One tip I would like to give people moving here: check the trash schedule on the streets department website. On holiday weeks, like this one, trash pick-up is delayed a day. It’s important in a dense city like ours that your household trash doesn’t become litter! Also don’t put your recycling in a paper bag! It never turns out well. Get a real plastic bin.

https://www.phila.gov/services/trash-recycling-city-upkeep/find-your-trash-and-recycling-collection-day/#/

Bridgeport PA

Thinking of relocating from Oaklyn NJ and buying a home. 3 bedrooms with a little yard. I like my quiet neighborhood. I have a dog and a small backyard. I have kids and feel comfortable letting them play outside. I have a little main street with a brewery and some food shops. I like the idea of having a walkable neighborhood. I drove around Bridgeport today a bit, hit Puddlers and Rib House, both were pretty cool. I don’t know much about the area at all. Looking for some insight. Safety, community vibes, traffic, anything really. Would appreciate any of your thoughts on the area!

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The things I'd like about Bridgeport are the proximity to the Norristown Septa station...can walk there, and the Schuylkill River Trail. The town is also not far from Conshohocken.

Other than that, looks like a pretty sleepy little town if thats your thing.

Realtor here, I've had buyers consider Bridgeport before. It's pretty relaxed, with decent access to Center City via regional rail. Definitely some stuff to walk to. Probably similar to Oaklyn!

Prices aren't bloated, which is cool. Typical 3-beds are around $320-$330K, but I've shown listings as low as $270K before there. So, I like that.

Not sure if you own or rent out in NJ, but property taxes there are $2-4K more per year, in general. Bridgeport's taxes look in line with Philly, and much more manageable.

Giving serious thought of moving to Philadelphia. Based off of the following criteria, what would be the best neighborhoods to check out.

I would like to be close, even reasonable walking distance to live music venues, independent movie theaters, parks, great local coffee and shops/restaurants. A neighborhood that’s affordable, cozy and has a little bit of everything to it.

I have friends who bought a house there and they absolutely love it. Couple in their 30s without kids, but they’re right by the memorial park which has activities for kids throughout the year (and IMO the most underrated views in the area). One of them walks to SEPTA in Norristown to get to work, the other drives to their work in KOP. Everything they need and want is close by. Honestly, if I were to move to the burbs I’d look there

Honest thoughts on fishtown?

This is a SUPER naïve Q: is it better to find a place to live and then a roommate, or a roommate and then a place to live? I’m selling my house and plan to rent, and would like to get a roommate to split costs/have someone to live with. Is it weird to try to find a roommate first who would want to look at places together?

I’d get a place to live and then a roommate, unless you know somebody personally

Done a lot of leasing. This all depends on if you can afford the rent (and get qualified) on your own.

If you are looking for a $1600/mo and can get accepted on just your income and credit alone, I'd vote to find the place you want and then find the right roommate.

If you cannot float that per month, and/or your take-home pay doesn't qualify for that amount, I suggest finding a roommate first. Both incomes will be considered (keep in mind, both credit scores will be, too), and as a team you have much stronger potential to qualify. They will be on the lease with you.

In the former example, you would be "subleasing" a room. The upside is, you get to pick the apartment, your bedroom, the furniture, etc. The downside is, if your sub-leaser doesn't pay their rent, you can't take that up with the landlord. It's on you.

To you and anyone else reading this: if you ever need a background/credit/eviction check on someone, I have access to a top tier service for this and I'll do it for you for free. The person getting run (for instance, your tenant or subtenant) has to pay for the check. But my time and effort to do it for you are free. :)

Moving to Rittenhouse Square area, what’s the move for groceries around there? I’m use to the suburbs and usually do one big haul every week but I’m guessing it’ll be different in center city with no car.

What's affordable to you? Walkable to all those things generally increases the price but if you don't need a lot of space all of Philly is pretty affordable. Take a look at Washington West, Rittenhouse, Queen Village, and Passyunk. If those are too expensive check out around Callowhill, Pennsport, Norris Square.

When living in Rittenhouse I tended to get my groceries delivered but depending on where you are in the neighborhood the Trader Joe's isn't a bad walk and there are a couple new Giants on the edge of the neighborhood in walking distance.

$1,500-$2,200 a month give or take

Also Northern Liberties

Trader Joe’s, Giant, Giant Heriloom, South Street Market IGA are a few in and around the neighborhood. And yeah, I found I just had to buy more strategically of what I could carry and how many meals I could make

You should be able to get a 1bd in pretty much any neighborhood with that budget, though you'll get less for your money in the best neighborhoods. Since you're moving here for the first time I'd do Rittenhouse, further south in the neighborhood the better.

I appreciate the tip!

