Morning Headlines: CNN Money Says Philly’s Best Neighborhood Is Mt. Airy

Philadelphia is chock-full of great neighborhoods, some well-known, some up-and-coming, some waiting to be discovered, others still waiting for better days to come again.

But of all the city’s dazzling variety of neighborhoods, which one most impressed the CNN Money editors this year? Mt. Airy, the Northwest Philly neighborhood that serves as the bridge between Germantown and Chestnut Hill.

Famed since the 1960s for its commitment to integration and diversity, Mt. Airy also offers a broad range of housing options from affordable to grand. Germantown Avenue, its Main Street, is lined with shops, restaurants, hangouts and art spaces, and it shares with Germantown a rich legacy of historic houses, starting with Cliveden, scene of the Battle of Germantown, at its southern border.

It also offers plenty of green space, both in the yards of its homes and in the Wissahickon Valley of Fairmount Park, which runs up its western side and serves as a jogger, bicyclist and hiker magnet.

(Those of us who recall the sounds of the ’80s fondly may also remember “Mt. Airy Groove,” the funky, jazzy hit by hometown boys Pieces of a Dream.)

The neighborhood has all the charm and amenities of next-door Chestnut Hill at a more affordable price point: House prices in Mount Airy start around $200,000, though they climb past $500,000 in slightly tonier West Mount Airy.

The neighborhood was Money’s pick as its Philadelphia entry on its 2013 list of “Best Big-City Neighborhoods” – the best places to live in each of the nation’s 10 largest cities.

Best Big-City Neighborhoods: Mount Airy, Philadelphia (CNN Money)

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