Manayunk rox is a very reasonable commute to bala, I did it for a while, <15-20m from green lane bridge to pretty much anywhere in bala cynwyd. Rox is definitely still doable for <400k, probably some smaller stuff in upper manayunk at that price too. Parking in roxborough is easy compared to most of the rest of the city, you might be able to find something sub 400 with parking in roxborough, that'd be a stretch in manayunk. It's also relatively quiet if that's something you're looking for. Pretty walkable if you're close to either ridge or main street, though no grocery options on main street.

other than those two,

Reasonably good rail access, idk about bus access, I just take the train to center city when I need to, drive for other errands.

> especially comparing traffic because ATL traffic sucks hard but I also know ATL is wayyyyyy more car dependent of a city than Philly is.

Not from atlanta, only driven there a few times, but I can't imagine a place with more unpredictable drivers than philly. We were recently rated as the city with the worst driving experience in the US, and in my experience, that's accurate. Infrastructure isn't pretty, but definitely way more developed than atlanta, we have a functional subway, and as much as we love to shit on SEPTA, having lived a number of places with literally no public transit, it's miles better than other large cities outside the northeast. I lived in DFW for a while, and the DART is a total joke compared to even the least developed parts of SEPTA.

In terms of crime, seems from the stats that violent and property crime is a bit lower in Philly. I've been here since 2015 and the last year or so have for sure been the worst, hopefully, it's a dip rather than a trend. It definitely exists, but if you live in the northwest, or the suburbs around bala, all those area's are relatively low crime for philly.