<p>I've started to look for a place to live around campus on craigslist, but I am not sure what areas are safe and which I should stay away from. What would you guys say? Is there a certain point around campus I should avoid going beyond?</p>
<p>There is no “point around campus” you should not go beyond, but there are various lines where the character of the neighborhood changes somewhat, and so may feel different to you. Understand – two blocks this way or that way does not really make a substantive difference, but it may make a difference in the way you feel about it, and it may indicate a difference in the quality of the houses.</p>
<p>One imaginary line that has some importance is the boundary of the Penn-Alexander school zone, [Frequently</a> Asked Questions | Home and School Association](<a href=“http://www.pennalexanderschool.org/faq#t2n638]Frequently”>http://www.pennalexanderschool.org/faq#t2n638). Inside those lines, there is a much stronger market for young families, which makes things nicer, safer-feeling, and more expensive. A lot of great student housing in this area has turned into young-professional housing, unfortunately.</p>
<p>If you talk to the average undergraduate, he or she would probably tell you that you are taking your life in your hands if you go west of 42nd (maybe 44th if said average undergraduate has actually lived off campus for awhile), north of Chestnut, or south of Baltimore. That’s poppycock. But if you are an undergraduate, a lot more of your friends will live in those blocks than beyond them. There are neighborhoods further west and south that are much nicer than anything in that box.</p>
<p>The farther you go from campus, the nicer it is to have access to buses, trolleys, or the El. The only really relevant El stops are at 46th, 30th, and 15th. If you would use the 40th St. or 34th St. stops, you will walk instead. There are trolleys on Baltimore, Chester, and Woodland that stop like buses until 40th St. then are subways to Penn and Center City (with stops at 22nd and 19th along Market) – they are fabulous public transportation. Buses run along Spruce, Walnut/Chestnut (depending on direction), and Market.</p>
<p>People can correct me. I haven’t been on foot in some of these places on a regular basis in a few years.</p>
<p>West: Historically, 49th Street had a trolley running down it, and it served somewhat as “the tracks” dividing this side of the tracks from the other (wrong) side of the tracks. Houses are bigger and nicer, and incomes tend to be higher, east of 49th, although on many streets the 4900 block (i.e., the block between 49th and 50th, west of 49th) is nice. As you get further north, the niceness line pinches eastward somewhat. 48th and Baltimore is a really pleasant neighborhood; 48th and Chestnut is pretty run down. I would say that north of Locust St. you start to feel the character of the neighborhood change after 46th and north of Market it’s probably far east of that, more like 40th.</p>
<p>South: On the west side of the river, the whole complex of HUP and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia means that you can’t live anyplace reasonable south of Penn until you get west of 38th. Baltimore Avenue and a few blocks below that (Springfield, Chester, Kingsessing) are OK out to 49th or so. The blocks around Clark Park are all pretty nice, down a lot farther than Kingsessing.</p>
<p>North: I don’t have a very precise sense of what things are like north of campus. It’s mainly Drexel and Drexel-related stuff. Powelton Ave. is nice, and maybe a few blocks above that, but not much farther north than Spring Garden. </p>
<p>East: As far as I know, there is little or no housing east of the Penn campus and west of the Schuylkill River. There will be some day, but so far not, except for Drexel dorms.</p>
<p>Rive Droite: East of the Schuylkill, you would have to go a long way to find a bad neighborhood. (“Grays Ferry” is probably code for “check it out very carefully”.) A few undergraduates and lots of grad students live east of the Schuylkill. There are some large apartment buildings along the river near Chestnut and Walnut that are virtual Penn dorms. Don’t think twice about anything west of Broad, south of Callowhill (and much farther north than that in the mid-high 20s), and north of, say, Catherine. And that’s really approximate, there are plenty of nice places to live outside that box.</p>
<p>NonTradGal, are you an incoming freshman but not interested in living in a dorm? What type of area/neighborhood are you hoping for?</p>
<p>@parentofpeople, I’m a transfer student hoping to find cheaper prices off campus while not getting too far from it. I’m pretty flexible and don’t really have a preference for the type of area/neighborhood I’d like to live in other than I want to feel safe wherever it is.
I don’t know anybody from the area and have never actually visited, so I don’t quite know what to expect. All I know is that a large group of people have warned me about the ‘dangers’ of Philly. I’m really just hoping everybody was exaggerating and looking out for me, but I can’t lie, they did scare me more than just a bit.</p>
<p>Good info as always from JHS. If you are looking to have a more typical experience as a Penn undergrad, look in the area bounded by Chestnut St, 43rd St, Baltimore Ave, and the Schuylkill River… that’s where most undergrads will live. If you want to live with other students, you may need to be willing to sublet and move for second semester, though sometimes you can find a room in a house where the person who signed the lease can’t commit anymore.</p>
<p>If you are looking to live by yourself, that changes your options. There are some popular apartment complexes (the Radian, the Hub, Chestnut Hall) just off campus to the north and northwest. There are also apartments along the north side of Spruce Street between 40th and 41st. All of these places put you in a great position to get involved on campus.</p>
<p>If you aren’t looking for that kind of experience, look further southwest for a neighborhood-ey (and inexpensive) feel, and look across the river to Center City for a more urban feel. JHS is right about safety, though I would shift everything south a block… Vine St, south to Christian St (to Washington Ave west of Broad St). It would probably be best for you to live within easy walking distance of one of the PennBus routes so you can get to and from campus for free at night.</p>
<p>Welcome to University City. Like some of my neighbors, I came here for Penn in the dinosaur era and just never left.</p>
<p>This information is excellent. If you have more questions, ask away!</p>
<p>Also look at the website for the University City District, our special services district. On the site is a link to Close at Hand, the community directory last revised last year and published by the District and the community newspaper. (Full disclosure: I did the work.) Find out about the amazing resources we offer.</p>
<p>And just to emphasize that your Penn or USciences ID gives you access to the free Penn Transit. There are two set bus routes, one going east and one going west, between 5 pm and 3 am. There also are shuttle vans that start on campus and go wherever you want in the neighborhood between 6 pm and 3 am. They also go to 30th Street station starting at 7 pm. And you can call one from off-campus (in the neighborhood) for pickup and delivery to a campus or off-campus location. Again, this is free.</p>
<p>There also are 2 car share companies, many bike racks, and a special college public transit pass. Feet work well, too.</p>