I asked around in BV/QV and it seems that parking and a yard are out of he question in those areas. What about in Passyunk Sq. area?

In South Philly you typically will only get parking if you move into a new house (new homes are required to have garages ... I think).

As for a yard....Not many homes have real yards with grass. A nice cement yard the size of a rowhouse kitchen seems to be the norm.

-UC

unionchick, i sent you a pm. i wasn't clear, but our backyard space is, in fact, concrete. no green except for the plants we've put out there.

and for anyone else who's curious: after living in cc, i love not having to have a permit to park in SP. and depending on what time of day i'm coming or going, i can usually find a spot on my block and maybe even in front of my house. :clapping:

That's typical of most rowhouse neighborhoods, at least those built in the 19th century. Theoretically each rowhouse is wide enough to park one car in front of it, but with some multi-car households the whole thing kind of gets thrown off.

Some houses built in the 20s or later will have parking and/or a small porch/yard in front, but that's more the exception than the rule.

Yes, new houses are required to have one parking space. Am I the only one that thinks this is a stupid idea? Anyway, with the exception of the newest homes, you won't get parking anywhere in south philly (although I have seen houses that have enormous lots big enough to squeeze a car in). Sometimes people own the lot next to them and use it to park a car. Such cases are rare though. Get used to parking on the street. As for a yard, you won't have one of those in the traditional sense. You'll get a concrete patio out back as wide as the house, but typically they only go back another 3 to maybe 10 feet max. Depends on how far the kitchen was built out.

Let me also point out that just because you might be able to fit a car in front of your house doesn't mean you own that spot. Anybody can park there any time. Also, parking is only on one side of the street on side streets.

In most of the outlying neighborhoods parking is not as bad as people's complaining will make you think. Granted, if you're in the habit of coming back late in the evening you may have to hunt for a space for a while and park a few blocks from your place, but that's city living for you.

I also do not like the mandated 1 parking space per new unit of housing. Theoretically it's to appease neighbors who always get in an uproar when new housing goes in, but in point of fact what it usually leads to is garages along the fronts of the new houses. This has two effects: 1) it kills the street scape, since no-one really wants to hang out in front of a bunch of ugly, blank garage doors; and 2) it doesn't help the parking situation at all. In fact, it makes it worse, because it eliminates a publicly-accessible street space and replaces it with a private garage, thereby removing that space from availability.

True, but on a street wide enough to accomodate parking on both sides, you would theoretically have enough spaces for everyone if every household had only one car (and if nobody from outside parked on the block). I know this is a theoretical, not actual situation, but my point was mainly that street parking should work in principle.

OK, that is pretty much what we deal with here in DC- we have like a 10x10 backyard (grass)-- teeny but enough to put the dog in if he has to go in the middle of the night. And we don't have parking now- not a problem in my current hood but has been in trendier hoods I have llived in.
Thanks.

Agreed. You may not techincally "own" a spot, but I have never found parking to be difficult in our area. There's no real need for a garage. I always find a spot at least within a couple of blocks and I don't have to drive around for 45 minutes to get it. I'm not positive, but in BV it may be similar. In QV, street parking seems more difficult.