Living in Philadelphia or Baltimore?

[Anonymous]

Hello! In around 6-8 years, I'd like to buy a brownstone/row house or a nice condo in Philly or Baltimore.

I've been to both cities and really like Old City, Society Hill, and South Philly, and Fells Point in Baltimore.

Does anyone here have any personal experience and/or knowledge of living in these places? This will be a primary residence.

[Anonymous]

I live in Philly. Those are all good neighborhoods. South Philly is the roughest of the three, but it's gotten a lot nicer in recent years. Lots of good restaurants.

Society Hill can be hard to buy into.

Do you need schools? The School District of Philadelphia is pretty dysfunctional, but there are a million private school choices.

Another neighborhood that kind of blends into Old City is Queen Village/Bella Vista.

Also, Kensington/Fishtown is hip/trendy, but Kensington is the heart of the opioid crisis, so I would avoid.

[Anonymous]

I’ve lived in both, but also had decades in DC.

I’d be interested in what you would want. Broadly, I think of Philly as a cheaper, more provincial version of New York. Baltimore is a larger, more cosmopolitan version of Richmond.
Both are past their glory days, so are obviously more affordable than DC/NYC.

[Anonymous]

I live in Philly and love it. I don't live in any of the neighborhoods you mentioned, but you may also want to look at Fitler Square/Graduate Hospital (my neighborhood). It's extremely walkable, has cute neighborhood bars/restaurants/coffee shops, easy access to grocery stores and CVS, easy access to multiple parks and the Schuylkill River Trail, and is near the restaurants/shops in Rittenhouse, but removed enough that it doesn't get crowded or crazy. Center City is also generally extremely walkable - if you work in one of the "downtown" office buildings, you can walk to work in 20-25 minutes.

[Anonymous]

I lived in Baltimore five years. You couldn't pay me to go back there.

I'd pick Philly 100 of 100 times. There are similarities for sure, but Philly is just so much better along every single metric other than maybe crime.

[Anonymous]

I love Baltimore and lived in Fed Hill. It is a complex city but we really enjoyed our time there. I wouldn't want to live in Fells with my family, but would move to Roland Park in an instant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I love Baltimore and lived in Fed Hill. It is a complex city but we really enjoyed our time there. I wouldn't want to live in Fells with my family, but would move to Roland Park in an instant.

FYI, there are some parts of what are basically Roland Park (Keswick) or very close to it (Tuscanny-Cateburry and certain parts of Guilford) that have townhouse type arrangements and probably work better for families than Fells.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I lived in Baltimore five years. You couldn't pay me to go back there.

I'd pick Philly 100 of 100 times. There are similarities for sure, but Philly is just so much better along every single metric other than maybe crime.

It's got more expensive housing, too.

I'm curious why you favor one over the other. I've lived in both and it's basically about northern provincial has-been city vs southern provincial has-been city. Strikes me as a taste thing, but I'm open to other ideas.

[Anonymous]

I would never move to Baltimore but would move back to Philly in a hot second. Better museums, parks, restaurant scene, shopping, airport, etc. The city schools aren't great and you'll definitely want to carefully scout the neighborhoods due to crime, but it's a great city.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would never move to Baltimore but would move back to Philly in a hot second. Better museums, parks, restaurant scene, shopping, airport, etc. The city schools aren't great and you'll definitely want to carefully scout the neighborhoods due to crime, but it's a great city.

I might agree if The Barnes Foundation wasn't stolen by the Philadelphia establishment. That tarnishes the apple, I'm afraid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I lived in Baltimore five years. You couldn't pay me to go back there.

I'd pick Philly 100 of 100 times. There are similarities for sure, but Philly is just so much better along every single metric other than maybe crime.

It's got more expensive housing, too.

I'm curious why you favor one over the other. I've lived in both and it's basically about northern provincial has-been city vs southern provincial has-been city. Strikes me as a taste thing, but I'm open to other ideas.

NP, but I live in Philly and have been to Baltimore many times (am from Maryland originally), and am curious as to why you think they’re comparable. I think Philly is a much nicer and better city on pretty much all metrics. It has great food, parks, culture, and certainly feels safer than Baltimore (at least Center City does). Not familiar enough with Baltimore to comment on it being a “has-been city” but I think it’s pretty questionable to say that about Philadelphia. It’s not a “top-tier” city the way NYC or London is, but I think it’s much more livable than those places, personally.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I lived in Baltimore five years. You couldn't pay me to go back there.

I'd pick Philly 100 of 100 times. There are similarities for sure, but Philly is just so much better along every single metric other than maybe crime.

It's got more expensive housing, too.

I'm curious why you favor one over the other. I've lived in both and it's basically about northern provincial has-been city vs southern provincial has-been city. Strikes me as a taste thing, but I'm open to other ideas.

NP, but I live in Philly and have been to Baltimore many times (am from Maryland originally), and am curious as to why you think they’re comparable. I think Philly is a much nicer and better city on pretty much all metrics. It has great food, parks, culture, and certainly feels safer than Baltimore (at least Center City does). Not familiar enough with Baltimore to comment on it being a “has-been city” but I think it’s pretty questionable to say that about Philadelphia. It’s not a “top-tier” city the way NYC or London is, but I think it’s much more livable than those places, personally.

Yeah, they are not comparable. I'm the person who lived in Baltimore. Center City alone is ten times the place that downtown Baltimore is.

Baltimore is done as a relevant place, and will survive as an army of the DC region, but Philly still has a lot going for it given it remains the center of its region.

[Anonymous]

100% Philly. Wonderful city. I'd also consider Fitler along the river and the area directly south of Rittenhouse (Delancey Street is beautiful).

[Anonymous]

neither.

[Anonymous]

I'd rather old town Alexandria. preferably not in rowhouse there. I'd rather be in that new waterfront condo building next to all the rowhouses with easy access to DC by water taxi.