This is a super useful tool that I had no idea existed, thank you! It's so much better than looking at data at the zip code level, which is somehow too large an area and can include multiple neighborhoods with completely different layouts.

I just checked my neighborhood in NYC and it's about 78k/sqm so 30k/sqm feels like a ghost town to me haha.

Will definitely check it out, thank you! I had that area in mind (and other neighborhoods that are maybe too crowded but centrally located) to see even though I know it's not a long-term living option, because it feels useful in getting a sense of the city overall.

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.

Absolutely. There's obviously a pretty strong correlation, so there's some give and take finding the balance of fairly walkable but not super crowded. For sure going to check those neighborhoods out. Thank you!

My wife and I (30's) are planning to move out of NYC this fall, and Philly is one of the cities we're interested in, enough that we are planning to come down next weekend and take a few days to explore.

I'm born and raised in Southern Brooklyn, so being part of a dense, walkable neighborhood is important, especially since I have zero plans to drive (so subway/rail access is vital). However, although my wife likes walkability, she's really mindful of living in a neighborhood with less population density, and ideally more easy access to nature. For reference, our current neighborhood population is about 30k/sqm, which is more than any Philly neighborhood I can see by zip code. I know this isn't exactly a science, but I'm trying to narrow this down to neighborhoods that might be <15k/sqm as a start.

This really ends up boiling down to either Northeast Philly (along the Delaware River, ie: Wissinoming, Tacony, Holmesburg, etc.), Northwest Philly (Manayunk, East Falls, Mount Airy, Chestnut Hill, etc.), parts of South Philly, and farther out suburbs (which I don't really prefer).

We'd probably rent for a year or two ($2k/month max) before buying (would like to stick around $350k but could go up to $500k in a perfect situation), to make sure we actually like living there before we fully commit. I don't care to have a big house, but my wife really wants the detached single-family home with a small backyard kind of deal, and I know in a lot of neighborhoods that detached homes will just not only be not in the majority, but more expensive.

Would love thoughts on which neighborhoods would be a good fit in terms of balancing population density/walkability, and whether I'm heading in the right direction in terms of the areas of Philly on our radar. Thanks!