yeah, we're 9th & tasker and we're 19148.

Tasker St itself is, I believe, 19148. Everything north of Tasker St (including Cross and Greenwich) is 19147.

That sounds about right. Besides, I don't live in Philly, nor have I ever lived in Philly, so what do I know?!?!

Hey, Unionchick. Your posts (and others here) motivated me to write b/c I live in Passyunk Square just off of Passyunk Ave. in the vicinity that Neil and Stinkweed have explained (zip 19147) , and I also lived in Manayunk and what you referred to as "White Washington" in the upper NW, having gone to American U for undergrad (talk about frats and sororities!). While Manayunk definitely has a different feel than some downtown areas, I haven't seen any neighborhood within the Philadelphia boundries that's anything like the NW corner of DC.

I agree that Manayunk is nowhere near as diverse as this area of S. Philly. Manayunk/Roxborough has certain great characteristics. It can be a very charming neighborhood and I did feel safe there, but the perks to be enjoyed in Passyunk Sq are wonderful, especially if your seeking diversity. On my block alone there are two young couples, one with a toddler, and another who plan on starting a family there in the future. There is also wonderful youngish Vietnamese family across the street, an elderly couple, some middle aged couples with families, etc. I am a (sort of) single female and feel very safe in the neighborhood. There have been less home robberies in this area than there were on my block in Manayunk, as far as I know that have been reported. No gang activity that i know of. In addition to the Broad St. subway, there are also buses that run regularly North and South on 7th & 8th Streets, respectively. And you get more for your $ here. As a matter of fact, the 4BR house right next door to me was purchased by an investor, gutted and remodeled, and is for sale in your price range. Feel free to PM me and I'll be happy to share the address if you feel you could use a more directed lead than just searching by zip code.

Unionchick,

I think you would enjoy living in Pass. Square. It is close to great restaurants, the Broad Street Subway, shopping on Ninth Street (my family has been in S. Philly for four generations and we have always called it Ninth Street, not the Italian Market).

As for schools, I can't give you much info except that the main elementary school is the Andrew Jackson school. I don't know how good or bad it is. My impression is that it's not so hot because most folks prefer to send there kids to the Annunciation BVM catholic school. Truth be told, I don't know how much better that school is, but perhaps the parents feel it's just "safer". Since part of Pass. Square (the section north of Passyunk Ave.) is in the Center City secondary catchment, you have a better chance at getting into schools like Greenfield, McCall, or Meredith, but it is by lottery. I'm not sure of the quality of Christopher Columbus Charter School, either, but I know my cousin's daughter recently graduated from there, and they had many good things to say about it.

Someone mentioned Jenks earlier. That was a very good school when I was there over twenty-five years ago, and I'm sure it hasn't changed much. The area around may be a little bland for your tastes, but it is a good, safe neighborhood. I just think it lacks the diversity you are looking for. (My father still lives around there, and I visit often.)

HIG, do you mean west of Pass Ave.?

uc,

Also consider Bella Vista. It is the neighborhood that the Italian Market is in. It is safer, IMO, than most of SP, closer to Center City, has the Christopher Columbus Charter school, great restaurants, bakeries, close enough to South Street to walk over whenever...but far enough away that you won't be woken up by the revelers.

BV is North of Washington Ave. It is an area of SP that borders CC/Queen Village/Society Hill.

That being said my wife and I moved from BV earlier this year with our newborn to Jefferson Square, which border Passyunk Square (because our BV home was 2 bedrooms and we were starting a family). This area is definitely rough around the edges, but I have never felt unsafe and their is alot of new investment in the neighborhood.

-UC

Not really, though anyone in the city can file a "transfer" form that requests transfer from one's local neighborhood school to another. There's no guarantee there will be a place for kids from outside the catchment after the kids from within the catchment are accomodated.

You may be thinking of the so-called Center City Network:

http://centercityschools.org/

which supposedly confers a greater likelihood of getting accepted for transfer to kids living in an expanded zone from roughly Poplar on the north to Washington Ave. on the south. Two problems with this, however: 1) there's no proof as yet that this will work, since it's not an initiative of the School District proper and 2) Passyunk East is not within the given boundaries. Bella Vista is, though. Queen Village, immediately east of BV, has a great neighborhood elementary school, Meredith, but of course QV is expensive.

I second this recommendation. I live in Queen Village, and love it, but would be equally happy (and with a bit more space) just a few blocks over in Bella Vista. The prices have definitely gone up over the last couple of years, but it's still more manageable than many areas. Also, at least parts of Bella Vista are in the Meredith school catchment, and Meredith is one of the top ranked public elementary schools.

We moved here from Manhattan 4 years ago, pretty much sight unseen and knowing essentially nothing about Philadelphia. We bought a house in QV that we saw once for 10 minutes (I had looked at 5 others only). Although we hope to send our kids to public school we didn't look into it before we moved, since we thought we'd only be here a couple of years. I wouldn't recommend anyone make decisions with as little research as we. And yet - everything worked out perfectly. Within weeks we knew we had found a home in Philadelphia. We're hoping to renovate our current house to be able to stay here for the long haul. And we hope Meredith continues to stay at the top of the public school ranking! (We have a 2 year old). We really love the QV/BV area, (it may not be as diverse as you're looking for, though) and love that we can live in a city but still have a truly comfortable residential life. It's a big improvement over my 750-sq. foot Manhattan one-bedroom!

Part of Pass Sq is in the catchment. Jackson elementry is across the street from my house, which is in the catchment. Jackson's catment goes from BV down to passyunk west to broad.

just to clarify, Jefferson Sq and Passyunk Sq are two totally different neighborhoods. Pass Sq is not the one of the hot neighborhoods in the city but it is a little further along than Jefferson Sq.

All being equal I would have chosen to remain in BV when I moved also. But I would say the neighborhoods south of BV and QV are more diverse which was one of three items she was looking for. The others being safety and schools.
If she visits and sees that the diversity in QV is acceptable I'd recommend moving there. When she first posted I recommended UC.