<p>Well, after watching the Fresh Prince of Bel Air, I already know West Philly is not a good neighborhood. I mean, did you see those “couple of guys who were up to no good!!”
My question is where do students that live off campus reside? Do they live in the suburbs and commute? How far away from campus do you have to go to find the good neighborhoods (good schools, relatively lower crime rates, etc.)?
I’m married and have a 10 yr old son. Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>There is lots of housing right at the edge of campus that is relatively safe. A few students commute from the suburbs, but not many. There is also some nice, but quite a bit more expensive, housing in the Society Hill area of Philadelphia which is east of campus closer to the Delaware River.</p>
<p>no. but when i visited penn, i didnt notice any bad neighborhoods. unless drexel university counts... or my dad just strategically drove in a way that i wouldnt see any ghettos</p>
<p>there are some not so pleasant neighborhoods right next to penn. i saw them everytime i drove to the philadephia zoo this summer from the penn campus.</p>
<p>Did you also notice that when Will returned to Philly and tried to pick a fight with the bully, the former bully was mentoring neighborhood kids and refused to fight?</p>
<p>If you are married and have a 10-year old son you might not want to live on the immediate outskirts of campus (up to 42nd street). You might want to look around 45th if you're itching to stay in West Philly. A lot of faculty live in that area. Otherwise you can look in Center City (lots of different neighborhoods, you don't need to be in Society Hill or Old City or Rittenhouse which cost lots of money). I would look at Queen Village, Bella Vista, Washington Square West, and South Philly.</p>
<p>The Penn Alexander school (at 42nd and Locust) is better than other West Philly publics, but still might not come up to your expectations of what's good. Their catchment area runs up to about 46th street or so.
West Philly is generally a nice area, I've never personally run into any trouble west of 40th, but that's not to say it doesn't happen. The area around Clark Park is very nice, and the area where I live (Cedar Park), has a more grown up feel to it too, there's a few families with young kids on my block.</p>
<p>Generally the Public Schools are very Poor in the city itself. If you are concerned about the schools for your child, you may want to consider moving to a close in suburb. Lower Merion is close to Penn and is one of the top if not the top school district in PA. Home prices in this area are very high but you may be able to find an appartment that works for you. There are other suburban districts that also are very good and offer lower housing costs. The Phila. Inquirer publishes schoold stats (Phillynews.com) and the PA department of education's web site has good information. Remember best numbers don't necessarly mean best education but it is a starting place. Good Luck!!!</p>
<p>If looking at the suburbs, don't neglect looking at the South Jersey suburbs..like Cherry Hill, Voorhees, Haddonfield, Haddon Township. By highway or train, you can make it into Phila, in 30 minutes or less.</p>
<p>There are some very good schools and some very average schools in South Jersey Suburbs. There are definitely very nice areas, even though the farmland is rapidly being devoured by developers. All I can warn you about is the music programs; south jersey has a bad reputation within the state for its high school music programs. However, Clearview High School has a phenomenal one. If your son is interested/ever will be interested in the arts/music, clearview is a good choice in the suburbs. It has one of the best wind ensembles in New Jersey and one of the best choir ensembles in the COUNTRY, along with an extremely well done, very professional musical every year as well as an amazing art program. I feel like I'm shamelessly plugging my high school....anyway, the academics are average to good. It depends.</p>
<p>Also look into Cherry Hill East (they beat us every year in science league) and Washington township (they beat us every year in soccer). But don't look into camden.</p>
<p>Come on, virtually every Penn student who does not live in West Philadelphia lives in the western part of downtown (Rittenhouse Square)- between 15th St. and 24th St.</p>