I currently live in a small-midsize city (think Denver/Minneapolis/Portland). I chose to live without a car and it's been a pain in the ass. Going forward, living in a city that has the infrastructure to get around more efficiently and to a larger area with public transit is important. Is Philadelphia one of those cities? Clearly it's no NYC. But how does it compare to cities like Chicago and DC in terms of transit? Is it unheard of to go car-less in Philadelphia?
Also, assuming you have the money to live in Center City, any opinions on Philadelphia are welcomed.
As long as you work in Philadelphia you should be fine. If you work in the suburbs you are going to need a car.
100%. I lived there without a car for years and no issues.
Subway is fine. Regional rail and bus fills in the rest. Tons of cabs and Uber’s around. Zip car and car rentals do the rest. I’d literally go 6 months without wanting or needing to leave the city. King of Prussia is probably the only real reason and that’s to buy expensive brand names not in the city. Hopefully they will open a Saks or something and that will eliminate that need.
That's what Boyds is for...
Lose your car in the riots?
lol
If I moved to Philly I would be working in Center City and living within a 15 minute walk to work. Mostly wanting to know if the rest of the city is accessible from Center City via public transit. It looks like the trolley system would be good for getting to the Penn area
My close friend currently does it and doesn’t have a car nor any desire to have one. He lives on Market St and works a few blocks away. You’ll be fine!
Center City itself is super walkable, and getting to South Philly and North is really easy with Septa.
I have a car but never use it. If you're in CC everything you'd want to do is either walkable, a short ride away on the BSL/MFL or a cheap uber.
Don't need a car and also Philly is the shit.
When we were in Philly we lived in the Haddonfield area and shared a car. (My GF had random mediocre jobs while I worked in CC--we moved from NYC for the position) Being carless in center city is fine. if you can figure out how to have multiple people share one car, that's even better for the random times you want one (major grocery shopping, road trips, etc.) if not, there's always Uber. I'd also tell you that if you don't need a "scene," consider jersey. PATCO runs 24/7, and is every five minutes in rush hour. Rents/purchase prices are significantly cheaper. (yes if you buy you get hit with NJ real estate taxes) You may also save that 3.05% in PA state tax, as you don't owe it, and you can take the Philly wage tax off of your NJ tax bill.
Suggest you rent a car for a day and drive up along the Delaware River this spring. The PA side above Trenton is very scenic. If you need a change of pace from the city for a weekend, there's a bunch of inns along the way. (Black Bass is my favorite, but everyone's got different tastes)
Only times I have really wanted a car is for weekend trips - skiing, beach, visiting other cities (Amtrak is surprisingly expensive). However, the trade off in terms of the amount you save by not paying for parking far outweighs renting a car every few weeks to make one of these trips.
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