Can anyone suggest a hotel close to The Rock school, 1101 south broad street? My daughters are interested in taking summer intensive classes and I would be staying in the area with them.
This would be our first time to Philadelphia. Can anyone comment on this area? I am from the New Orleans area so I understand big cities. Just wondering if this is an area I would be safe exploring on my own while my girls are in class.
Hotel suggestions close to The Rock school in Philadelphia?
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I'd think that the most convenient hotel might be the Hilton Doubletree on South Broad. It's not super close, but it's two subway (Broad Street line) stops away, and it's definitely in an area that's great for exploration: architecture, art, history, you name it. I haven't stayed there myself as I live here, but it should be reasonably decent.
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The school itself is in a more, um, gritty area, but it's about five blocks away from the Italian Market, which is great for shopping, meeting up for lunch, and just browsing. Philadelphia is a very walkable city, and it's pretty easy to navigate as it's got right-angle streets both named and numbered. (Broad is 14th, for helping to get yourself acclimated.
Thanks for the feedback. My daugthers are very interested but my husband is very worried about crime (being from New Orleans, we understand that you have to be very careful in regards to where you walk and go).
When you say gritty area, do you mean an area with crime? Gritty is fine but high crime rate scares me.
Thank you!
> When you say gritty area, do you mean an area with crime?
This is a map you will want to look at:
www.philly.com/philly/news/special_packages/inquirer/Philadelphia_Homicides_1988_2011.html
Note that, over the last 23 years, there has been one murder south of the Vine Expressway, north of Washington Avenue, east of the Delaware, and west of Fifth Street.
There ARE areas of Philadelphia I get nervous while driving through them in daylight, let alone walking through them at night. South Broad is an area I have walked around at night scores of times.
Like all urban areas, Philadelphia is a city in which you MUST keep your guard up, and be willing to admit, "This area is creeping me out -- I'm leaving." But South Broad has FAR more danger from Philly drivers than from Philly criminals.
I think you'll be fine, really; it's actually not that far from center city, and the girls will be working at the school and then meeting up with you, right? Philadelphia's crime rate is mostly drug-on-drug, to be honest with you; I live in the heart of North Philly, which is a very, very, "urban" area, and I've had no problems. When I described the area as "gritty", it's ethnically mixed, working-class for the most part, I believe.
I can't speak to that area too specifically, as I've not spent a lot of time there, but within a few blocks of the school there are very well-traveled tourist trails and areas. If you're accustomed to life in a city, you shouldn't really have issues: i.e., be alert, don't carry your wealth on your body, don't go out alone after dark, etc.
In fact, I've been living, working, and traveling in the city for 47 years, using public transportation, and my only problem is once I was carrying a child and walking through a crowd and someone got into my handbag. (They didn't actually get anything; didn't have anything for them to get.) I was 17 at the time.