All posts tagged: Living in Philadelphia

My Philly Neighborhood: Passyunk Square in South Philadelphia

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When I’m not in class or studying in the law school library, I am enjoying time in my South Philadelphia neighborhood. My brother has lived in Passyunk Square in South Philadelphia for years and suggested I look for housing in the area. I quickly found my apartment on the real estate website, Zillow. I live on my own in a one-bedroom apartment and rent is around $1,600 per month. I chose to live in Passyunk Square because it’s charming, safe, and an easy commute to school. Each morning I walk 5 minutes to the Ellsworth-Federal station and ride the Broad Street Line (BSL) to Temple’s Cecil B. Moore station. The entire commute is around 20 minutes. It was important to me to live in a neighborhood near the BSL so that I don’t have to transfer between subway lines or trolleys to get to school. Living near the BSL also makes it easy to get to shopping and dining in Center City, though I often walk. There is a lot within walking distance in Passyunk …

Temple Law students on their front stoop.

My Philly Neighborhood: Queen Village

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I moved to Philly specifically to attend Temple Law. I grew up in the suburbs of New Jersey, so I was excited to give city living a try, and living in Queen Village has not disappointed. I live in an apartment with two other Temple Law students that I met during my 1L year! We were lucky enough to make another friend whose parent was a landlord, so now we are also neighbors with another Temple Law student and one of our closest friends. Our apartment is the second and third floor of a row house. Queen Village is one of the older neighborhoods in Philly, so our apartment was built in the 1800’s. As it is a well established neighborhood, Queen Village is home to a lot of families. On a nice day, you will see kids riding bikes and scooters, as well as plenty of pups out for their daily walks. It has a very friendly and neighborly feel, even though it is only about a mile and a half from Center City. …

Philadelphia street lined with trees

My Philly Neighborhood: Fairmount

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Hi everyone! My name is Kate Sears. I live in the Fairmount neighborhood in Philadelphia, just 1 mile away from the law school, and I wanted to explain why I love my Philly neighborhood. I found my apartment through Apartments.com. Once I found my roommate through the Temple Law roommate list that was circulated through the Admissions Office and on the entering class Facebook Group, we narrowed down what we were looking for and input that into the Apartments.com website. We didn’t have to look very long or tour that many places before we settled on our 2 bed 2 bath apartment. Together, we pay about $2k including utilities and wifi, and we get a lot for what we pay. We ultimately chose Fairmount because it had the best of everything we wanted in our price range. It was a short walk to the subway and then a short trip to school, the area was safe, and the apartment had everything we needed. Fairmount is very residential with a lot of families, so we always …

Philadelphia Skyline from Fitler Square

My Philly Neighborhood: Fitler Square

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I grew up in Fitler Square, a small, quaint neighborhood in the southwest corner of Center City. The neighborhood’s charm is defined by its Victorian-era, 19th and 20th century row homes and its close proximity to Rittenhouse Square, Taney Park, and other Center City neighborhoods. The best part about Fitler Square is its diversity and exuberance; the neighborhood is comprised of families, young professionals, students, and empty nesters. I grew up loving the neighborhood, and I’ve never strayed too far. I returned to the neighborhood when I started law school and I could not be happier with my decision.

Queen Village

My Philly Neighborhood: Queen Village (And Bella Vista, Too!)

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Queen Village is the perfect neighborhood. Nestled just southeast of Center City, Queen Village is bordered by South Street to the north and Washington Ave to the south, and spans from 6th Street to the Delaware River. With tree-lined streets, historic brick homes, and plenty of shops and restaurants, Queen Village is the quintessential urban residential neighborhood. And if you’re interested in expanding your search closer to the Broad Street subway line, look no further than neighboring Bella Vista, which occupies the same latitude as Queen Village, but stretches to the west from 6th Street to 11th Street. It’s just as lovely, and perhaps more accessible to Temple for the car-free crowd.

Powelton Village West Philadelphia

My Philly Neighborhood: West Philadelphia

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I have lived in Philadelphia for the past three and a half years. During my first two years in Philly, I lived in Center City. While I enjoyed it there, I always thought that the rent prices were a bit of a rip off and, because I’m not much of a city girl, I missed being around trees. While visiting some friends who lived in West Philly, I noticed the charming old Victorian homes, and all of the gorgeous green space. I was delighted by how quiet the area was and decided to look into living there.

Boston, Philadelphia, and New York

Picking an East Coast City for Law School

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Boston, Philadelphia, and New York. If you want to go to law school and start your legal career on the east coast, chances are you’re considering these three major US cities. Each of these urban hubs has their hidden gems and rich histories along with their misconceptions. I’ve had the pleasure of living in all three cities – here’s my take on each one. Boston Boston is my hometown. Like New York City, Boston proper is a city made up of smaller towns. You may think Boston is an uppity, prestigious city because of our association with Cambridge, a tourist-heavy neighborhood directly outside Boston proper that is home to MIT, Harvard, and Massachusetts’s wealthiest families. However, this is furthest from the truth. I grew up in Dorchester, an area of Boston proper filled with immigrants from the Caribbean. My parents emigrated here from Trinidad and Tobago. On the outskirts of Dorchester, you also have many Irish immigrants. The Boston I know is diverse, with hardworking immigrant families trying to achieve the American Dream. Boston is …

My Philly Neighborhood: North Philadelphia

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I came to Temple Law School from Houston, TX. I first discovered Temple after searching US News and World Reports’ best law schools for trial advocacy list. After being accepted, I decided to experience the school and the City of Brotherly Love before I paid my final seat deposit. When I arrived I was not sure this was the place I wanted to spend the next three years of my life. I grew up in New Orleans before moving to Houston, which was an easy move – the weather was still warm and it was only a five hour drive from home. Philadelphia was far from my family and, maybe more distressingly, had real winters. The mere thought of having to walk to class in the snow and wear layers to keep warm, made me want to run back to the South.

Fishtown, Philadelphia

My Philly Neighborhood: Fishtown

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After living outside of Pittsburgh for the past few years, I moved to Philadelphia to attend Temple Law. With only an outside knowledge of the city and its neighborhoods, I searched through Craigslist for something that was within walking distance of the law school. I knew my first year would be insane, and I figured I’d spend most of my time in the library anyways. The result: I ended up on 13th and Diamond, at the edge of Temple University’s campus. Surrounded by undergrads with — how should I say this — different social schedules than me, little to no restaurants, and no good cafes, I ended up spending most of my time in the library without much regret.

My second year, all that changed.