We are going to be in the housing market (again) very soon. My absolute favorite part of the city is Washington square west, but I have resolved that we are just never going to find anything remotely accessible there (in terms of price)--I think we missed the boat. Anyway, my second choices are Bella Vista, QV, and Southwest Center City. I am soliciting opinions from EVERYONE about which of these three neighborhoods you think is best. If you have reasons why (and time to list them!), that would be even better!

Some facts to keep in mind about us:
1) We have a one-year old that we want to raise in the city.
2) We want to be able to walk to work (Indepence Hall area) or take easy public transportation (we especially like the BSL).
3) We do not drive and do not own a car. We have no intention of EVER buying a car.

Thanks so much for sharing your opinion/information with me.

ol tex, WSW is my favorite area as well and I'm in the same boat...or ratehr missed the same boat.
I like QV a lot but I am also a carless person and QV is not entirely pedestrian friendly. simply put, it is too bus reliant. My favorite line is the BSL (it seems we share some of the same tastes). That leaves Bella vista and Graduate Hospital. I would urge you to consider as far south as passyunk and broad in south philly and nothing east of ninth (for transit purposes). the closer to broad the better from that perspective.
Transit benefits for grad hospital: some 24 hour buses, north areas are withing walking distance of the PATCO line. easter area is close to BSL.
However, I'd be more partial to bella vista/south philly east of broad because it's less developing and more developed (with a 1 year old in mind for safety). also, from a pedestrian perspective its closer to ninth st market (for shopping for fresh food) and within walking distance of the super fresh/CVS/Whole Foods at 10th and south. Also, the 23 bus takes you to and from the terminal. And, Washington Ave on the east side has come a long way fast. It's actually a "destination" as far as getting good ethnic food instead of a street to be avoided.

Ol Tex,

I have lived in Bella Vista for the past year and a half and my wife and I love it.

We are around the corner from the Italian Market so fresh foods and vegetables, Sarcones, and Isgro's to name a few are right there.

Also, it is only 2 miles to Center City so I walk to work.

Bella Vista is a mixed neighborhood. The Italians that once dominated the neighborhood have either moved away or are older. People moving into my immediate neighborhood are young couples (young professionals or DINKs). There are not alot of children. However there are alot of small parks in the neighborhood and I always see young couples congregating with their children.

Bella Vista also is home to the Christopher Columbus Charter school, which from what I have heard is a good public school.

BV is also close to alot of things. Walk to Penns Landing to watch the Fireworks, walk to the BSL and catch a Phillies game, walk to see Summer Mummers, walk to Independence Hall and on and on. It is centrally located.

All of that being said my wife and I are expecting our first child at the end of the month and we will be moving to Jefferson Square in September.

If we were only planning on one child then we would never consider leaving our 2 bedroom BV home.

I would strongly urge you to consider Queen Village from a parental perspective because its neighborhood elementary school, Meredith, is one of the best and strongest in the city - the envy of other neighborhoods. Check out the Phila School District website & look around a bit for Meredith - you should (hopefully) be able to find some information on the school's catchment area. However, home prices within its catchment may not be much better than in Wash West.

There are two Philly CarShare pods in the area (238 Queen and 7th & Christian), so you could join to have some car access when you need it.

I haven't spent much time in GH, but I live in QV and run around between there and the Italian Market a lot. The BV seems to have more of the old-timers and QV seems a bit yuppier. BV also has an artistic flavor to the houses in some areas that I just love.

BV/QV seems ideal for you as far as commuting goes. For other transportation, I guess it is rather bus-centric, but there's a lot within walking distance. Route 57 (on 3rd/4th) is a nightmare at rush hours but routes 12 and 40 originate just north of QV so they're easy to get on. Target/Shop Rite is a 20-minute walk, there's two big supermarkets at 10th & South and a smaller one at 5th & Pine, tons of restaurants on South Street (both casual/cheap and upscale), Chef's Market for fancy foods, video stores, pharmacies, even a couple of kids' shoe and clothing stores ... the reason I chose QV was because of how accessible everything was. If I need to get downtown it's a 15 minute walk to the MFL. The only time I use a car is when I am buying a lot of groceries.

We have no kids and aren't planning on it, but if we did we'd still be here. There are kids everywhere. I have teen neighbors who were raised on my street, and there are also lots of little kids (under 8). I have a few neighbors who sit on the stoop every evening and know everybody.

As far as I'm concerned, there ARE no downsides to living here. If you have more specific questions based on your personal criteria I can give my take on those.

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Monica

I second South Philly. I moved from Grad Hosp a couple months ago. I wish I would have done so a couple of years ago. Prices have gone up, but compared to the other areas they are still very reasonable. The 5 min walk to BSL makes going to work a breeze. Leave the house at 7:30, at work before 8:00.

Meredith could be good if they did not bus in kids from other parts of the city. That is the problem with Philadelphia, once an area gentrifies they find a way to screw up the neighborhood by changing the dynamic of the school. It is my personal belief that all schools should be neighborhood schools as this makes it easier for parental involvement and for a sense of pride in the community with regard to their schools. When you start busing different kids from the same neighborhood who may live on the same block to 4, 5 even 6 different schools throughout the city you destroy the whole concept of the school as a focal point of the community.

The latest PSSA 5th grade results for Meredith demonstrate that the school ranks in the bottom quintile in the region for Math and Reading and that only 45% of the students scored at the advanced or proficient levels in Math and only 57% in reading. It would be better to get your kids to test into GAMP (81% advanced or proficient in math and 80% in reading) which is in South Philly as their test scores are much better. Of course if you can get them into Masterman that is the best public school in the entire state. GAMP and Masterman both rank in the top quintile in the region. All of this data can be found in the Inquirer's Report Card on the Schools which I save each year.

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/l...l_report_card/

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"If you have the courage to begin, you have the courage to succeed." -- David Viscott