Philadelphia - Resource Recommendations (Books)

[Jen in Chicago]

We may be relocated here. I want to do some research on it. I received a Barnes and Noble gift card and want to purchase some good items to make us well informed of where we could be going. Thank you for your help!

[NEVE and TRISTAN]

I don't know Philly to well...but Andrea Luckykatt might beable to point you in a good direction.

I have to say that one of my favorite places in the world is near there, New Hope PA in Bucks County. Do a search on Bucks County in a search engine and they have a great tourist guide.

Several of us are going to hook up up there when I get my act together and get all of us in a Yahoo group of some sort to plan it :)...
Neve
http://home.nc.rr.com/ourbabytristan
AKA "mama2be"-forgot password
and Baby Boy Tristan born @UNC
Feb 25, 2003
Brother to 3 pups "gees" and 2 kitties

[jamsmu]

Hi Jen,

I've lived in the Phila. area nearly all of my life. There is a great book, Philadelphia with Kids, that has day trips and activities for you to do with little kids, but I also use it when we just need to do something different. Our newspapers are the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Daily News. We also have several area magazines: Philadelphia Magazine (philly.com) is the one for the city, then each area seems to have them as well. For example, if you are going to live on the "main line" we have Main Line Life, if you are going to be in Bucks County, there is another magazine for that area. There are a great deal of other books on the market, I've never picked them up because I just know it from living here.

When it comes time to look for a realtor, if you need help with that, I may be able to help you. Same with answering questions about schools.

Do you know what area you may be moving to? Feel free to e-mail me and I can, hopefully, let you know about the area and answer questions.

One note, if you are planning to visit this summer... like most summers, Phila gets a little turned upside down. It often feels emptier at nights at restaurants because a lot of people have places at the Jersey shore and Delaware beaches. DH and I, who stay here, love this time because the waits for great restaurants are always shorter. But this summer they are filming the Real World in Phila and the city is pretty busy with the crew (the cast isn't in town yet-- I don't think.) Additionally, right now, they're filming a Cameron Diaz movie in Rittenhouse Square. Again, a lot of cast and crew are all around the city. DH was downtown on Saturday night and said it was a little crazy. They were closing major streets for filming and the "hot" clubs were more busy than usual. Of course, the Flyers had just won a big game and it was the first nice Saturday of the season.

Good luck! Let me know how I can help,

[aliceinwonderland]

We're moving there this summer, so I can start law school at Penn this fall. We're pretty excited :)

[jamsmu]

Congrats!! As I said to Jen, let me know if you have any questions!!

[aliceinwonderland]

I will! Right now I'm focusing on having this baby, but soon after he arrives the fun of finding a place to live and a job for DH starts. I'm sure I'll have lots of questions then :)

Thanks,

eri and the bean, due today :)

[lukkykatt]

Beyond Philadelphia Magazine (which I still pore over every time I am "home") I don't know of any official resources for the city. But feel free to PM me. I lived in Philadelphia just outside of Center City for the first 30 years of my life. My friends and family are all from Phila - which is why I know of no resources - we all just asked each other anything we wanted to know.

I love the city and would move back there in a heartbeat if I could just get DH to agree. There is a ton of stuff to do and the restaraunts are fantastic.

Let me know what you need.

[llcoddington]

My BIL and SIL live in the Philadelphia area. They live in Langhorne. SIL has lived in Philly area her whole life, so if you have any specific questions, I would be happy to ask her for you!

Lana
mommy to Lauren 12/5/03

[jamsmu]

Oh eri... I remember the days of waiting... and waiting... and waiting... DS was 8 days late. But it'll be so fun once "the bean" shows up!

A friend recommended that I see a movie on the due date. That was the last movie DH and I have seen together. It was a great suggestion because it (somewhat) took my mind off things.

Keep smiling!

[npace19147]

I live in Philly - Center City - so if you have any questions, let me know!

Two websites that might be somewhat useful: philly.com, which links to the two local papers (Inquirer and Daily News), and phillymama.com which just has some fun information.

[momathome]

Hey, Jen! We love about 40 minutes from the city and I grew up only 15 minutes from the city. I love this area - there are a lot of fun things to do in Philly! If you or dh will be working in the city, you may want to consider living in South Jersey. It is a lot cheaper than the immediate Philadelphia suburbs and right over the bridge from the city. Feel free to pm or email me if you have any questions - I would be happy to answer any questions you might have. Good luck!
-Lauren

[mmaimp]

I just wanted to add that I’m also in the Philadelphia area, grew up in South Jersey and now reside in Delaware. Delaware is also another great place to live, no sales tax and low property tax. Public schools are ok through there are great private and parochial schools. I love being so close to many major cities. We day trip to Philadelphia, New York, Baltimore and D.C all the time!

I’m also available to answer any questions.

[jamsmu]

Hey Lauren,

Where do you live? we live in West Chester and I grew up in Upper Dublin.

[momathome]

Hey, Julie! I live in Spring City (Chester County), about 15 minutes further northwest of Valley Forge. I grew up in Washington Twp. (Gloucester County) in NJ and went to high school in Pennsauken. Small world :) !!!
-Lauren
ETA: If you are in West Chester, do you go to Exton often??? We were there today! My cousin goes to WCU and we bought our Mazda MPV in Westechester last year!

[jamsmu]

We practically live in Exton, and are at Main Street at Exton all the time! That place was a blessing for me--but also terrible because it is SO easy to go to BRU, BN, Old Navy, and all the great restaurants!

ETA... We have family in Spring City (small world is right)

[Jen in Chicago]

Thank you all for your input. We have a lot of factors to consider before making to commitment. The scary part for me is I may need to quit my job if I can't work from the Phili office. I don't know if I am a SAHM.

[Jen in Chicago]

I got the Philadelphia for Kids book and will read it soon. Looks like DH will work in Lima and I will be in Berwyn. Any recommendations for placed to research between those 2 places?

[jamsmu]

Jen,

It really depends on your financial situation. Berwyn is part of the "main line." This is a wonderful area with great schools and neighborhoods, of course, this means it is pricier. Don't know much about Lima. DH used to live in Media which is pretty close by and really nice. Two other nice areas I can think of over there are Swarthmore (a small college town) and Newtown Square. We live in West Chester, another college town in a "booming" developmental area. Its further west from both of the towns where your jobs will be. Not too much of a commute from Berwyn, but a little further from Lima.

When we were looking for a home we focused on Montgomery County and Chester County--ended up in Chester County. I always started on Realtor.com and then started asking questions about areas I learned of from there.

It sounds like you will be able to keep working! Thats great for you! Once you have town names that sound good to you, or that you want to know about, I can certainly try to help you that way.

Congrats and good luck!!

[lukkykatt]

Philadelphia Magazine usually has a really nice annual issue that reviews all areas in the Phila. area. That would be a good place to start. I would check and see if you could access that information from them. http://www.phillymag.com/

[jamsmu]

I think it was the March or April issue this year... if I can find mine, I'll post the issue date.

[Jen in Chicago]

Thank you! I'll try to get this.