Son moving to philly

My son is starting work at Penn in another week and

needs an apartment. Doing it online is scary. We don%26#39;t

know where the safer parts of town are. Any ideas

on which streets to look at or avoid? Rent is a

problem - can%26#39;t afford more than $800 or so monthly.

Thanks for any advise!

Son moving to philly

To be very honest, finding someplace nice in the city for $800 or less is going to be a challenge, unless its very small. There are a TON of apartments that students rent in the campus area, that%26#39;s where I would probably start. If he knows anyone where he will be working at Penn, ask them to get him a copy of the Penn Paper and forward some listings.

Another option is to find someplace in the Northeast for example and commute in each day, but the travel costs although modest may offset the savings.

Once you have some specific locations in mind, please run them by us.

Son moving to philly

I PMed you with some info.

I sent you a PM also.

Travel costs are subsidized through Penn - most of the cost of a trail pass or parking would come out tax-free.

http://philly.everyblock.com/

Heard about this website on the news this morning, EveryBlockPhiladelphia. Type in the zip code of the area you are considering and you will get crime statistics and other local info

Without specifics about where you%26#39;re looking or your son%26#39;s personal preferences, it%26#39;s difficult to give advice.

My general suggestion would be for your son to consider sharing a large apartment or house with 1 or 2 roommates on a short-term lease (no more than 6 months). Right now there are probably a lot of people in the University City neighborhood who%26#39;d be looking for roommates at this time of year.

Although the rommate situation has its own risks and drawbacks, too, it does have a few upsides. By sharing, he could probably find a bigger/nicer place and save some money on the utility bills.

More importantly, it gives him time to get acquainted with the city and to look around for his own place.

You mentioned ';safer parts of town';, but chances are that if he is staying in the UPenn area, he%26#39;s going to have to be careful and be aware of his surroundings. UPenn and Drexel U are densely populated with students, employees and neighborhood residents. Therefore, it%26#39;s difficult to patrol. The campuses have always had security issues.