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Mt Airy Information
Mount Airy is a neighborhood in the Northwest Philadelphia section of the
United States city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is bounded by Chestnut Hill
and Germantown. Across the Wissahickon creek to the west lies Roxborough. The
main zip code for Mount Airy is 19119, though some consider East Mount Airy to
extend into 19150, 19138 and 19144.
Mount Airy's main commercial district lies along cobble stoned Germantown
Avenue, which also divides the neighborhood between East and West Mount Airy.
West Mount Airy has a reputation for being more affluent, and more like Chestnut
Hill, and the East more working class, although counter examples abound. Much
like Chestnut Hill, Mount Airy has a large array of 'Mom and Pop' style
boutiques and eateries that cater to a baby boomer generation consumer -
especially those who live and work in Philadelphia, and seek alternatives to the
suburban malls. The style of this shopping district along The Avenue gives it a
small town feel, though there are also a few chain stores, such as the Wawa at
Germantown and Allens Lane that serves as an unofficial nexus for teenagers.
Much of Mount Airy was developed in the 19th and early 20th centuries,
spreading out from the Avenue and the two railroad lines. Large three-story,
grey stone Victorian houses, with stained glass windows and slate roofs are
situated on many of the area's tree lined streets, and dominate districts like
West Mount Airy's Pelham section.
In East Mount Airy, there is an abundance of corner stores, and a few public
schools, like Eleanor Cope Emlen, J. E. Hill, and Leeds Middle School. Parts of
East Mount Airy look like North Philadelphia, and are mostly populated by middle
class African Americans. Most of East Mount Airy right off of Germantown Avenue
is rowhouses, like Meehan Avenue, Clearview Street, and Chew Avenue.
The area is recognized by many civil rights groups as one of the first
successfully integrated neighborhoods in America. Mount Airy continues to be the
most well-blended neighborhood in Philadelphia, although recent census shows
that it is becoming more African-American, particularly in the East. The overall
proportion of blacks and whites is similar to the overall demographics of
Philadelphia. There are relatively small numbers of Hispanics, Asians, and other
ethnicities. Mount Airy is also known for being relatively gay-friendly, and
two-mother families are not uncommon in parts of the neighborhood.
Mount Airy's neighborhood high school is Martin Luther King High which is
located in East Germantown. Although there is a large number of students who
attend Germantown High, Roxborough High and Philadelphia's magnet schools, such
as Girl's High, CAPA, Central and Masterman, with the latter traditionally
having a disproportionate amount of its students from Mount Airy.
Most residents drive, but the SEPTA Regional Rail lines are very popular for
getting into Center City. The R8 runs through West Mount Airy, and the R7
through East Mount Airy. The neighborhood is also served by bus routes 18, 23
(formerly a trolley line), 53, H, XH and L.
In 2005, the median home sale price in the 19119 zip code was $188,409. This was
an increase of 18% over the median sale price in 2004. The 19150 zip code, which
includes parts of East Mount Airy (specifically the west side of Stenton Avenue)
and parts of the Cedarbrook neighborhood), had a median home sale price of
$122,150, a 2004-2005 increase of 22%. Mount Airy also lies in those portions of
19138 and 19144 in the area bound by Washington Lane, Germantown Avenue, Johnson
Street and Stenton Avenue.
Some Things to Consider When Looking for a Place...
When searching for a new apartment make sure to take your time to think
through what are the most important things to you in an apartment and plan your
search based on those priorities. Here are some things to consider when planning
your move:
1. Consider the areas where you would like to live
* What is the crime rate?
* If you have children - what rating does the local school system have?
* Is there area convenient shopping, health and recreation services in the area?
2. Make a list of your housing priorities
* Do you have pets?
* Do you need parking?
* Do you need to be on the ground floor?
* What amenities are important to you - swimming pool, fitness room, in unit
laundry?
3. Evaluate the building
* What is the condition of the unit and building?
* Are the grounds maintained?
* Are windows, steps, and railings in good condition?
* View the property at night. Is it safe and well lit?
4. The security of the property
* Are there security service? When is the guard on duty?
* Does the building have controlled access?
* Does each unit have secure door and window locks?
5. Talk to the neighbors
* Ask other residents whether they are satisfied with the building.
6. Amenities
* Who is allowed to use the amenities?
* When are they open?
* Are the fees charged to use those facilities included in rent?
7. Ask about Utilities
* Does the owner or tenant pay the utility bills?
* Are any utilities included with monthly rent?
* Do units have separate thermostats to control heat and air conditioning?
