Moving to Philly - need advice/friends/job/place to live

don't move there! whatever the reason is stay where at, But if have too, don't live in the city. if you do the west end is the best they open a new post office maybe you can find work there.

If I were single and was going to live in the city, I would live in Manayunk. It has lots of bars/restaurants and from there you can run/bike around Schylkill River Trail (combo of paved asphalt/trails from downtown out to Green Lane reservoir - something like 25 miles worth) and Valley Green (5+ miles of trails). The R6 is a 15 minute train ride downtown.

Center City is the best area for nightlife, proximity to jobs, etc.

Germantown/West Mount Airy is a great area, near the Wissahickon Creek so you can run with your dog, affordable, nice ethnic and economic mix.

if you're a suburbia kind of guy who wants a good running atmosphere look to live on the Main Line....Ardmore, Haverford, Bryn Mawr, or Nova. The Bryn Mawr RC is right there. Great shop, great people, solid team, and plenty of folks to train with. It is about 25 minutes by rail into center city.

Don't let the haters fool you. Philadelphia is a great city to live and run in.

The best neighborhoods for running (within city limits) are East Falls, Manyunk, and West Mt. Airy. All are close to the Valley Green (miles of hilly trails and a flat 4 mile path along the Wissihickon Creek). The top running club in this area is Philly TC (www.phillytc.com).

If you must live downtown, live on the west side of center city, as you can get acess to the Schuykill river path at 25th and Locust. There's a new running store at 19th and Sansom that has group runs on Thursday nights and Saturday mornings (Philadelphia Runner).

If you want to live in the suburbs, the best spot are in the main line area of Ardmore, Haverford, Bryn Mawr, Villanova. There's many just graduated college runners here and a strong club team in Bryn Mawr (www.runbmrc.com).

In suburban Jersey, there's a good scene in Haddonfield (see

http://www.runningco.com/ti.html

).

As for jobs . . . the biggest employer in the city is the University of Pennsylvania. Be sure to check out their website. With your technical background also take a look at Comcast. For non-profit work, see the Philadelphia Cultural Alliance (www.philaculture.com).

Thanks everyone for your help. All except 1 post was very beneficial and informative and I appreciate you taking the time to write me. The 1 post about working at the post office, I scratch my head why people even waste time writing that stuff on here...nevertheless, thanks!

hey if you really are 234 guy, running with the bryn mawr guys might be really good for you, they have quite a few guys in that range, and it'd be decent training, and a good time.

I would stay OUT of Philly. Good luck to you, seriously.

check out the philadelphia track club at www.phillytc.com group of 20 runners that meet regulary and train together 3 times a week. meet at upenn track and also run from roxborough to the wissahickon.

the phillytc had 2 guys qualify for the 2004 marathon olympic trials