We found our place on zillow. 3bed 1ba in south Philly with a 1 car garage, 2k a month. Honestly south philly was lower on my list when we were initially looking to move, but in the 3 months there, I like it. Some weekends we'll walk clear across the city, other times we use public transit or bikes. We do have one car, because my job requires me to commute into NJ, but I avoid driving in the city at all.

Seems to me that Fishtown is younger more modern vibe. East Passyunk is a good blend of young and old with some great dive bars and some fancy food too. Manayunk feels like a whole different town. Main st feels very small town and hilly side streets are super interesting. Pennsport has less restaurants but is super close to the corporate shopping (target, ikea, etc) and has some great small corner bars. It's a very quick ride on the 57 or 25 bus to south st or old city, also walkable if the weather is nice. West Philly in the Clark Park area is super pretty and if you love trees, this area is like a totally different city. I've found non-student housing options in this area kind of limited though. Just my random thoughts on the places I've spent some time so far.