Ah, I did not know those were all the same neighborhood.

Is that area pretty safe? It looks like it is booming.

This is the funniest statement I've ever heard on phillyblog.

I guess safe is relative. I've convinced myself and my wife that it is safe enought to move there and raise our unborn child there. I have friends on Christian and 15th and they have always felt safe.

I guess since I've lived in cities since I graduated where parking was really only possible where 1. you had to pay for metered or monthly parking or 2. you might have to walk a half mile to get home from where your parking spot was.

I find that I walk never more than one block to the car. That is nothing compared to what I had to do when I went to college. We certainly don't have the issues you have in CC and the areas of SP where you park in the middle of the street and have to call your neighbor to move their car if they box you in.

Southwest Center City is nothing like that.

it's true. at least the parking part. i park in front of my house almost every night. when i can't park directly in front of my house, i am never more than a half block away.

one thing i do notice is that a lot of people park their cars in my neighborhood, then catch the c bus north to commute to jobs in center city. but even this doesn't cause parking problems, in my opinion.

__________________
SWCC/Graduate Hospital

"The state of your life is nothing more than a reflection of your state of mind. " - Dr. Wayne W. Dyer

I think parking is one reason SWCC prices have climbed. Of all of the rest of SP and CC, we have the best parking situation in terms of availibility and safety on average.

But are we the suburbs, no. The only equivalent of the suburban driveway here is a lot or garage that you rent or own. But in SWCC, there is a garage spot for rent now listed for rent for $75 per month. That is much less than the $125 to $150 you'd expect to pay in CC or Fairmount.

In SWCC we also have Phillycarshare where you can essentiallly rent a car when you need it, such as cute hybrids, and let Larry worry about the car issues.

I've been reading this thread and thought I should chime in.. My impressions of all of these areas are based on little information - the occassional visit here and there.. I wouldn't even say I can speak on my neighborhood with authority until I've been here for a while..

My impression of Bella Vista and Queen Village are that they are already "there" in terms of "stability" and safety.. And are also fairly homogenous, racially..

But if you are just as or more concerned with diversity as safety, I think you should consider SWCC/Grad Hospital.. My impression is that before the boom the neighborhood was mostly (in the 90% region) African American, and the boom brought in a decent number of whites on the Western and Northern blocks of this area..

(Of course, is not a 75/25 or 85/15 % mix of black and white fairly homogenous? Such a mix means 'diverse' to some, not others.. I, personally , was a little bummed since I get the feeling that less Latinos and Asians were moving in.. It seems that Passyunk Square area is the place for that, and my 'north of Washington' bias might have been unfounded.. then again I wanted to walk to U City.. maybe this is all too much info..)

My impression is that the place looks "scarier" than it is.. You said earlier that you don't have a big problem with transitional neighborhoods and a little non-violent drug activity doesn't bother you.. Maybe after a year here I can tell you that that's what you'll find here with more confidence, but that's my feeling today..

I know that opinion widely varies on this neighborhood, if you can call it that (I would like to).. I think there are others on this board with more knowledge than me on these neighborhoods, but these are my two cents..

Though this area is not loaded with high-quality restaurants, bars and boutiques like BV and QV, we found a decent-sized (around 950 sq ft not including basement) two-bedroom with a 15x15 back patio for less than $250K. There are no meters, and if we don't find parking in front of our house (happens about 5% of the time) we find it within 2 blocks. Monks is a 10 minute walk away. I'm pretty happy..

Parking will get bad once the area is filled up with 2 car 'young professional' households. Id bet a few shekels that it will happen...in 3-4 years possibly.

Also, once all the lower income black folks are pushed out, SWCC will be as homogeneous as Queen Village. Diverse does not, and will not apply to this area in a broad/true sense.

The only non depressed area that IMO is truly diverse, would be UCity. All the others in/near CC are quite homogeneous.

It's strange..

I had been hankering for some SWCC/grad hosp. love on these pages, and this thread seems to have brought some out..

Maybe I've been reading this blog/board way too much lately and need to get some work done..

After researching 5 or 6 hoods in Philly so far (Mt Airy, Manayunk/Rox, and now QV/BV, Passayunk Sq., Grad Hosp), I'm thinking the last two sounds like what we are after. Pretty diverse, pretty safe, pretty walkable, pretty decent schools, pretty inexpensive (by DC standards that is, where our Little 2 BR House in the Hood will sell for right around 550-600k).

Don't know anything about U City- is that worth looking at?