Pretty much all streets above Manayunk ave. It is much easier to park as you get closer to Ridge. Also, if I am not mistaken, statistically Roxborough is the safest part of the entire city.

I can see some benefits to living really close to Main Street; access to nice places to eat and socialize, access to the towpath, and access to the train among them. I don't see any reason to seek out living a trek up the hill just to live a trek up the hill. Why live 20 minutes walk from something when you can live 5 minutes walk from the same thing? I will admit that I would not like to be single in Manayunk (the single scene there seems really cheesy), but this person seems to have paired off already. The important question is whether there is a critical mass of attached people there sufficient to make it appealing to more attached people. The answer seems to be yes, but I can't say I know for sure; I used to think the opposite was true but I have been studying it these past couple of weeks and I have found plenty of attached people there, who seem perfectly happy to be living in Manayunk. I have seen very little evidence, however, of children issuing from these relationships. I think that East Falls and Mt. Airy have carved out this niche for themselves, but maybe Roxborough has a chance to grab some of this market, too? It is sad that Manayunk has missed it, because I would never want to live in a world without children.

Parking.

Why live close to bars and restaurants when you will be really far away from necessities like the grocery store, beer store, or post office?

Nothing sucks more than when you have to go out and move your car to run some quick errands but then come back to find that your spot was taken. Then you have to drive around for 20-30 minutes looking for a close spot or park 10 blocks away.

In Roxborough that is not really a problem. You can pretty much find a spot to park anytime 1 block away. On a bad day in Rox. you might have to park 2.5 blocks away.

There is a post office on Main Street near the Manayunk train station. Manayunk clearly needs a supermarket / Trader Joe's, but there are delivery services. The beer distributor is on Umbria Street near the Ivy Ridge Train Station, and I know that some local distributors deliver, also.

The Manayunk Neighborhood Council should have demanded that, in return for approval of one of the condo projects going forward, a quality food market would have gone into the ground floor. Two of your three 'necessities' could be accomplished with your feet and a granny cart if you lived in Manayunk near the train station. The quality of the food markets in Roxborough is questionable, also. If a person were willing to take groceries on PT, the Reading Terminal Market and the Marketplace at East Falls become possibilities also. I also believe that the 35 bus offers service to some of the Roxborough markets. Finally, I don't know where Philly car share pods in Myk are, but you can borrow one of their cars, go food shopping, unload the car, then return said car to its guaranteed parking space. If you need a car to commute to your job (because it is in the middle of nowhere), then your argument starts to make sense. If you 'need' a car to run once a week errands, parking in Manayunk isn't that bad, and you can always make do without having your own car.

I just wanted to go back to the OP's original query, because nobody addressed this point. Yes, there areas of Manayunk, away from Main St., that are worth looking into. They are within walking distance to Main St. (5-10 min) and public transportation (<5 min), parking is less of an issue and the community is an ecclectic mix of old time residents, young professionals and families, with very few of the dreaded "college renters". There are even a few corner bars and markets, so you can sustain yourself without going to Main St or Ridge Ave. I just wanted to put this out there, because these posts frequently come-up and there are usually 2 types of answers:

1) The Roxborough Response: Manayunk is a horrible place to live, but nice to visit if you like frat bars. Quality of life sucks.

2) The Center City Response: Main street in Manaunk sucks. Center City has a much better nightlife. in MYK you have to take public trans everywhere and the train schedule sucks. Why would anyone want to live in Manayunk, when you can live in the heart of the city?

These kinds of posts lead a new reader to believe that Manayunk is wall-to-wall college students and renters. Not true. I live firmly in Manayunk, in the neighborhood above Umbria and Hermitage (some call it Hillside or the Blocks), and my block is mostly occupied by homeowners - some are longtime residents who have lived here there whole lives, others like me are young couples and families that have invested in the community (I think there is 1 rental on my street). I love my reason for the reasons stated above. I rarely go to the bars on Main street, but I enjoy grabbing a coffee on Saturday morning, walking my dog on the towpath, browsing the shops or eating a nice dinner (There are actually a few establishments on Main St that aren't bars, you know). I am a couple blocks from an express bus that takes me to my job in center city or I can walk to the Ivy Ridge train station in less than 10 min. I do own a car, and I almost never have a problem parking it in front of my house. There is a great corner bar here (Union Jacks) that has better food and a better beer selection than most of the places on Main St.

Just wanted to give the OP another option to look at, because this area gets little support from posters on PB.

Hey guess what? There is still only 1 HUGE problem left---there is still no where to park! Also what about a large full service bank?

BTW, that beer distributor on Umbria near the Ivy Ridge station is a hike. There is no way in hell you can walk from a house close to main street to there and back with 2 cases of beer. You would have to drive. You would end up driving there and coming back to find that your parking space is gone.


Philly cops have also started to go bezerk with writing tickets in the neighborhood. They are now ticketing people for small parking infractions. Parking is just getting worse in MYK.


It isn't like I live extremely deep into Rox. I live right on the border of MYK and Rox. Above Manyunk Ave. on Leverington. Plenty of parking. ALL of Main St. is an easy walk. Plus there a few gems on Ridge as well like Lennie's for instance and also the fact that I can walk to a Wachovia branch.



I agree, if you don't need a car to get to work etc. then MYK starts to become a more viable alternative. However, the OP said his GF needs a car so.....

I agree -- anything around Manayunk Ave or a little above is easier and still VERY walkable to Main. I think you get the best of both worlds there. I'm farther up the hill, but that's fine with me because I'm a little old for the Main St. bar scene (I tend to go down there less often, but I like being able to still walk on a pretty day -- just not worried about hiking home late at night like the bar goers) and I appreciate the multiple bus routes to CC than run along Ridge. Plus, I can walk to do all of my errands here in Rox. I can get home really late at night and still find parking within a short walk of home. I often think of how glad I am I didn't buy down near Main, even though that seemed more appealing right at first; the parking would have made me nuts and limited my choices a lot.

If you will be working in Center City, living near the Ivy Ridge, Manayunk, Wissahickon, or East Falls train stations is much better than living near the 9 or 27 bus routes, as they aren't nearly as nice as the train. If you are going to be working in the suburban areas not near the R6 (as most jobs in Conshohocken are), living in an area with easy parking starts to make sense. The question you need to ask yourself is "Will my life be car-based or not?" Most people spend about an hour per day in their cars, which is an hour they would be better off spending by exercising or reading. From Manayunk you can commute into Center City or to Conshohocken by bike. I personally would not choose and have not chosen a car-based lifestyle. The recent runup in the price of gas has had a very marginal effect on me.

I'm not sure they know yet. That's why I think splitting the difference might be wise, at least for the short term. Look near the Wissahickon train station and you'll have the most transit options available, plus tons of available transfers at the Wissahickon bus transfer center. And you can still keep a car until you know whether you'll really need it. Then all your bases are covered.