8. Review the lease
* How much notice must you give before moving out?
* Can the rent be increased? If so, by how much and how often?
* Are pets allowed?
* What is the security deposit and cleaning costs upon move out?
* What is the responsibility of tenants for damage to property?
* Is there a penalty for breaking a lease?
9. Information too bring to a lease signing
* Credit Report
* Pay stubs/tax returns
* Reference
* Application
More Apartment Information
An apartment (or flat in Britain and most other Commonwealth countries) is a
self-contained housing unit that occupies only part of a building. Apartments
may be owned (by an owner-occupier) or rented (by tenants).
Some apartment-dwellers own their apartments, either as co-ops, in which the
residents own shares of a corporation that owns the building or development; or
in condominiums, whose residents own their apartments and share ownership of the
public spaces. Most apartments are in buildings designed for the purpose, but
large older houses are sometimes divided into apartments. The word apartment
connotes a residential unit or section in a building. Apartment building owners,
lessors, or managers often use the more general word units to refer to
apartments. Units can be used to refer to rental business suites as well as
residential apartments. When there is no tenant occupying an apartment, the
lessor is said to have a vacancy. For apartment lessors, each vacancy represents
a loss of income from rent-paying tenants for the time the apartment is vacant
(i.e., unoccupied). Lessors' objectives are often to minimize the vacancy rate
for their units. The owner of the apartment typically transfers possession to
the occupant by giving him/her the key to the apartment entrance door and any
other keys need to live there, such as a common key to the building or any other
common areas, and an individual unit mailbox key. When the occupant move out,
these keys should typically be returned to the owner.
Apartments can be classified into several types. Studio, efficiency, bed-sit, or
bachelor apartments tend to be the smallest apartments with the cheapest rents
in a given area. These kinds of apartment usually consist mainly of a large room
which is the living, dining, and bedroom combined. There are usually kitchen
facilities as part of this central room, but the bathroom is its own smaller
separate room. Moving up from the efficiencies are one-bedroom apartments where
one bedroom is a separate room from the rest of the apartment. Then there are
two-bedroom, three-bedroom, etc. apartments. Small apartments often have only
one entrance/exit. Large apartments often have two entrances/exits, perhaps a
door in the front and another in the back. Depending on the building design, the
entrance/exit doors may be directly to the outside or to a common area inside,
such as a hallway. Depending on location, apartments may be available for rent
furnished with furniture or unfurnished into which a tenant usually moves in
with his/her own furniture. Permanent carpeting is often included in an
apartment.
Laundry facilities are usually kept in a separate area accessible to all the
tenants in the building. Depending on when the building was built and the design
of the building, utilities such as water, heating, and electric may be common
for all the apartments in the building or separate for each apartment and billed
separately to each tenant (however, many areas in the US have ruled it illegal
to split a water bill among all the tenants, especially if a pool is on the
premises). Outlets for connection to telephones are typically included in
apartments. Telephone service is optional and is practically always billed
separately from the rent payments. Cable television and similar amenities are
extra also. Parking space, air conditioner, and extra storage space may or may
not be included with an apartment. Rental leases often limit the maximum number
of people who can reside in each apartment. On or around the ground floor of the
apartment building, a series of mailboxes are typically kept in a location
accessible to the public and, thus, to the letter-carrier too. Every unit
typically gets its own mailbox with individual keys to it. Some very large
apartment buildings with a full-time staff may take mail from the mailman and
provide mail-sorting service. Near the mailboxes or some other location
accessible by outsiders, there may be a buzzer (equivalent to a doorbell) for
each individual unit. In smaller apartment buildings such as two- or
three-flats, or even four-flats, garbage is often disposed of in trash
containers similar to those used at houses. In larger buildings, garbage is
often collected in a common trash bin or dumpster. For cleanliness or minimizing
noise, many lessors will place restrictions on tenants regarding keeping pets in
an apartment.
In some parts of the world, the word apartment is used generally to refer to a
new purpose-built self-contained residential unit in a building, whereas the
word flat means a converted self-contained unit in an older building. An
industrial, warehouse, or commercial space converted to an apartment is commonly
called a loft.
When part of a house is converted for the ostensible use of a landlord's family
member, the unit may be known as an in-law apartment or granny flat, though
these (sometimes illegally) created units are often occupied by ordinary renters
rather than family members. In Canada these suites are commonly located in the
basements of houses and are therefore normally called basement suites.
Staying in privately owned apartments rather than in a hotel is quickly becoming
popular with travelers.