Philly reefers?

mrcoffee2 · Nov 6, 2014

So I might be moving to Philly! Any reef love around there :)?

GlassMunky · Nov 6, 2014

mrcoffee2 said:
So I might be moving to Philly! Any reef love around there :)?

Im in Philly.
LOTS of us down here. a couple reef clubs, and some nice LFS too :)

mrcoffee2 · Nov 12, 2014

Hey any suggestions on places to live down there? Wife and I are trying to find affordable living down there and we don't really know the best towns to look in.

GlassMunky · Nov 12, 2014

mrcoffee2 said:
Hey any suggestions on places to live down there? Wife and I are trying to find affordable living down there and we don't really know the best towns to look in.

Do you need to stay inside the city or are you ok with suburbs?
Inside the city, theres Manyunk/Roxborough area which is nice and by the river.
Outside of the city theres tons of spots, I live a little south of the city closer to the airport in Delaware county. But north of me in conshahoken and Ardmore, or Bryn Mawr. All are nice areas

Rickyrooz · Nov 12, 2014

Welcome, I am in the Phila area as well

mrcoffee2 · Nov 12, 2014

GlassMunky said:
Do you need to stay inside the city or are you ok with suburbs?
Inside the city, theres Manyunk/Roxborough area which is nice and by the river.
Outside of the city theres tons of spots, I live a little south of the city closer to the airport in Delaware county. But north of me in conshahoken and Ardmore, or Bryn Mawr. All are nice areas

I'll be working at the med school but I plan to commute so the suburbs are an option. Its really hard to find affordable living and a good school district in the suburbs from what I can tell so far. I know I am going to be crowded where ever I plan to live.

My wife and I found some affordable places in W Mt. Airy on the web today. Also looks like there is hiking trails and some outdoor recreation which is a huge +! Care to comment on that area?

GlassMunky · Nov 16, 2014

mrcoffee2 said:
I'll be working at the med school but I plan to commute so the suburbs are an option. Its really hard to find affordable living and a good school district in the suburbs from what I can tell so far. I know I am going to be crowded where ever I plan to live.

My wife and I found some affordable places in W Mt. Airy on the web today. Also looks like there is hiking trails and some outdoor recreation which is a huge +! Care to comment on that area?

I have absolutly ZERO idea on school districs, since i have no kids..... but affordable housing is everywhere..... (depending on your definition)

I live in Delaware county and i pay $1050 a month for a 3-story townhome with a finished basement.....

Mt Airy area is nice, more expensive than where i am though. but its real nice because its by the water and all of the hiking trails. definatly a nice area but gonna be more crowded than out farther in the suburbs bacause your right by the city.
I dont find it crowded at all out by me....
not sure what you are currently used to though.....

I grew up right outside of DC, so to me philly is tame......

reefingnoob · Nov 16, 2014

Are you OK being about 45 minute drive away from the city? If so look up yarldey PA. Its school district is really good. Its in bucks county.

SeahorseKeeper · Nov 16, 2014

I work in South Philly and commute from New Jersey. I will check with some people that I work with about some reasonable places to live in the area with good school districts. If you don't mind the commute, there are plenty of places in NJ that will meet the criteria of a good school district and affordable. One thing to keep in mind with working in Philly is that you have to pay the city wage tax living in the city.

GlassMunky · Nov 17, 2014

and the thing to keep in mind about living in jersey is that you will be paying roughly $100 a month just to cross the bridge into PA to get to work......

mrcoffee2 · Nov 17, 2014

GlassMunky said:
I have absolutly ZERO idea on school districs, since i have no kids..... but affordable housing is everywhere..... (depending on your definition)

I live in Delaware county and i pay $1050 a month for a 3-story townhome with a finished basement.....

Mt Airy area is nice, more expensive than where i am though. but its real nice because its by the water and all of the hiking trails. definatly a nice area but gonna be more crowded than out farther in the suburbs bacause your right by the city.
I dont find it crowded at all out by me....
not sure what you are currently used to though.....

I grew up right outside of DC, so to me philly is tame......

This is great info. I'll be working at Perelman medical.

We figure a 45-1hr commute is acceptable.

$1050 is amazing... Every place we look at is between 1600-2000... That would really stretch us if we have to pay utilities... We don't have natural gas where we live now so our monthly fuel bill in the winter is between 250-450 a month. How much do you roughly pay for natural gas there?

We would like to live in a place that has a train station we can walk to that will take us as close to university city as possible. We will have a vehicle but want to use it minimally.

Thanks for all the info guys! This move is not going to be easy :(

Also in VT my wife and I pay a lovely 7% income tax... I understand PA has a 3.07% flat then depending on the city you can add another 1%. Does that sound correct?

As for what we are use to... I grew up on a 120 acre farm in VT :)

mrcoffee2 · Nov 17, 2014

Thank you Seahorsekeeper!

We looked at Collingswood NJ but were told be weary of Camden county.

reefingnoob · Nov 17, 2014

Oh please do be weary of Camden!! I used to rent a two bedroom house in Yardley for 1100.

GlassMunky · Nov 18, 2014

mrcoffee2 said:
This is great info. I'll be working at Perelman medical.

We figure a 45-1hr commute is acceptable.

$1050 is amazing... Every place we look at is between 1600-2000... That would really stretch us if we have to pay utilities... We don't have natural gas where we live now so our monthly fuel bill in the winter is between 250-450 a month. How much do you roughly pay for natural gas there?

We would like to live in a place that has a train station we can walk to that will take us as close to university city as possible. We will have a vehicle but want to use it minimally.

Thanks for all the info guys! This move is not going to be easy :(

Also in VT my wife and I pay a lovely 7% income tax... I understand PA has a 3.07% flat then depending on the city you can add another 1%. Does that sound correct?

As for what we are use to... I grew up on a 120 acre farm in VT :)

to give you a baseline idea, in our house, we spend roughly $150/month on electric with our 90G, 70G, 40G, 29G, and 14G tanks.
Gas last month was like $50. i think in the dead of winter that will raise up to more like 80-100

no 120acre farms around here, but there is definitely some nice country and woodsy areas close by. :)

bairdimusprime · Nov 20, 2014

There are some absolutely amazing towns in South Jersey with wonderful school systems. but i would undoubtedly stay away from Camden... it would be safer if it were over run with zombies :)