I usually do Target and Rittenhouse Square market for quick trips. Trader Joe’s when I have time. Pretty much everywhere will deliver. Maxx’s and Sues Produce are cute little stores great for produce. Food and friends is a pricier store to pick up fancy odds and ends with your beer. Di Bruno’s brothers is another high end pricier store - has a meat counter with fish/steaks, cheesemongers, prepared food. There’s a farmers market every Saturday morning/early afternoon in the square.

On days I don’t mind walking/not getting a ton - I just walk to south street - acme, Whole Foods, south street market, giant heirloom. Italian market is another nice stroll where you’ll find cheap produce.

Hey so in October my fiancee and I will be married and want to talk to a realtor about moving to the area.

I used to love Lansdowne and wanted to move there as she doesn't want to live in the city and it seemed like a good compromise. But I haven't been there in years and have heard it's going downhill fast. How bad is it? Is it safe? I used to love the atmosphere there but haven't been in the area in a few years now.

I walk to Trader Joe's on Market. I have a huge bag that I manage to fit pretty much all my fam needs for the week (2 adults and 10mo old). Quick runs I'll go to Rittenhouse Market or Max's Grocer. Also frequent the Giant on South for some items I can't get a TJ.

Looking for cargo van rentals. My wifes fam is flying in late April to JFK. Figured it would be easier to just get one vehicle for all. I'm sure the major places do them but I haven't rented a car in years so seeing if I have some local options.

I'm going to be moving in the next month or two, staying in Philly. I have quotes from two moving companies (2 Men and a Truck and College Hunks Moving Junk) and I wanted a third one. Can anyone recommend a good local option? I have used Platinum Moving before and I am not using them this time.

I had a good experience with Roadway in December.

Try Compass RE 267-435-8015 and ask for Jennifer Nehila. She’s fantastic, super knowledgeable and friendly. She has been in the business 15 years and knows the city and suburbs well. We used her to purchase our first home and I believe she does rentals too. Good Luck! Can’t say much about Lansdowne personally as I live in the city.

Mambo is an awesome local company, used them about a year ago and they were great

Mambo or sweet hunk movers. I used sweet hunk the last time I moved and they were amazing

Here to say Mambo. Super professional, fast, and reasonably priced. Everything made it safely across the city. I actually had to haul ass to get to my new place before they did!

Is Northern Liberties safe for a young woman on her own? I'm potentially moving to a place on 2nd street in Northern Liberties and I'm in a long distance relationship with my girlfriend. Every other month, she'll come out and visit me for about a week which means she'd be at my place by herself while I'm at work, probably wanting to walk around and do stuff on her own until I get home. I just want to be extra careful that wherever I choose to live will be ok for a woman in her 20's to be walking around on her own, and while I've explored the are a bit and thought it seemed great, I know things may be different from a woman's perspective.
Curious to hear what people who have lived in the area longer think!

We had a good experience using Eversafe Movers for a move from out of state into Center City. We’ve also used Mambo for in-town moves.

They're SUPER fast! They beat me to my house in Manayunk from DC lol

I've used Broad Street Movers twice now and really love working with them.

I've used both Mambo and Old City Movers and had good experiences with both, and both gave me similar quotes.

Thanks for the feedback, all.

It’s not bad in comparison to places around but yeah has been on the decline a bit, still a peaceful little town though.

For what demographic?

How much should moving cost? ~1.5 bedrooms. I just moved myself with some friends and it was agonizing - I never want to do it again.

Locally? I paid around $1000 for a 2br move.

I live in NJ but rents are too high. What neighborhoods in Philly are safe enough to look at apartments? I was just looking in Brewerytown and it was affordable so I’m assuming the worst as far as crime.

Budget? There are many safe neighborhoods in Philly. You use common sense when you're out and about. Some areas are more block-by-block than others.

I've lived in Brewerytown for about 4 years and for the most part haven't had issues.

Of course you need to keep your head up but you should really be doing that in any city.

Philly is a very block- by- block city. One block could be clean and safe while another block only a quarter mile away could be a shitshow. Before signing a lease check out the block both during the day and around 10pm.

E. Locust Ave in E Germantown

Looking for some advice as I contemplate moving My family of 7 to E Germantown.

I was born in Germantown, moved to Detroit at 5 and am now 37 with 5 kids. We live in metro detroit and I hate it.

My Aunt still owns the home I was born in which is a GORGEOUS turn of the century twin on E Locust Ave. She is aging and is begging me to buy it and I emotionally wanted to instantly. BUT …

Please help me bc I am clueless about the area in terms of

1. SAFETY, specifically on this block. The last time I visited in 2011 we walked to the train station and while it looked a bit run down in some spots in the hood i felt safe. My aunt has only had 1 attempted break in since moving there in 1980.

