My husband and I are seriously considering purchasing a home in the Graduate Hospital area, but we're not too sure about the area. I lived near Rittenhouse for almost 15 years and always felt safe, but I don't know how comfortable we would be living south of South. What's the area like at night, and what are the "hot spots" we should avoid when looking at homes?

Also, it almost appears that the market is being saturated with new construction. Are any of the new houses being sold (we see very few real estate transaction notices in the newspaper for the area), or will we be stuck with a moderately expensive house in an area that doesn't continue to grow?

We hear lots of good things about the possibilities for the area, but would like to hear from people currently living there if the good things are actually happening.

Hello--

I just responded to another post about SWCC. My husband and I recently moved to the East end of graduate hospital. It is definitely an area in flux, but we've been comfortable and have no reason to believe the area will become stagnant. I'm new to city living so am probably much more cautious than the average city dweller, but have seen no real evidence that (at least this end) of Graduate Hospital is unsafe. I recommend you read the posts on the SWCC forum and feel free to PM me about specific questions. Many people who post on this board have lived in this area for quite some time and can offer more insight.

There are definately areas that I still would not recommend going at night. Is it an area in flux. So there may be some risk with your safety on the wrong block, but nothing ventured nothing gained right? It is changing quickly. I know I didn't feel safe on my block sometimes a few years ago... now I have to go South a few blocks to feel that way.

My wife and I (JillyS) moved to GH about 4 months ago from the burbs. There is a TON of construction going on. It seems like some homes are overpriced and sitting for a while, but I still see new residents post on this board all the time. It still seems like there is a huge influx into the new homes/renovations they may sit a few months, but I think eventually the price gets negotiated and they still seem to be selling. I feel like the more that get rehabbed, the quicker they will sell as there becomes less and less vacant shells.

As for safety, we're down on the East end near Broad. It's pretty quite near us, I've only noticed "sketchy" activity in one area, 16th and Catharine, but that's stopped for the winter, hopefully it stays that way once it warms up. It sounds like there is a ton of new stuff in the works for the 15-1800 blocks of South, with the possibility of a few new larger stores coming in. I think with the growth of Broad (Symphony House, The condos at Broad and South, and Dranoff development coming to Broad and Catharine) that the commercial aspect of those blocks will start to take off, along with the residential blocks to the south.

I posted the same question and got a lot of positive responses (I think it was part of the "Naval Square" thread, if you're interested in looking). My fiance and I are also looking to buy in Grad. Hosp. area, and after chatting with people on this board and driving around the area and talking to some people, we're pretty confident about moving here. Now, we just have to find the right house! We're looking in the west end of the area - around 19th-25th Streets, north of Washington. Good luck!

Oh good! Of course I would love to see more people on the "east end", but I'm glad you've narrowed down a location. Good luck and keep us posted on where you end up!

I think that if you look at blocks just behind South between 20th and 23rd you'll feel, and find them to be, perfectly safe. This is particularly true today, given the additional foot traffic resulting from the opening of a bunch of new, cool commercial establishments (like LaVa, 10 Stone, and Ants Pants), with many, many more on the way.

To answer your question, yes, the new houses are being sold. Two houses on the 700 block of South 22nd are under contract right now for ~$375k each, and I see on philly.com that one on 21st & Catharine sold several months ago for $360k.

I look at the sales listings in that area every week and see at least one to three transactions in my immediate area. If I recall correctly, last week houses were sold on the 2000 blocks of Kater and Christian. Each was around $375k or so. I'm not sure what sales are like in the larger GH area, or how the frequency of sales in it compare to other areas directly outside CC, but I'm pleased with the activity I see in the few blocks around me. I can also tell you that decent people pack the new neighborhood bars and cafes that have sprung up (see above, plus Sidecar) over the past three years. Many of the patrons have recently moved to the area. In fact, I was just talking to someone who used to live on 20th & Bainbridge but who now lives on 3rd & Mkt. He said he wishes he still lived on 20th & Bainbridge.

The transformation of the area is gaining momentum, not losing it. In another thread, someone moving in to Naval Square said that people are moving in gradually and that we'll likely see the effects of the development in about 6 mos to a year. Add that to the mix, not to mention a ton of other commercial and residential projects (see, e.g., Sam Switzenbaum's project) already underway, and you have this great network effect happening right now. It's really amazing to watch.

As you can tell, I'm very up on the area. There are a lot of residents here committed to seeing it progress. I see little chance that you'll feel "stuck" with a moderately expensive home. Ideally, and for obvious reasons, you'll want to live as close to CC as possible. With that, and if your budget allows, I'd recommend looking at houses on Kater, Bainbridge, Pemberton, Fitzwater, St. Albans, and Catharine between 20th and 23rd. I have no reason to head south of Catharine (except to go to Sidecar), so you'd probably want to hear about that area from other posters.

Oh, you said that you've lived "near" Rittenhouse for a while. I don't know how close you've been, but at .5 miles from Rittenhouse, that's pretty darn near it. One of the reasons I love GH is that I get to walk through the park 2 times a day, and nothing beats walking through it in the spring and summer.

Good luck searching for your home. Take your time.

Torts

The neighborhood's great! I'm at 19th and Kater. It was a good neighborhood already when I moved here (2 1/2 years ago), but it's been amazing to see the pace of improvement since. I think what shows that we've really turned a corner for good is the way the commercial side has picked up too. Ants Pants, LaVa, Grace, Sidecar, ... have all come in since I've been here. Great places and all seem to be thriving.

TJ

I've lived here ten years, on the 2000 block of Christian Street. We own the house behind us (vacant) and that was broken into twice in 1998, but improved security fixed that, and as far as we know there's never been an attempt against our main house. We're pretty visible in the community so folks know us and we know them and we feel pretty safe.

My sense is that the "tipping point" has been reached and that it will continue to grow. After all, it's the only "affordable" neighborhood close to both Center City and the University of Pennsylvania. It's fairly well served by public transportation and most of the really critical amenities are within walking distance. While I imagine that home prices will level out a bit, especially as interest rates continue to rise, I'm sure that property here will be a good investment in the traditional sense -- i.e., for those who plan to stay here for awhile.

You might want to consider attending SOSNA's March 8 meeting to check out some of your potential neighbors and get a feel for the safety issues. It's a meeting on public safety. Details are somewhere in this web section -- the thread title is something like "two urgent SOSNA public safety meetings."

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