I have to agree with sdr on several Philly points. My husband was born and raised in Philly – as were his parents. His grandparents emmigrated to South Philly at the beginning of the last century. I lived in the Philly ‘burbs for 11 years.
As a Cali girl moving to Philly metro I was shocked/dismayed by the overt racism in Philly. I would NOT describe it as immigrant friendly if you’re talking about non-European immigrants. If the immigrant’s skin isn’t white… it’s not very friendly. (Irish, Polish, and Italians have long established communities – and the North East has a big Russian community – so it’s friendlier to these groups.)
If you hope to make money in real estate through long term appreciation… don’t hold your breath. My husband bought a home in Frankfurt in the early 80’s (north east) -saw the white flight first hand when the first black family moved in. He sold it after 20 years, after doing significant improvements (like buying the neighboring lot and putting an attached garage on.) It only appreciated 30k in 20 years. (Bought for 10k as a shell – HUD repo, 5k in plumbing and electrical in order to get occupancy, 6k for the neighboring lot, 3k to build the garage.) Put in normal maintenance through the years (new roof, new siding, new windows.) Sold for $54k. That’s not a lot of profit for 20 years of ownership and maintenance.
Parts of Philly are overpriced, IMO. Anything in center city is overpriced. I have friends who live 2 blocks off Rittenhouse – the appreciation on their home, since they bought in the late 90’s in truly in bubble territory. Other friends bought in the Art Museum district – again lots of froth and bubbleness. Don’t get me started on Society Hill and Old City. I think it’s pretty likely you could catch
My boss was back in suburban Philly for the past few weeks. He described driving on Old York Rd (611) southbound and realizing he’d crossed into Philly (Germantown area) because there was an INSTANT shift in demographics as crossed Cheltenham Ave into the city.
I love Philly and a lot of the suburbs. I loved living in Glenside (one of the quaint older suburbs north of the city). I love the history and charm of the older architecture. But I would not buy in Philly looking for appreciation. Unless I were buying in one of the not-so-trendy (and less bubbled) areas and had cashflow going.
And it is definitely home to more prejudice than San Diego metro. It’s hard to miss.
One last point – until they fix the wage tax thing – there won’t be a big move back into the city by the folks who fled. The white flight had some racism – but it was also fleeing the wage tax. There’s a reason why many of the suburbs immediately adjacent to Philly have 0% wage tax (Bensalem, Trevose, Cheltenham) It’s to draw in former city residents who work in the burbs. Why pay 4-5% wage tax to live in the city and have crappy schools.
