Raising a family in East Falls (Penn: for sale, house, safe neighborhood)

[baseballlluftwaffe]

I have been doing some research to see what neighborhood is the best for a middle class family to raise a child. My research has lead me to find that East Falls is one of the better neighborhoods in the city to raise a family. I am looking for more information on East Falls from people who know the area better. Is it a safe neighborhood to raise a family? Are the public schools decent in that neighborhood? Does it have a nice family atmosphere? Also, are the neighborhoods of Queen Village, Pennsport, Port Richmond, Fishtown, Northern Liberties, Roxborough, and Chestnut Hill decent places to raise a family?

[canterm]

Hello. I can comment on some of the areas, but know east falls the best since i lived their for years. East falls is a large area, but provided you are north of Midvale Street, it is a great area, IMO better than Manyunk because it is quiet and there is parking. This area is extreemly safe for the city, and has a suburban fell almost to it. You are about 25 minutes by car downtown (little less or more depending on time) the train is about 20 minutes to downtown also. However I dont think the schools are good. I know the highschool is horrific. My father sent my sister there for 1 week until we found out how bad it is. There are too many disruptions to learn, medal detectors, fights, guns and knives. Out of the entire school my sister was one of only 4 white children. I am not trying to be rascist as I think diversity is good. I am not sure if this is the worst high school in the city but i would not send my children there. PS most of roxboro is same school district as east falls and manyunk. Hope this helps. Like I said its a nice place to live but u would want to look at other school options.

Roxboro is similar, but a little further from the city.

[chessimprov]

Randolph High I think it's called in East Falls is not the worst. There's a link, I forget it, for the most 25 dangerous schools in PA. All are Philly schools this year, but one of them is definitely not Randolph.

Is it a safe neighborhood to raise a family? Are the public schools decent in that neighborhood? Does it have a nice family atmosphere? Also, are the neighborhoods of Queen Village, Pennsport, Port Richmond, Fishtown, Northern Liberties, Roxborough, and Chestnut Hill decent places to raise a family?

Chestnut HIll is great, but expensive. Roxborough High school has gotten worse, but it's Elementary and middle school, Cooke-Wissihickon, is one of the best Philly public schools for Elementary. Queen Village, I think it depends on the section. Somewhere in or near Queen, there's a great public school for ESL learners, I forget which one it is. Pennsport I think is fine, but I don't know if there are any schools near there that are particularly good or bad. Fishtown, I haven't heard of any schools that are particularly good, but try to avoid a Kensington school for now and Bodine is kinda near there, a great school even though I question the bad attitudes I've experienced from 3 people who go to that school. Hard place to grow up in, but very diverse and you can meet some nice and interesting people in Fishtown.

[Sassygirl18]

I knew a couple who lived in East Falls but moved out because the area was becoming more ridden with crime. In fact, the final straw was that someone broke into their house when they were home. Luckily their dog scared the intruder away but that's when they put the house up for sale.

[solibs]

Originally Posted by baseballlluftwaffe

looking for more information on East Falls from people who know the area better. Is it a safe neighborhood to raise a family? Are the public schools decent in that neighborhood? Does it have a nice family atmosphere? Also, are the neighborhoods of Queen Village, Pennsport, Port Richmond, Fishtown, Northern Liberties, Roxborough, and Chestnut Hill decent places to raise a family?

Some of the neighborhood grammar schools in the city range from OK to good. If you want to send your kid to public high school you'll have to look into Charter/Magnet schools like Masterman, Girls, Central, Performing Arts, etc. Otherwise consider private/parochial.

East Falls is a nice neighborhood that gets a lot nicer when you go up the hill/cross the R6 tracks. There has been a lot of investment there over the last 8-10 years and the downtown area is definitely turning the corner for the better. If not for the current state of the economy things would probably be much further along right now.

Queen Village is a great neighborhood with a lot of kids. I have friends who rented an expanded trinity there for years (their kids are now 16 and 8) but as their kids got bigger decided to buy a bigger house in Pennsport. Their 16 year old goes to Masterman but i'm not sure about the younger one. You didn't mention the age of your children or your price rants but Queen Village is expensive but no more so than the nicer blocks of East Falls. QV is decidedly more urban. You'll miss out on a backyard with grass but you'll be able to walk to just about everything. It really depends on the experience you want for your kids.

Port Richmond is very blue collar and probably not the place to move from another city with a young family.

Fishtown, just to the south of Richmond is better and is rapidly trending toward the 30-something professional - so probably not a great place for a family either.

Just south of Fishtown is Northern Liberties. A great neighborhood with a strong civic and a lot of cool resources and they're really pioneering the green building movement in Philly. It's all out of my price range, though. There really aren't a lot of kids there either. It trends towards young professionals and empty nesters.

Roxborough is to the northwest of East Falls. A little more blue collar/rowhouse than East Falls but still a decent neighborhood with a lot of kids. I don't know anything about the schools up there.

Chestnut Hill has been where the gentry of Philly have lived for 150 years. Jenks is one of the best K-8 schools in the city. You should look into what the catchment area for that school is.

I see that you didn't mention West Mt. Airy - which is between East Falls and Chestnut Hill - geographically and socio-economically - and it's probably worth putting on your list.