Any comments on pros and cons of moving to Philadelphia? Thinking about retiring there. New York taxes and prices are just too much to bear anymore. After retirement, I'll be on a fixed income so I'll have to start counting my pennies. The missus absolutely wants to stay in close to New York, as least by driving distance. So Philly seems like a good choice, fairly cosmopolitan city (despite the racial problems of South Philly) home prices are dirt cheap, real estate and personal income tax are also very low. Plus there's a Chinatown (small, but nonetheless Chinese). So good, bad, ugly; if you have anything at all to enlighten me, please do. I only traveled twice there my entire life, both times being for a brother graduating from UPenn (one did their undergrad, another their law school). So other than seeing the art museum and knowing that Rocky ran up the stairs there, I know almost nothing about the city. Thanks to all who respond
Come Hawaii, not much racial problems here. Asians, Polynesians and White are the majority. People are friendlier than mainland's. Nice weather and close travel distance to malls so this is very good for elderly people. (It has a Chinatown too)
You know, I had seriously considered Hawaii, but logistically from a personal perspective, it's unfortunately a no go. I want to stay close to NY actually for several reasons. While I have siblings in HK and Calif, most of us are still on the east coast, as is my Mom (who, despite being spry, is rather elderly). I have to be no more than a few hours away at best. So the west coast is already out of the question. Frankly, if there wasn't anything else to consider, Hawaii would have been a perfect choice... -inlove
alright so I'll tell u about west philadelphia where I was born and raised, on the playground is where I spent most of my day chilling out, maxing and relaxing all coo and all shooting some b-bal outside of schoo when a couple of guy they were up to no good starte making trouble in our neighborhood i got in one little fight and my mom got scare she said your movin in with your auntie and uncle in Bel-Air.
One of my friend's parents moved to Philadelphia years ago cause of the cheap homes there, one parent even decided to stay in NYC for work and my friend travels from NYC to Philadelphia every weekend to visit. I think it's a good move. You should visit the area where you want to settle down first and really see if the neighborhoods are right for you. Traveling from NYC to Philly is easy. Let's get real, with the real estate market in NYC, it's just too expensive to buy a home here and like you said, taxes and other expenses are going up. Since I have family in Florida, they tell me to move there cause the home prices are pretty cheap there right now and the area is nice.
NYC is good to visit and live near by; not a good place to settle .. even in the west coast for places like SF or LA. One of the things to keep in mind beside cheap housing or living standard during retirement is quality health care access. Come on, we all get sick eventually and living close to a medical facility ensure you'll get med help in case of emergency. A good friend of mine actually lives in Philadelphia since 2001.. no complaint from her thus far.
Agreed, we plan to make several trips there to check out not just the housing, but the various communities, routes of access, and public transportation. The missus is especially impressed by the fact that there is a direct 2 hour bus service from NYC's Chinatown into Philly's Chinatown for the cost of $20 roundtrip (0700-0030 daily) run by 2 separate Chinese bus services (not to mention a myriad of other non Asian owned carriers). So coming back into the city to visit friends or do shopping is not only easy, it would be quick and almost hassle free. You don't even have to worry about driving and then having to look for parking. Given the cost of tolls and gas, the $20 RT for a single passenger is probably even cheaper than having to drive by yourself. (Of course, for a full car load, then the car would be cheaper) Indeed the taxes are a killer in New York. On comparable pieces of property that I viewed on real estate websites, tax in NY is roughly 300% of what is charged by PA. Even electricity in PA is about 2/3 of what it costs in NY per Kilowatt hour. I went on one of those pay scale web sites to calculate the cost of living between New York and Philly and found that my COL would decrease even as I take a pay reduction (if I chose to continue to work). Another thing is, my pension would also go farther as PA 3.07% personal income tax is less than half of NY's 6.85%. It seems that all across the board there is savings in just about everything in PA over NY. I know that this used to be the case 30 years ago with NJ compared to NY; but NJ has unfortunately achieved parity with NY's COL, and in some ways, exceeded it (eg real estate tax). :ugh: So PA seems to be the next step for savings. As for Florida, I hear it's nice too. It has traditionally been referred to as New York South, as so many former New Yorkers choose to retire there. If you polled the retirement communities there, you'll find that at least half the residents there are transplants from elsewhere (mostly NY and NJ). If you can get property there I suggest you do so while you're young, as life goes by rather quickly. Hitting the double nickel in the spring; gosh, it sure went by in the blink of an eye. You're certainly right about that. In that regard, there's Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP) and Temple University Hospital, both being pretty well known teaching hospitals. There's also a variety of other large health facilities, and if push comes to shove, I can always go to the VA hospital there as a last resort. Overall, I don't think that health care access should be that big a concern. The one thing that Missus Ralph keeps harping about is being able to get Chinese cable or not. Does anyone know if there is cable access to Chinese stations in Philly? I know there are priorities, but that apparently, is hers, LOL... So, in that vein, does anyone know what Cable companies (besides RCN Philly) that operate there? I want to check their web pages to see if they include international programming. RCN Philly want's $50 per month, with an additional $10-$12 for Chinese programming. Is that the best that's out there? Thx.
Well .. I guess everyone has different priority when it comes to picking a place to settle - safety, mass transit, parking, tax, health, etc .. Anyway, 55 is relatively young to retire man .. I thought SS extends the retirement age to 70 now. I guess you must have excellent financial planning to be retiring so soon.
Ralphinator.. here's my advice for you.. where ever you choose to settling down in.. Don't have WHITE neighbors!! I'm sorry.. but they are just too shady! would be cool if you lived in PA though.. cause they you can say.. you're on PA in PA.. lol
I have relatives that live in philly.. haven't heard anything bad about it... but definitely go check it out. 2 hr drive isn't so bad.
It's probably going to be a working retirement as I'm not going to collect from SS for at least another 10 years. I'm going to try to try not to touch the retirement savings at all. -innocent2 Hmmm...
I dont think there's enough people on here from philly that can tell you about philly. Just go where the taxes are low.. drive around in your veyron and enjoy life! or put a map up of the places around ny and throw a dart at it.
LOL you damn racist! Should change it to if you have a white neighbor, don't just think about egging them in the face all the time. -smart Maybe bake them a pumpkin pie.-sweat
I have a few friends from Philly and they love it there. It's a very urban area and it's very peaceful, from what I hear. Oh, and watch out for deer.
Thanks K, there's definitely more of a rural air right outside Philly (from what I hear). I'm not much into deer hunting so I won't appreciate having so many around either, LOL... I'm currently looking at different neighborhoods and checking on the availability of houses, their local schools, access to shopping, etc. If you don't mind me asking; which neighborhoods do your friends live? Are there sizable Asian populations where they are?
LOL, not much of a Hockey fan either, I'm afraid. At any rate, I hear that there are a lot of Chinese in Northeast Philly. My question is, does that mean NE Philly, the neighborhood, or NE Philly, the entire region beyond the NE Philadelphia airport? Any clarification would be appreciated. Also, there are some beautiful affordable houses in west Philly (Drexel Hill, East Lansdowne, Upper Darby, et al), just a few miles past University City (where UPenn is). The only bad thing is the real estate taxes being almost as close to that of New York's. Still, for the money (about a third of what a home in NY would cost) it is well worth serious consideration.
