Help Me Move to North Philadelphia
January 5, 2015 10:15 AM   Subscribe

So, I use a wheelchair. I need to find an accessible place, near accessible transportation, that is ideally near the Community College of Philadelphia. I would like to avoid being shot in the brain, but drug users and prostitution don't frighten me. So any ideas as to where I should go in North Philly?
posted by angrycat to Home & Garden (8 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
I'd suggest somewhere along Spring Garden west of Broad St (right on top of CCP, pretty much). The Spring Garden stop on the BSL is accessible, the bus lines running E-W on Spring Garden and N-S to/from Fairmount should also be accessible, and Spring Garden is going to be the best street up there for a wheelchair. Further, there are a bunch of bigger buildings along that stretch that should theoretically be accessible.

Anywhere north into Franklintown/Fairmount/etc is going to be a row home and it's going to be a tough time to find one that a chair can roll into. Also check out some of the loft-style buildings on north Broad between the convention center and Fairmount Ave, which should give you some proximity to CCP and accessibility. I wouldn't live further north than Fairmount east of, say, 19th St; west of there (and north of Eastern State) you're probably okay to Girard, but then you're really far from CCP over a lot of crap sidewalks.
posted by The Michael The at 10:38 AM on January 5, 2015


Honestly I was going to suggest the same area as The Michael The. Mostly because of the accessibility of the transit there. There are a couple of apartment buildings on spring garden, but I left Philly awhile ago and don't remember their names.

Is there a department at CCP that could maybe help you with housing?
posted by misanthropicsarah at 10:55 AM on January 5, 2015


What's your budget? The first thing that sprang to mind was the building at 600 N. Broad, and the 640 Lofts (where Osteria is) because I presume that newly-renovated "luxury" apartments are going to be accessible.
posted by desuetude at 10:58 AM on January 5, 2015


Also wanting to know what your budget is. I can actually help you get a great deal on a place in an accessible luxury building paying less than market rate (but since it's a lux building, it costs more than average). The place is just a couple of blocks from that college and there are other inhabitants with wheelchairs. Good luck!
posted by cacao at 11:48 AM on January 5, 2015


Response by poster: So, my budget is limited -- $1000 for a studio/1 bedroom. Yeah, I'm kinda poor.
posted by angrycat at 12:56 PM on January 5, 2015


That's not poor at all. The apartment that I mentioned splits into a one bedroom and a studio, and the studio side can be rented out for a 900-1000. Do you know anyone who would be interested in renting the 1-bedroom side, goes for about $1300-1400? Each side has its own entrance and are connected by a locking door that neither party needs to have a key for, if preferred for privacy's sake.

Don't worry about answering this if this situation does not interest you. Good luck!
posted by cacao at 1:15 PM on January 5, 2015


East of Broad below Spring Garden there are a couple loft buildings with elevators. I think they are managed by Miles and Generalis, who were flaky but decent people when I lived there. Some have other owners. Not sure what they rent for now, but they aren't really luxury. Fine, just not fancy. If you talk to them, there's a chance they have something a little weird and cheaper.
posted by sepviva at 6:13 PM on January 5, 2015


I live in this neighborhood and graduated from CCP years ago. There are a number of apartment buildings in the area, and you may be able to find a sublet, typically on Craigslist. All buses are wheelchair-accessible these days, and some subway stations are. Spring garden became accessible about a year ago. If you're attending CCP I am assuming you are a local seeking specific info about w/c accesible housing, but your income may also make you elegible for assistance. I mention this because there is a building on spring garden street in the 1800 block that houses many, many disabled people, admittedly mostly seniors, but that population typically needs more accommodations. The advantage of this type of building is that they will also have accomodations as standard in the bathroom and kitchen.

I don't know the exact address or the building's name - it might be 1818 Spring Garden - but if you are interested memail me and I can research it for you. If you are interested in one of the buildings mentioned above by sepviva (managed by Generalis) I can speak to Alex Generalis for you, as he is a friend of cityboy.
posted by citygirl at 8:59 AM on January 6, 2015


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