45th and Osage is an excellent corner.

46th between Spruce and Locust seems nice but I don't know it as well.

The boundaries in West Philly are very hard to define. The UCity district is officially defined here: http://www.ucityphila.org/cityguide
and can roughly be described as the river on the east, Spring Garden, Powelton, Market on the North, 50th and 49th on the West, and Woodland on the South. But you will see very few UCity and Penn safety patrols at 49th and Woodland!

The boundaries have more to do with your comfort level than with actual situations. Some areas look and feel safer than others. Lewblum is right about 45th and Osage. I'm guessing there were many more petty property crimes in this block than there were in mine -- I live at 51st and Osage and it's a great area. But one block away at 52nd and Larchwood saw several shootings and killings in the last year.

I've offered this advice to others before: spend some time in the area you are considering. The midnight test is a great one: go to the corner or block you are thinking of moving too at midnight on a Friday or Saturday. If it seems like you would be comfortable then, you will be comfortable all the time.

I think Spruce Hill would claim this block, considering their office is on 45th btwn Spruce and Locust.

researchvet, this block is not in the ghetto.

Someone should create a "perceptions" map of West Philly.

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My restlessness is my nemesis.

I wouldn't rank it "ghetto" at all.

Take what Seand said as accurate. There are sections of W. Phila, that
are not part of University City, which are not ghetto. However because
they are overwhelming made up of black residents some on this blog
and other places may define them as "ghetto" when they have never
personally been there.

Speaking of an W. Phila area(north of Market St, near 46th St and Haverford.)
that was very blighted as little 5 years ago, one can see now that the
neighborhood has been entirely rebuilt. Many may not like the "suburban look"
of these homes, but compared to what was there before(blight
and abandonment) it looks like paradise. This area is about a 5 minute
drive away from 46th(Spruce/Locust).

I have had a continuous family presence in W. Phila(further west
than UCity) for almost 100 years so, in a sense, I consider myself
a native of W. Phila. My sister currently lives in a house my paternal
grandparents owned in a black middle-class section Seand mentioned.

I don't live in W. Phila., btw. I live in Spring Garden.

Oh, yes, good friends of mine used to live in the 4500 block of Osage Ave.
so when others say the immediate area is fine believe them!

Since you are concerned about police coverage, where Penn Police
exact range ends is taken over by PPD whose district headquarters
is at 55th and Pine Sts in the heart of the black middle class area
Seand talked about. I think many Penn people/UC people who
think 55th and Pine is a "ghetto" would be amazed at the quality
of most of the houses around there. Mayor Nutter grew up not
far away from there(55th and Larchwood) too.

I've spent a lot of pleasurable afternoons at the Malcolm X Park at 52nd
and Pine too. I didn't feel one second of fear.

Well, I miss-read how you were originally responding; you're correct.

Yes, I remember your familial connections to W. Phila.

I live at Locust & Farragut - Farragut runs between 46th & 47th. Penn security actually DOES come out that far. I've seen them riding up my street. Not as often, but they're there.

46th Street is beautiful. In that area, Locust is kind of a border - if you go much north of it, you can see that the neighborhood tends to be not as nice. The area between Spruce and Locust is not bad - kind of pretty, and gets much prettier as you head south on 46th Street. By the time you get to Baltimore, the neighborhood is truly *gorgeous.* South of Baltimore it starts to get not as nice again.

That street has a rep among my friends though - a couple of them have been mugged or followed on 46th. To be frank, sometimes a beautiful neighborhood draws crime. I've never had any problem personally.

45th and Osage is lovely. Osage in general is really pretty, actually.

There is a theory about University City (that I partially ascribe to myself) that areas which extra-studenty draw more of some types of crime because a lot of wannabe muggers (many of which are quite young themselves) percieve Penn students to be easy marks. According to this theory living on nice blocks west of 45th is actually safer from muggings, etc. but you may get more smaller property crimes like smashed car windows.

"Penn security" - i.e. the UCD safety ambassadors on bikes - officially cover the entire district to 50th. Technically UCD is a seperate organization that serves anybody in the district that wants join, though Penn is the institutional giant and excercises a ton of defacto clout. The Penn transport loop bus free to students and faculty comes out to 48th, FWIW.

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Barack Obama on security, Iraq and Afghanistan. We need a Commander in Chief who knows the differences between Shii'a and Sunni.

And if penn security is not present, a mix of street smarts and H&K should do fine also.

I was under the impression that there was also Penn security guards stationed at various intersections throughout the night. Someone told me they went out to 43rd but not beyond. Do you know much about that?

I know that 46th and Locust is not literally a ghetto-- I was using the words, in quotes, that others were using about parts of West Philly. However, I've had a number of people, not all sheltered suburbanites, tell me that the area of 46th and Locust is a border zone and not so safe. (See even what kemidra wrote regarding this.) So, no, it's clearly not the ghetto. However, how do you feel about the safety of the area? It's clear that as one walks south, 46th becomes full of beautiful houses. However, at 46th and Locust there are some boarded up houses and the like. Have you been to the block? What do you think?

H and K? Hit and kick?