2 SCHOOLS, the local elemnatary; MLK, looks like it’s pretty awful. What are the charter/private options?

3 COMMUNITY, trulia shows a 72 for walk ability, but to what? Are there markets and decent parks in the area? Part of my wanting to leave/hating metro Detroit is the lack of wall ability unless you want to live in a cookie cutter suburb which I do not.

I’ve read a lot of subs on here and can see the area kind of varies block to block. I basically want to be able to walk my dog, go to the park, take the train to Philly without feeling unsafe. Is it possible in this area?

Thank you!!

2nd Street is fine from spring garden to girard, super gentrified, if you are south of spring garden im not as familiar. There isnt much south other than one condo building and crazy intersections.

Many nightlife places to checkout, standard tap has been around forever, the abbaye over on 3rd, urban village brewery up towards girard, heritage, etc.

I would be aware of your surroundings at the 95 overpass at spring garden station, sometimes people hangout there. Also for spring garden station itself, exit on the south side where the entrance is. The north side exit has a blind uturn that people relieve themselves or hangout in and you can't see them from the top of the stairs.

Brewerytown can change greatly, especially north of Girard or as you head west. 27th & girard near crime & punishment is nice when i visit.

Coming from nj if you need parking thats something you'll want to be very concerned with as well.

That was a price I saw too. Thanks

How long did it take all together?

We moved from a one bedroom apartment and from them arriving to them leaving our new place was MAYBE 3 hours total. I think with tip I paid $700. It was three guys who came and I didn’t have to lift a finger besides packing everything beforehand. (They will pack for you but obviously they charge) All I did was point them where to go from my porch at the new house. Also, they only take cash, or at least they did which is fine since you get a copy of the full bill so it’s all legit.

Good lord that’s incredible.

So weird we had a two bedroom move two blocks away and it took them 5 hours plus lunch

My budget ideally 1k or less.

Definitely check out Brewerytown. Try to walk around the area a bit at night to get a sense of safety.

You also might want to look around other neighborhoods. If you don't need much space, you can usually find an efficiency studio for less than 1k.

This may be one of the most gentrified neighborhoods in the city along with graduate hospital and Fairmount. I’m pretty sure Nolibs has one of the highest per capita incomes in the city. You will be super safe and N2nd is highly foot trafficked, you will basically never be alone.

Good tip. I’m moving in April, and had planned to come down from NYC during the day. But now will add driving around at night too.

We're coming from a small town in the middle of the state where literally nothing happens so... Yeah, we might try for Drexel Hill then if we can afford it.

Bridgeport is prone to flooding, so make sure to check a flood zone map and just look around when you are looking for places to make sure you are up the hill

3 year Philly resident here. I am looking to find another apartment but am tired of having upstairs neighbors. Anyone know of an apartment finding website that filters by floor? Or filters top floor specifically? We need regulations on sound dampening between units man...

Just use Instacart.

I would avoid 2 men and a truck. We moved with them 2 years ago, they were 7-hours late (seriously, they were supposed to show at 9AM and didn’t until 4PM), and broke two pieces of our furniture in transit.

The movers themselves were nice, but they were clearly over scheduled and not super experienced which made the whole thing a mess.

Enterprise in south Philly has a few usually

I paid college hunks moving junk to move to Philly from Collegeville and it was ~600 but it was 1 BR + odds and ends from my parent's basement, already all in boxes and most of it ready to go in the garage. So if you got quoted 1k that sounds reasonable.

When I moved I had 3 or 4 quotes and College Hunks was the cheapest by a good amount for me.

Carpeting the 2nd floor above first floor bedrooms is the move.

My building requires floors be 80% covered to reduce noise.

It is a thick concrete building so we don't have big noise issues in general

Weird. Was yours a full day move or a half day? I know for ours they did it in the morning and then went to another smaller one in the afternoon.

Thank you for the advice! I would be between spring garden and girard so this sounds promising.

Thank you!

I mean...i like it..

If you're looking to buy, Michael Garden with Compass is 11/10. He has been doing Philly real estate for a long time. He knows the neighborhoods and helped us find a good one based on our needs. He doesn't do buyers contracts because he doesn't want you to feel locked in. He will also let you know if based on your needs and situation, renting for a while is a better option.

Every one of his recommendations for title and inspections were wonderful to work with as well. It was by far my best experience with home buying I've ever had.

I would recommend East Passyunk. The stretch down the Ave. is amazing. They just opened that wine bar that has live music on S. broad. It's a quiet area with a good bit going on, and it's walkable to the BSL or to center city if you're motivated.

This looks more my style than the aforementioned Rittenhouse.

It was booked for the am, they only mentioned the half day shifts.

Also moved with Mambo but it was several years ago. They were great, even unscrewed my Ikea bed and put it back together in the new place (and it was put back together than it was when I originally did it!). Very nice and it took at most 2 or maybe 3 hours for my 1 bedroom. I had mostly boxes though and just went a block away.

