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SayLessThanYouKnow t1_iyds9oe wrote

Manayunk vs Center City

I am moving to Philly around New Years. Mid 20s man.

After months of looking online and many tours, I have a location I like in Manayunk. It's affordable, cozy, and near Main St. I also have some family in the area. One of my largest priorities is to meet people and get a social life. I wouldn't like to go out 5x a week, but I like that Manayunk has a lot of young people and bars.

However, on a (6 year old) thread I read that Manayunk has a very "just out of college, bro-like" environment, which I read as a negative. I'm also looking at a list of the best bars/places to dance in Philly, and they are ALL in Center City. This "new" information (I only gave the non-Manayunk parts of Philly a cursory examination before zeroing in on Manayaunk) has me a little flustered. I guess what I'm looking for an answer to is:

  • Is Manayunk really an OK place to socialize? Do people tend to be obnoxiously bro-like?
  • Is Center City significantly better social scene than Manayunk? Is it inconsequential, because I can just spend 30 minutes on a bus to get there?

I am new to Philly, and I've only just started exploring Manayunk. I know almost nothing about the other neighborhoods of Philly. Honestly I would just like reassurance that Manayunk is a solid choice- I don't want to go through months more of searching when I'm 1) desperate to move out and 2) most of the way through the application process.

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fahfard1 t1_iye8qr7 wrote

Honestly, and this isn't what you want to hear, but maybe consider Center City. I live downtown and really love it. I'm not familiar with Manayunk, but have the same impression that you picked up from reading about it.

Truthfully, that 30 minutes on a bus is annoying and will keep you from doing things. If money is what is making you think Manayunk over CC, include also the money you're spending on getting back to Manayunk via Lyft/Uber after the bars.

You're going to be spending good money either way, why not live around all of the things you want to live around?

Edit* - Put more plainly, having lived in Center City and having met lots of people around the area and other spots in Philly, I don't think I've ever heard anyone suggest going anywhere in Manayunk for anything.

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Brahette t1_iyek7x7 wrote

I lived in Manayunk 2013-2016 (late 20s/early 30s) and just moved back last year (mid/late 30s) - I love it. It used to skew bro a lot more in previous years but it has grown up a lot because the residents that live here have grown up. Yes you still have the St. Joe's college students and they will be concentrated the closer you get to Main St. I lived right by the Manayunk train station before and got some of the riffraff but it never bothered me. Now I live on the west side of Manayunk and love this area SO much - it's close enough to walk down to Main St, but far enough to leave Main St at Main St. My immediate blocks are a mix of lifer old heads, post grads, singles, and some families. We have a group of girls late 20s-late 30s that formed a little group and we get together often. In terms of things to do, Manayunk has a great mix of neighborhood bars to a few upper scale restaurants, and everything in between. There's boutique shopping, the Manayunk Development Corp is EXTREMELY active and there are major events throughout the year, you've got the tow path, the bridge that connects you to the Cynwyd Trail, and you're close to the Wiss. Regional Rail is a super easy 20min ride to Center City and there are buses too. In terms of dance clubs, most of the old clubs have since closed down but there are places that have live music (Grape Room) and I think the Brewery still does dance nights sometimes.

Always happy to chat Manayunk, so let me know if you've got any other questions!

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pup12345 t1_iyech18 wrote

Manayunk has grown up so much over the years. High end shops, young families, nicer restaurants, dogs everywhere.

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