're not affiliated with Penn. I lived there for year or so as a grad student and allways liked it.

I hope you'll come to visit and explore these neighborhoods so you can see for yourself. They all have good points, but are very different kinds of places.

Yes. property values have increased substantially in all of these neighborhoods. In many cases 100% or more - especially in Manayunk. Roxborough and Mt. Airy are very family oriented, while Manayunk is a mix of young professionals who rent and longtime residents who have kept their homes in their families for generations. However, I have seen the trend in Manayunk start to change recently. More and more homes are being renovated and sold to people who plan to stay here for a long time.

Another thing to consider is the housing stock. The homes in Manayunk tend to be older and smaller 2 and 3 story rowhomes with very little off the street parking. Roxborough has a variety housing styles from rowhomes, to twins and detached homes which tend to be larger. There is generally ample off the street parking in Roxborough. Mt. Airy is very much park-like as another blogger mentioned. There is an eclectic mix of housing styles; mostly built out of stone. You can find some rowhomes in Mt. Airy, but mostly Tudor style twins and detached homes. There are even some mansions in this part of town.

Thank you, yes, we are planning a long weekend in Oct to come check out neighborhoods.
Blythe, are there any DC neighborhoods you feel are comparable to Manayunk? Is it kinda like upper NW? Or more diverse? What area did you live in DC and is it comparable?

Mt. Airy is more comparable to the Upper NW than Manayunk. I have not seen any area of DC that reminds me of Manayunk. It's more like a Bizarro San Fransisco or a hillside suburb of NYC.

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I agree, there isn't really a comparable DC neighborhood to Manayunk. Though Main St. Manayunk is like a miniuture Georgetown, the residential part is one of a kind. I lived on Capitol Hill in DC and the trip from there to upper NW reminds me of the trip from center city to Manayunk/Mt. Airy. Driving through Fairmount Park is a lot like driving through Rock Creek Park.

I think the neighborhood part of W. Mt. Airy is somewhat comparable to upper NW.

I lived in DC for 6 years and really loved it, but Philly is much more of a "city."

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DC2Philly

Wow, that's a really awesome description.

There's a *gorgeous* home for sale on my street in your price range (in Rox, on the border of Manayunk). My small area of the neighborhood is most definitely not as diverse as you're probably looking for, but it's definitely safe, and most people buy their homes to live in for awhile instead of rehabbing and flipping them.

Just my $.02...