I'm a single female in my late 20s contemplating a job transfer. My company is located in the Cira Centre on Arch Street. I’ve been there a few times, but always business related, I stayed in nearby hotels and never had the time to explore. So……I need help on the “living there” aspect of things. All I know right now is that the Cira Centre is outside of Center City and in west University City which really doesn’t mean much to me at this point.

My colleagues haven’t been too much help because they have families, and contrary to them I’m very cosmopolitan. Now I know there are all types of interpretations of that word, but for me it simply means- I love to be in nice areas with diverse people and social opportunities that don't involve children or students. (Sorry if that offends anyone, not intentional)

I also don’t really like apartment complexes, but don’t mind small apartment buildings. Ultimately, my preference is a house. I'm willing to spend about $1300/mo in rent. I am also considering buying a nice duplex or multi-home type house for about 300K if it’s worth the investment. Lastly, I have a car but would prefer to catch the train or take a cab to work on most days so would like to stay in areas within reasonable commute

Knowing all this, are there any places that have a nice walkable neighborhood and a social atmosphere that a young single black female could enjoy? I’ll be there the week of May 5th and would love to check out the recommended neighborhoods then

Thanks very much in advance for the responses….I’ll also appreciate any thoughts on the economy, real estate market, taxes and anything at all that anyone deems relevant

Near Baltimore Ave. between 47th and 51st. street should be nice. You'll have a hard time finding a nice place for $300,000 that's closer to University city.

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Hi! I'm surprised no one has responded yet. I'll take a stab at it.

You'll be at 29th and Arch, which is really on the border of Center City and University City. I always considered 30th St. where University City -- which, by the way, is a section of West Philly -- starts. University City runs to about 50th St. and after that point it's considered plain ol' West Philly.

Since you don't want to be around students or kids, I'd opt to live in Center City and just hop on the subway to get to work. It's a short trip. University City is where Penn and Drexel are, and while it's a nice, leafy urban area, it's also student-heavy and pretty family friendly. That's not to say it's uncool or anything. There's a lot of diversity -- even anarchists live in University City! It's a bit grittier, has more of an edge, yet it's walkable...kind of like Brooklyn.

Center City, on the other hand, is more like Manhattan. Tons of cool restaurants and bars, lots of diversity, cultural stuff, sidewalk restaurants, Rittenhouse Park, great shopping -- it's all there. It's very walkable, and depending on where you live in Center City, you could even be within walking distance to 29th and Arch. A con of living in Center City is that it's difficult to find parking. When I lived there, I rented a space for a little over $100 a month. It might make sense to sell you car. Philly also has a ride share thing where you can sign up for and it allows you to rent a car from the city.

Thirdly, you could look at Fairmount. This is also known as the Art Museum District. See, since you'll be working in west Center City/not quite UC, you have a lot of options. Fairmount is, I think, slightly more yuppie and a little overpriced, but it's very nice and walkable with brownstones and the like, plus it's right near Fairmount Park, Philly's biggest park. It's also home to the Philadelphia Museum of Art and a few other cultural sites. Fairmount seems to be populated by a certain strain of baby boomer/empty nester...but again, walkable, diverse, cool in its own way.

Given your budget, you could easily live in UC, Center City or Fairmount. As far as owning a place, things are so volatile right now...I just bought a rehabbed rowhouse in the Graduate Hospital area (southwest Center City) for $352k, and I think you could find something within your range but things seem to be shifting to rapidly! I have a wonderful realtor and I could give you her contact info.

What else...Let's see. These parts of Philly don't have apartment complexes really. There are apartment buildings, you know, walkups or with elevators.

If you do buy a place, it would make sense to find one that's been newly rehabbed inside. i don't know if anyone's told you but Philly taxes are terrible. But if you own a rehabbed house, you get a tax abatement so you pay what the taxes were before the rehabbing took place. The abatement on the house i bought lasts for eight years.

I've probably given you more information than you wanted, but I know how hard it is to move to a new place. Let me know if you have any other questions and I'll try to help!

Are you smoking crack? Have you ever looked at what people in other major cities pay in real estate taxes? What people in the Philly suburbs pay?

I think the poster is referring to the wage tax, which we all know is pretty awful.

But he started talking about tax abatement, which is property tax, not wage.

D'oh! You're right. I read too fast.

The tax abatement is nice, but even regular property taxes are a drop in the bucket compared to the wage tax.

At least those people's taxes go into the school district, rather than the Philly black hole. Looks like that will slowly change, though, based on the current administration's first proposed budget (assuming we get enough support from city council)... well, not the school district part. I think they plan to fix that by increasing the share of the city's tax revenue that comes from real estate, which would take a while.

As for the property tax abatement, I believe you can apply for an abatement on any repairs you make to your property that could cause your taxes to go up (I.e. you're required to get a permit from L&I for them). You wouldn't know that from listening to City Controller Butkovitz, though. Not sure how the City Controller managed to be ignorant on how the city's tax abatement works

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If you don't hate students too much I would suggest looking in University city itself. You could get a place that would actually be with in walking distance of the Cira Center. Also, you could look at the Western Edge of Center City. There is a mix of smaller houses and large apartment and condo complexes in the area and once again you could find a place within a short walk of your work. Some of the hoods to look in Western Center City are Logan Square, Filter Square and the western parts of Rittenhouse square.

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I live in University City (near Baltimore and 42nd) and I love it. It has green leafy streets, safe at night, and lots of glorious Victorian and Arts & Crafts style homes. There are plenty of restaurants, cafes, bookshops, galleries, etc. Yes there are a lot of students, but that gives the neighborhood a youthful and lively ambience.

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