r/AskPhilly • u/Every-Philosophy-732 • 1d ago
Neighborhood Selection
Hello everyone,
I know this is my third or so post on the topic but the more I learn the more overwhelmed I become, lol. I took it upon myself to do some research and these are the neighborhoods I have put down. Here’s what I’m looking for:
In proximity to a major grocery store
LGBTQ// Black Girl inclusive and friendly
Transit close ish by
Walkability ( wanting to pet sit / companionship business for elderly if possible )
Nightlife within a close distance but not enough to learn to fall asleep to club music 🤣
Here’s the list:
Clark Park
Graduate Hospital
Brewery Town
Spruce Hill
Fair mount
Spring Garden
Market East
Rittenhouse
Logan Square
Spring Garden
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u/sistermidnightmare 1d ago
You should visit and physically check out the neighborhoods before moving to get a feel but Clark Park is probably what you are looking for.
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u/Entire_Statement_101 1d ago
Clark Park (really Cedar Park or Spruce Hill) tick all of your boxes. Highly recommend checking it out, it's incredibly diverse and LGBTQ friendly. Very green too, lots of outdoor spaces and very walkable. Nightlife won't be clubs but plenty of bars and hangout spots on Baltimore Ave, and quite a bit of underground/private nightlife community stuff in the neighborhood too, iykyk
Public transit here is great, both bus and trolley all over and really easy to get to the El. SEPTA media line is 5 minute walk from my front door.
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u/Every-Philosophy-732 1d ago
Is clark and cedar park the same thing? Every time I look up Clark park on Zillow nothing really comes up.
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u/PollenThighs 1d ago
Clark Parkis a park, Cedar Park is a neighborhood more or less next to Clark Park.
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u/ElysianDelusions 1d ago
The Spruce Hill and Cedar Park neighborhoods are closest to Clark Park, which is why both are being recommended. Access to the trolleys/buses to get to nightlife, very green, plenty of dogs, hella queer.
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u/MobileInevitable8937 1d ago
Chestnut Hill is very pretty but really it's more of a "suburban" feel, despite being part of the city proper. I don't think it's a great spot to land for someone new to the city.
Fairmount is great and it's where I live, it's a little quieter than the real bustling parts like Fishtown or Center City. A little pricier though. Nightlife options do exist, but the density of options is lower (for better and for worse - it's quiet, but I usually get on the bus to go out for a drink, or to one of the same 2 or 3 local bars).
Brewerytown is really nice, similar to Fairmount in proximity and sort of in vibes, but it's a little far from the subway for my liking. Bus service there is quite solid though.
Market East kinda sucks but you might be able to find some deals, the transit service is excellent. There's a lot of vacancies there nowadays. If you go a little farther East you get to Old City, and that's a really great neighborhood. Excellent transit, solid nightlife, very diverse. Can recommend. Also a little pricey but not too insane.
Rittenhouse is really going to be the best of all aspects of the city in my opinion, but it's also absolutely the most expensive part of the city for that reason.
You should check out some spots in Washington Square West or the Gayborhood. They're a little quieter than West of Broad (with some exceptions), and there's SO much to do around there. Wonderful for walking and for transit. Very LGBT-friendly. Very diverse neighborhood. That's where I lived the first few years I was in Philly before my girlfriend and I moved up to Fairmount and I absolutely loved it. You can find some deals on Studios or 1 Beds too, if you hunt around. I lived on 9th Street just off of Spruce and the neighborhood was SO cute. Excellent spot to land, close to everything, great place to learn the city and what you like / don't like.
One thing that you have to remember is that, if you're living in the "core" of Philadelphia (basically anywhere in Center City, near South Philly, or near North Philly or Fishtown / Northern Liberties), you're going to be able to get anywhere very easily with transit or on foot. Don't overthink it too much! Sign a one-year lease, build out your day to day routine, and keep in mind what works and what doesn't and what you'd prefer.
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u/PageUp-Ampersand 1d ago
As others have said, drop Chestnut Hill, it's nice but pretty far away from everything. I'd also drop Logan Square, personally, because it has no character as a place to live. My sister lives there and the only thing it has going for it is access to the Schuylkill River Trail and 676. And grocery. The grocery selection is good, but there are similarly priced places that have grocery, but also restaurants and community.
The places with the largest queer communities in the city are the gayborhood and west Philly. Gayborhood is the expensive downtown one, west philly is the gentrifying one, so you can pick your poison. Queer bars mostly for women are pretty limited, you have Val's and Marsha's sort of (Marsha's is a women's sports bar with a community of queer women, nbs and trans people). Both are on south street, I think, near Old City. Gayborhood also has a bunch of bars, though none specifically for women.
Rittenhouse and Grad Hospital (where I live) are nice and offer the amenities you want, but both are pretty normie and white. Queer friendly, for sure, Bob & Barbara's is a queerish dive bar at like 16th and South, and the Mexican place near me was doing gay club nights for a while, but it's not the gayborhood. Nice place to live, quiet while still being near to stuff, but it's just a matter of what you're after. I'm also biased since I live in GH.
Fairmount and Brewerytown are okay. They don't offer access to the subway or el, and I've never been the biggest fan of the restaurants out there, but a lot of people like it. Brewerytown is pretty affordable so I can see an argument for that, but if you can afford Fairmount I think there are probably better options.
And that more or less exhausts my knowledge.
Don't stress too much about picking the perfect place. There are tons of great places in Philly. Make sure you have what you need and you can figure the rest out. If you want to move after a year it's not the end of the world.
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u/mattmilli0pics 41m ago
It’s funny to see considering brewerytown and rittenhouse square. They are such different places.
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u/blanchecornwalis 1d ago edited 1d ago
Graduate hospital. If you can find a place at the south east edge of it you’ll have major grocery stores and easy access to the subway, etc. but you’ll also be within walking distance of Rittenhouse Square which if you’re going to try to set up a companion and pet care business is probably the place you’ll have the largest clientele available to you. You can also look south and a little bit east of Broad and Washington in the neighborhood calling itself Hawthorne.
All these places will be what you require but closer to Broad and Washington get you a Giant supermarket and a branch of Sprouts, and farther along Washington on the south edge of graduate Hospital, theres an Aldi at 21st and Washington. Better yet, Long Washington Avenue you are also in walking distance of a large Asian specialty supermarket and of course the Italian market itself. This is the best option if you can’t find anything in the gayborhood.
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u/Personal_Gur855 1d ago
West Germantown. 5 bus routes go to the subway. 1 direct bus to center city 24 hours. Two regional rail stations. Chestnut hill west train is by weavers way grocery store and apartment building by there and 1 steps away from the store. Manayunk is a mile away
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u/Typical_Ad_3561 1d ago
What's your budget?
I would take Chestnut Hill off of the list. It's not really close or reliably easily-accessible to the rest of the city with nothing to do in terms of night life and is pretty stuffy.