I'm moving to Philadelpia and know nothing about the city outside of Center City. I'm a young working professional looking for an area that is SAFE, but also has maybe some shops or restaurants to walk around in. Anyone familiar with the city to suggest a few areas to start my search? I'd like to be close to public transportation, and prefer high-rise communities as opposed to townhouses.

Thanks!

Rittenhouse Square and/or Old City Vicinity perhaps. It's hard to gauge "safety" as it's relative to where you come from. Buses have pretty good coverage, but subway is another matter; which do you mean by "public trans"? Another point to consider is your work commute. Do you know where the office is yet?

Well SEPTA, railway, etc. I'll be working in Center City and prefer not to live right where I work, so Olde City is initially more appealing than Ritttenhouse. Any opinions about Germantown or Chestnut Hill or Mayanuk? Is that totally the suburbs?

Thanks!

Hi,
I'll be moving to Philadelphia as well to study at Wharton.

What are my best options for apartments ?
Where should I look (except rent.com) ?

http://riverwalkatmillennium.com/ this is outside but looks safe and well maintained.

Or is on campus housing more recommendable ?

Try www.phillyblog.com - there are many Philly neighborhood-specific forums with questions just like these.

For Whartonites, living in Center City is quite reasonable as you can take the 42 SEPTA bus straight up Walnut Street to campus. Good neighborhoods for Whartonites include Fitler and Rittenhouse Square. There is some new construction on Chestnut Street, but the street really has never recovered from several planning schemes in the past. Stick from Walnut to Lombard Sts, bordered by Broad to 25 St/ Schuykyll River. For rentals, also try: philadelphia.craigslist.org . Another good source is the Philadelphia Weekly newspaper (available free).

To the OP who will be working in CC: Olde City is a very good choice. I would personally avoid the burbs such as Manayunk, etc. While they can be nice, Philly is one of the great American cities where you can walk to work, shopping, restaurants, nightlife.

Stay away from Camden

Thanks for the links and suggestions ^.

How far is Manayunk and Conshocken from Wharton (Huntsman Hall at Walnut and 38th street) ?

http://www.leftbankapts.com/location.html
I know one MBA student staying there and he likes it. The location is great.
However, I e-mailed the property manager and he told me I could not rent for half a year.

What is my best choice for such a short term rental (one bedroom or two bedroom, up to 2000USD per month incl. utilities) ?

Do you know of any other apartment complexes of similar quality in proximity to the University ?

Craigslist has many offers, but difficult to arrange everything when not there in person.

Or does an FTer have an apartment or room to rent out ?

Way too far. (I graduated from Wharton in 1998 so I am speaking with some level of experience here.) The first year of the MBA program involves a lot of hanging around on campus at night with your learning team, who are very likely to be living either in the Rittenhouse area or in University City. It will make your life vastly easier if you live close by, since these multi-hour study sessions are going to happen on campus or in teammates' apartments. Manayunk/Conshohocken is a 20-minute drive from campus, minimum, and that is with no traffic on I-76. And there is ALWAYS traffic on I-76.

I just looked at the Left Bank website and that location is great. I lived at 43rd and Locust when I was there, but this is better. There has been a huge construction and economic boom on the University City side--ten years ago there were few really good options there, made worse for me by the fact that I needed a dog-friendly building.

GE used to build re-entry systems for nuclear missiles in the building that now houses the Left Bank Apts. when I was a student at Drexel many years ago.

Of course, if you're a hearty biking type, you can bicycle from Wharton to Manayunk in 45 minutes. And then you don't have to worry about spending money on a health club, or sitting in traffic.

WOW! For that much in Philly, you could rent half of the city...

I was on campus recently and there was construction on 34th b/t Chestnut and Market Streets, apparently it's an upscale complex that I can't imagine would exceed your budget. From 34th, its about 5 blocks to Huntsman. I'd look there first and alternately, contact UPenn housing and conferences services. You don't want to live in a campus dorm but they should be able to give your information on the various new constructions around campus.

Indeed I do not want to live in a dorm.

You don't have by any chance the name/website link of the new upscale complex on34th or at least the developers name?

2000 is the very upper limit per month. Of course, I prefer 1000$ accomodation or sharing with another exchange student.

Ehh, just checked on the Penn Website and apparently the construction wont be done until '07. http://www.facilities.upenn.edu/what...4chestnut.php3

Check out this map for a campus overview
http://www.facilities.upenn.edu/maps..._map.php3?id=1