mmw2848 t1_j8f8kpg wrote on February 13, 2023 at 9:39 PM

Reply to comment by ostrich_collateral in Moving Mondays - New Resident Questions by AutoModerator

While you can survive in Northeast Philly without a car (I didn't learn to drive until I moved to the burbs at 25), it's not ideal. I'd probably strike it from your list.

Will your wife have a car, even if you don't drive?

ostrich_collateral t1_j8ffecv wrote on February 13, 2023 at 10:24 PM

Yeah I think the only way Northeast Philly works is along the train line; I'm sure it's possible to make it work, but it's pretty limiting.

My wife will have a car which is definitely helpful, but I would never want to force her into driving me around a bunch, so I think access to transit will always be a high priority. I work in a standard white-collar career and would prefer a hybrid job if I had the option, so I'd probably be commuting into the Center City at least a few times a week.

hethuisje t1_j8i9ukj wrote on February 14, 2023 at 2:49 PM

I don't know what kind of work you do, but be aware that jobs in Philly are not nearly as abundant as in NYC. If finding a job is a prerequisite for moving here, depending on what you do, it could take a while. My job is pretty specialized and it took me a few years to find the right one and move. And if I wanted to leave my current job, I'd likely have to move. There was a Pew study on this a few years ago... the "next job" is a big reason people leave Philly; they come here for one position but when it's time to move on, can't find another. Something to consider if in-person work is a goal for you.

Edit: found the link later. https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/issue-briefs/2019/09/whos-leaving-philadelphia-and-why "36 percent of movers with a bachelor’s degree or a higher level of education cited jobs as their reason for relocating, three times as many as cited any other [reason for leaving]"

thefrozendivide t1_j8ieqn7 wrote on February 14, 2023 at 3:23 PM

This x1000000

TheBSQ t1_j8jighl wrote on February 14, 2023 at 7:42 PM

This is the experience of both me and my wife. very limited job.

But on the flip side I was talking with a friend who took a Philly job and is trying to expand his team here and he keeps telling me about how when he did this in NYC, he had lines of highly qualified people lining up, but here, he isn’t getting many applicants and they tend to be lower quality.

That’s just a single anecdote, but I know for me and my wife, the jobs we did get, they acted extremely grateful that we took them and spoke openly about struggling to find people.

I get the feeling that it’s less dynamic all around. Less quality openings and less quality applicants.

Along those lines, me and many of my “moved here for a job” friends have had numerous conversations about how much easier it is to be considered “great” here.

we all were fighting tooth and nail to in NYC to be considered average, and here it’s really easy to be the company superstar. Good place to be a “big fish in a small pond” not that Philly is that small of a pond, but at least for the industries that my social circle works in, Philly isn’t the the city for that industry the way NYC is for finance, Bay Area for tech, LA for Hollywood, etc.

Motor-Juice-6648 t1_j8mx9qc wrote on February 15, 2023 at 2:21 PM

Except salaries can be considerably lower in Philly. This is probably the REAL reason they can’t get that many qualified people. They don’t pay enough. This is particularly the case for staff at the universities in Philly and city government. City of Philadelphia apparently has lots of vacancies.