Damn I should have let them do the ikea bed we had. I ended up have to go to the hardware store across the street to buy a $15 tiny wrench for the weird bolts on it 😅

Me too haha. Just stay away from the cheese steak corner. Idiots from Jersey will sit outside Geno's till 3am just revving their engines and playing loud music

I recently moved back to Philly from SoCal and can’t find anywhere that shows the UFC fights. I used to go to Cavanaugh’s, Misconduct or the Field House but I don’t think any of them show them fights anymore. Any ideas? I live near Fairmount so it would be awesome to find a place near here.

I have two top (third) floor apartments available in the coming months (one has a deck). We’re just finishing up a total renovation on both units.

Bella Vista. $1,800/mo. All pets allowed. Custom white oak cabinetry throughout and LVP flooring.

It would be nice if Zillow or any of the other websites allowed a floor filter. It’s hard enough to get listing agents/landlords to use the A/C filter correctly.

As a landlord, I’d prefer if both applicants came at the same time.

It depends on what you want though. You may find it difficult to relinquish space or items when a roommate comes in after the fact. All of your items would already be existing in the space and the roommate wouldn’t really have the opportunity to space plan with you.

If you can afford it, I really do suggest living alone.

Hi, i’m a young professional moving into Philly. I’m looking for an apartment that is relatively close to 30th street. Any recommendations or places to rent?

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Id say the traditional rec is rittenhouse and fitler square. Its a quick walk across the bridge. I live near clark park tho and its a ten minute trolley ride with service every 6 minutes during rush hour, p convenient commute.

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Just moved to Brewerytown, it's on the upswing with a lot of construction, particularly down around 31st. Girard is a big dividing line, but I haven't had problems. Only been here a month though, haven't really explored at night when drunk.

If you're willing to walk 15-20 minutes, I recommend Fitler Square or the northern part of Graduate Hospital. I lived in Fitler Square for 6 years, and reverse commuted to work via SEPTA for 3 years. It was a 15 minutes walk from exiting my apartment front door to the SEPTA platform.

Definitely get a foldable shopping cart, aka a "granny cart". IMO it's essential for any grocery shopping within the city if you are walking or taking the bus to the store. Also, get some zipper reusable shopping bags, I use a few canvas bags and also Rachel Ray zipper bags with lining for cold items.

With the above, you can still get enough volume for weekly grocery store runs, that's what I've always done.

Good rec. I also just carry a backpack everywhere and stop in to grocery stores when I'm walking nearby for something else.

Going a couple times a week isn't an issue when you only have a few things and so does almost everyone else.

Visit r/delco, but to answer your question, Lansdowne is fine. It's only "going downhill fast" according to the pearl-clutchers in Newtown Square. I live in the township next to Lansdowne (literally across the border). They have a cute main street area that's slowly and steadily rebuilding itself after Covid. Crime isn't really a big problem there, especially when compared to nearby Upper Darby and Clifton Heights. Regional rail access is a huge plus as well.

Feel free to PM me if you have specific questions about the area.

I am a grad student and I'm moving from NJ to Philly. I have a mattress, an office chair, a mostly disassembled desk, and random bags of clothes and other items. As a student, my budget is under $600, and thus was wondering what the cheapest way of making my move is? Thank you!

Do you have a license? Renting a van from uhaul and doing it yourself is probably the cheapest

Ah ok! I have a Canadian one, do you think that would count?

If it is valid I believe so but you can call your local uhaul to be sure.

It is usually cheaper to return to the same place you pick up but you can book one way trips as well

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Other places not mentioned: Trader Joe's on Arch and Broad St., just a block from City Hall, depending where you are in Rittenhouse and around the corner, Reading Terminal Market. The Arch St. TJ does not get as crowded as the one on Market, which is always crowded. Also, on 19th and Spruce there is a small grocery store "Food and Friends." I've never shopped in it but passed it many times. Also between 15th and 16th on Spruce, another small market, Spruce Market. I used to get bread at Metropolitan Bakery on right off Rittenhouse Sq. There are so many places to go in walking distance--however prices might be higher than you are used to. One of my friends in the Northeast laughs when I talk about how cheap the produce is in the Italian Market compared to all the grocery stores I can walk to. Where they shop in the Northeast is cheaper than the Italian Market, which is the cheapest you can get walking distance (a hike) from Rittenhouse. Reading Terminal Market has some good deals but still not as cheap.

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Relocating to Philly soon. Found a spot that looks great. The cross streets are Jefferson & Frankford in Fishtown.

I’m planning a trip down to come tour, but would love y’all’s thoughts on that area. From google looks like a good area.

Thanks so much!

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