Considering a move to Philadelphia.?

How close can one get to Center City for around $225,000 (Condo or house) and still be in a nice area? Square feet not important. Also, I am hoping to ditch the car and use public transportation. Would it be best to search by zip codes, or neighborhoods? Does Pennsylvania have a state income tax?Considering a move to Philadelphia.?
I was just looking on Craigslist (www.craigslist.org) and saw a place mentioned specifically in CC and for under $225k. It was a loft (and I'm sure it's small) but people DO take liberties with their location descriptions on CL, so it may not be as Center City as they claim.



Someone mentioned Fishtown and is onto something. Fishtown got caught up in the real estate boom that hit the whole country, and in particular, Northern Liberties, the section of Phildelphia just south of Fishtown. I think it did it in such a time that people who were hedging their bets in Fishtown bought and renovated homes for a higher market than it ended up being after the "bubble", so people are stuck with homes (mostly rehabs) that they need to get out from under.



If you could though, I'd look harder in Northern Liberties. It's a little bit closer to CC and isn't quite as seedy as Fishtown. It's been booming with restaurants and bars, and has brought a whole new life to the area. You can still buy in there for the range you're looking in and will most likely find a better price/sqft ratio than you would in CC.



You'd be better off searching by neighborhoods, as that's how everyone knows Philly best. Check out



www.phillyblog.com



and hit the forums. They have a pretty good breakdown of forums-by-neighborhood and should give you a good idea as to what neighborhoods are where. Also, you can't beat asking actual residents what they think as opposed to some shiesty R.E. Agent. Some of the forums are even frequented by officers from the police districts the neighborhood is in. They'll give updates, reports and answer questions...kind of a nice, unofficial piece of mind.



You can also ditch the car in favor of public transportation depending on where you end up. Frankly, I think the system sucks, but if you're in the city and only need to travel within the city, it gets the job done. SEPTA is the company. There's also the Philly Car Share if you ever need to rent/borrow a car for errands and supposedly, it's gotten even easier to get your hands on a car for the day or weekend.



Finally, yes, PA does have a state income tax. Scroll down to the PA section for details...



http://www.retirementliving.com/RLstate3鈥?/a>



Fair warning...there's also a wage tax within the City as well, so you're hit twice pretty much.
Fairmount which is near the art museum you could get into for that price and it is a nice area. You could easily ditch the car. You take SEPTA for most things and do Zipcar when you need a car. Pennsylvania has a state income tax (3.07% of income, no deductions) and Philadelphia has a wage tax.Considering a move to Philadelphia.?
i know of a few people buying in the Fishtown section since it has turned around a few years back and is up and coming. the "el" train isn't too far of a walk and there are a couple of mass transit bus lines that run through the neighborhood and will get you to center city.Considering a move to Philadelphia.?
oh you can get plenty of decent places for that amount. not in the heart of center city, but within 10-20 blocks I would say. old city (the low blocks) and society hill is nice but quite expensive. Northern liberties is a nice area to look. I would avoid south philly and west philly. Try some areas between callowhill st and girard. There is city wage tax which I believe is 6%. Trains run on broad st (14th) which goes north to south right through center city so that would be a good bet.