Neighborhood, Neighborhood, Neighborhood

Our Approach To Philadelphia’s Neighborhoods: An Introduction

As in Real Estate, the longstanding heuristic for opening a retail business, almost cliche nowadays, is that the three most important things to consider for your business are, in order, location, location, and location. This is an invaluable adage for such an entrepreneur. It is so simple yet so universally consequential that even the most inventive business will succeed or fail depending on how seriously the rule is taken. Purchasing a home is a substantial decision that too often is made based on a myopic view of the structure alone, with little regard paid to the intricacies of its surroundings. However home-life does not exist in a vacuum. Instead, it lives in the interaction between your house and the outside world. With this in mind, I offer an alternative paradigm when deciding to purchase a home. The buyer should heed an essential variant of the advice given to store owners. The three most important things to consider in buying a home are neighborhood, neighborhood, and neighborhood.

Your Home is Your Hub

Your home is your hub. It is where you begin and end your day. It is where you eat, sleep, and raise your children. It is your sanctuary and it is your most important possession. However, unless you are a hermit, your life does not solely exist within its walls. In fact, the home can be thought of as the axis, the (0,0) point, existing within the context of its surroundings. The neighborhood is the context.
Less philosophically put, anytime you come or go (to walk the dog, to go to the market, to bring home the bacon) you are actively participating in your neighborhood. Independent of destination, you cannot leave your home without entering your neighborhood. You cannot even look out your window without interacting with your environment. Too often overlooked, the location of a home will drastically affect the comforts of home-life.

Location Is Inflexible

Even if you have always recognized the importance of neighborhood, you may wonder why it is being stressed with such paramount significance. One of the reasons is control. You have the ability to control your home. If your bathroom tile is passe, you can change it. Cold in the winter? Turn up the heat. But what if the buildings on your block are dilapidated? What if the surrounding schools are sub-par? What if the closest market is a twenty minute walk? Um, what now? It is convenient to think of your home as the center of a target. This is your realm of total control. As you move outward through each ring of that target, you lose some degree of influence. Like the environmentalists mantra, “Think Globally, Act Locally,” your ability to affect change is most tangible the closer you stay to the bullseye. You can always alter your home but it is much more difficult to single handedly change your neighborhood. Thus significant attention must be paid to the environment, as you are moving into an established neighborhood, a location much less flexible than your house.

Choosing Your Neighborhood Wisely

There are several salient factors to consider when choosing a neighborhood. Each will affect your living experience and, in turn, your home-life. They are personal and will be valued differently by each individual, however some ubiquitous factors include safety, aesthetics, demographic make-up (eg. family-oriented, diversity, like-minded residents), convenience (eg. close to schools, parks, transportation, parking, houses of worship, markets, businesses), and disposition (quiet serenity vs. lively activity). Only the individual can decide which neighborhood is the perfect match. One universal truth applies: the more information you have, the better you can get to know a neighborhood. Consequently, the more harmony you share with your surroundings, the happier you will be in your new home. Through a series of articles, blogs, and the abundance of information offered herein, our goal is to help you find a neighborhood that will make your new house into your new home.

Navigating Philadelphia’s Neighborhood Real Estate

Philadelphia is often described as a City of Neighborhoods. Any resident can easily conjure the substantial differences between the Northeast and West Philly. What is so amazing about this city is that drastic distinctions often occur when you travel only a few blocks. Due to this diversity, and the aforementioned importance of neighborhood in regards to home buying, Re/Max City Space invites you browse not only prospective homes, but their context as well- the content of their neighborhoods. This innovative approach is an example of the creative thinking that differentiates our goal of matching you with the perfect home-life, from others goal of simply selling you on a house. We welcome you to explore the myriad Philadelphia neighborhoods through our exclusive content. Enjoy a tour of where you may take your evening strolls. Get to know your local storefronts. Meet some of the folks you will see on your block. It’s a big town, this City of Brotherly Love. We’d like to make it a little bit smaller for you.

Click Here To Start Browsing Philadelphia and Its Real Estate, Neighborhood By Neighborhood

Written by Todd Nitschelm
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